Gay Bullying Paper

My chosen academic journal article is Contesting silence, claiming space: gender and sexuality in the neo-liberal public high school by Susan W. Woolley. This article examines how educational institutions and its actors introduce and reinforce a heteronormative binary ideology, and reject any non-normativity that may occur. Through this deep-rooted theoretical framework, high school students struggle to freely explore individual interpretations of sexuality and

Education is an important factor in life in order to thrive, but LGBT students face harassment in school due to their identity. According to a Human Rights report conducted in 2001, two million American students in the LGBT

The LGBTQ community has struggled for decades to receive equal treatment but despite many advancements, this group of people is still not treated justly. The prevalent discrimination and prejudice enacted against the LGBTQ community can be witnessed on accounts of the Stonewall Riots and laws that affect the community such as not allowing gay men to donate blood, sexual orientation in connection to the military, et cetera. The gay rights movement has united to eradicate these issues through support of the LBGTQ community and to help people understand the process, timing, advantages, dangers, and pitfalls of coming out, as well as recent local and international rulings of the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage and the methods, laws, and attitudes of having children.

My third argument it that LGBTQ Individuals have a higher chance of being raped and harassed. 4 in 10 Gay men have been sexually harassed compared to the 1 in five heterosexual men. Sexual harassment seems to follow around these individuals everywhere. Many LGBTQ youth are unable to report the abuse and are isolated if they do reveal their assailant. This causes these individuals to feel disconnected for society and many attempt to commit suicide.each time a LGBTQ youth is physical and verbal abused it increases the likelihood of self harm 4.5

Homophobia is the concept in which people are hateful or fearful towards lesbians and gays (Dictionary.com, 2014). Fear and revulsion of the LGBT population commonly emanate from religious concepts or traditional ideas of society. In 2011, 18% of hate crimes based upon sexual orientation were reported, however, the number proved to be higher than expected due to the fact that many more individuals are reporting these crimes to the authorities (Northhumberland View, 2013). This further demonstrates the progression of LGBT rights in Canadian society due to the fact that lesbian, gay and transgender individuals alike feel comfortable enough to report these matters to the police and receive justice rather than allowing the issue to go unnoticed out of fear of being judged. Also, though many laws have been implemented to prevent discrimination, it is a reality in which many members of the LGBT community still face today. In terms of bullying, 25% of homosexual adolescents reported being physically harassed by heterosexual peers in 2009 (CBC, 2010). However, in 2002 approximately one third of homosexual students were harassed based upon their sexuality (Riese, 2014). Although discrimination and bullying based upon sexual orientation is prevalent in today's society, Canadians have become more accustomed to the idea of homosexuality which is reflected through the decrease in the amount of harassment that occurs. However, with adequate education and continuous learning about the matter, discrimination based upon sexuality can be virtually eliminated in the

The Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgendered (LGBT) youth population is one of the most vulnerable groups in our community. Being gay does not lead to risky behaviors or bad decision making, rather, societal stigma and discrimination can lead LGBT youth to seek emotional outlets. Today’s society has improved immensely towards the LGBT community, although it has not always been this way. Society can affect a person in shocking ways, influencing one’s unhealthy and unsafe physical and mental behaviors. This current vulnerable population deserves a voice and the simplicity of someone listening to them in order for both sides, accepting and non-accepting, to find a common ground and settle the violence.

Victimization of LGBT community members is elevating as time passes. Researchers attempt to determine the prevalence of the violence committed against members of the LGBT community (Rothman, Exner, & Baughman, 2011). Many people that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender that are victims of hate crimes have participated in studies where they insist that the crimes committed against them are based on their sexuality; not class, color, gender, or any other factor. In a qualitative study, Meyer (2009) conducted open-ended interviews with people who were victims of hate crimes. The participants were recruited at LGBT advocacy organizations. Those who presumed that their hate crime was due to multiple systems of oppression such as class,

In response to the despairing LGBT kids who get bullied and harrassed in high school, Dan and Terry share their personal experiences and harsh memories when coming out to their friends and family. The YouTube video intendeds to send a message of hope for teenagers struggling with their sexual identity and telling them that life will get better. Dan tells us about his Catholic family background and how there wasn’t any LGBT kids at his school who constantly bullied him for liking musicals. Terry shares a more negative childhood with ‘kids beating him up, throwing him against walls, lockers, windows, stuffing him into bathroom stalls, and scratching his car.” School administrators were not very supportive to address these issues either. But, thankfully, Terry gives a positive note that life got better for him after high school and Dan added that “however bad it is now, it gets better and it can get great, and awesome, but you have to tough this period out and live your life so your around for it to get better.”

Out of the 316 million people in the United States of America, nine million of them relate as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning collectively known as LGBTQ. This makes up about four percent of the population and while this may seem like a small number, the LGBTQ equal rights movement is as big as ever. While there are many fronts to fight in the war for equal rights, the major points I will be discussing are the history of LGBTQ fight for equal rights, marriage rights and equality, and the mistreatment of LGBTQ youth in regards to bullying in schools, homelessness, and depression/suicide.

To expect greatness in any field of life, it all starts from a place of quality education and that's what America has constantly strived for. School is the place where everyone is given equal opportunity to learn and shape himself or herself into contributing members of society. At the same time each individual’s academic success defines what it means to have a good life. Unfortunately, schools face lots of problems trying to do the right thing. Among major challenges that schools face, bullying has a strong attribution to the poor academic experience among student victims. Today, students still risk being bullied everyday. This paper studies bullying in secondary school with

Teasing, bullying and abuse due to one’s nontraditional sexual orientation is something that has been going for an extraneous amount of time and I admire the people who put together the short film, “Imagine a World Where Being "Gay" The Norm & Being "Straight" Would Be the Minority”, because it creates an opportunity for ignorance to be seen in a light that almost anyone can comprehend. Those who are completely heterosexual while being on the fence about why same-sex couples deserve the same rights as everyone else, can view this film and be able to step into the shoes of the people who are discriminated against because of their sexuality. I chose this link for this assignment, because this particular topic is very close to my heart. I first saw this film many years ago when I was merely fourteen years old and it was so powerful, it left me in tears because of the bullying I’ve personally experienced due to my own sexual orientation.

The printing and publishing history of the Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, and Bisexual (LGTB) community goes back to the 1950’s and 1960’s. Individuals in the LGTB community never had their own voice, and the media ignored this community until the mid-1990’s. At this time, they became the people of the “Printed World.” The LGTB community has had to break down many walls. Given the religious biases of our society, many people labeled lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexuals as sinful or even having a psychological disorder. Today with more openness, legalized same-sex marriage, and acceptance of LGBT exists, it’s path has not been easy.

Along with verbal abuse, LGBTQ youth also experience physical violence in schools across the country everyday. Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s sociologists such as Joyce Hunter thought that much of the physical abuse happening towards the LGBTQ population stemmed from the stigma and fear that came from the AIDS epidemic that was spreading rapidly among the gay community in that time. In a study as recent as 2003, 60% of LGBTQ youth had reported being assaulted physically due to their sexual orientation (Chesir-Taran, 2003) These physical actions towards the gay and lesbian youth has caused many to fear going to school. In fact, many LGBTQ students avoid school in order to escape the physical harassment. This drop in attendance has detrimental effects on the student’s academics (American Educational Research Association).

LGBT students experience higher rates of marginalization and discrimination then their heterosexual peers and in high school are at greater risk for depression, suicide and homelessness (Kiekal, 2014, p. 408). One important point that Keikel (2014) makes form the results of the study is how although students and faculty find the campus to be a safe place in general there is still space for hate thorough microaggressions towards LGBT students. The study came across three conclusions to understand how LGBT students experience community college which were: these students do not experience campus climate the same way their heterosexual peers do, their social and classroom experiences had a major impact on their perceptions and levels of engagement; and although significant progress in helping them feel safe and respected has been made they are still stigmatized (Keikel,2014, p. 409). I think I was able to relate most with this article as a student who actually came out as transgender, specifically female to male, while attending community college back in 2009. I remember telling the small group of friends I had made who seemed to not be able to wrap their head even around the

LGBT adolescents and young adults have a tough time fitting into society. In schools, teens have experienced physical and mental issues, dating problems and homelessness. Transgender teens and young adults usually suffer from physical and mental problems the source of these problems' comes from domestic violence, bullying, and substance abuse. It is difficult to find parents that can accept the adolescent and give emotional support. For a transgender youth and young adult dating is hard to find. When a trans girl starts dating a heterosexual man, the man expects the “girl” to be a girl but when the heterosexual man finds out it's a man. The man begins to feel betrayed by the “girl” and hits her. As soon as the teen tells the parents that he/she