Homophobia In Middle School

In our society, we have many different issues that we are opposed to. Our different opinions on these issues, separates us into two different sides. Homophobia has been one of the most occurring issues that has been happening over these recent years.

I was awkward throughout most of my school years, while the other girls seemed to be in their prime years. For this reason I let it impact me socially, giving myself restrictions of who I could be friend with or where I belonged. However, reflecting back to my “unfortunate years,” I can see that this awkwardness I felt in my body allowed me to find my strengths and skills that have shaped who I am as a student, friend, sister, etc by allowing me to have an awareness of them. Now that I am in my third year in college, I can say I have found my confidence, but whenever I have those days of insecurity I can look back to my unfortunate years of puberty to remind myself how much I have been able to grow since

I walk into the cold, white hospital, my hands are sweating and my knees are shaking. Even though I have done this every six months since I was twelve years old, it never gets easier. I find a seat in the corner of the waiting room, embarrassed by the large, plastic, butterfly printed scoliosis brace I hold tightly against my side. The door opens, a nurse dressed in plain navy blue scrubs calls out “Emma for Dr. Meyers”. She leads my mom and me down a long hallway, and into a small, brightly lit room. The curse that is scoliosis is hereditary, which means my mom has it, and each of my sisters has been touched by this cruel disease that bends the spine as well. Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine that occurs during the growth period just before and through puberty.

In my head I was scared I was paralyzed and that I would never walk again. Scoliosis scarred me for life because the pain subsides in my forever now. It hasn’t gone away since the surgery it is only tolerable now. My memories from the hospital stay consist of lying on the striker frame in pain, staring at the floor or the ceiling depending upon the way I was positioned. Every fiber in my body wanted to move, but the process of moving was unbearable. Only two days after my surgery they started having me try to walk to the bathroom on my own, I needed assistance the first couple of tries but after a while I could walk on my own. Sitting up or in a chair was another thing, I was only relearning the muscle movements for my back, but I couldn’t stand the pain and my stomach couldn’t keep the food down. I cried every day because I couldn’t do things for myself, I was mad at the world for putting me through pain. After about a week in recovery I was sent home, but there were problems there too. After 3 months I was able to finally sit in a chair for a long period of time, lay in my bed, run, and do every day things on my own again. I learning an important lesson through this; you don’t become successful without working for and the occasional obstacle. Spine surgery changes a person. It can fix

There’s things in life that everyone takes pride in, things that they won't ever be ashamed of. I have so much to be proud of especially in myself. After having Spinal Fusion surgery, i’ve done things I never thought I would be able to do, and one of them is learning to find my balance and walk again.

In, “Heterosexism and homophobia among college students,” Larry M. Lance starts off by explaining the difference between heterosexism and homophobia. Heterosexism is thinking that everyone should be attracted to the opposite sex and homophobia is having an irrational fear of gay men and lesbians. He mentions that efforts have been made to reduce heterosexism on campuses by encouraging homosexuals to be proud of who they are and not hide. However, with homophobia, he states that these negative attitudes are seen more in heterosexual males than heterosexual females. Heterosexual males could have more homophobic views on lesbians and gay men because of their exotic value even though they seem to be less homophobic towards lesbians. Lance

What if a disability happened to you? Or a close person to you? Like a sister or a daughter? How will you deal with it?.The book Wonder by R.J. Palacio, we read about a kid named August who was delivered with an uncommon face distortion. This disability.

This article talks about both the pervasiveness of homophobia, characterized as "a bias that prompts scorn and segregation toward lesbian and gay individuals" (Croteau and Kusek, 1992, p. 396), and a particular approach to diminish homophobia—gay and lesbian speaker boards. Gay and lesbian speaker boards are board presentations by gay and lesbian individuals, whereby they share their own encounters, stories, and take part in a dialog with the gathering of people. Croteau and Kusek (1992) talk about six past studies that looked into techniques to abatement homophobia, with some using different sorts of speaker boards. Albeit methodological shortcomings are recognized in the exploration, 5 out of the 6 ponders presumed that homophobia can be

Homophobia present in the black community has decreased over the years. Black culture is becoming more tolerant and accepting of the LGBTQA community. Churches are becoming more tolerant towards the LGBTQA community. A few decades ago, homosexuality could not be talked about in public without being shamed, however many Black celebrities are making their sexuality public, inspiring the change of mentality in the younger generations. Some of these artist include Frank Ocean, Azealia Banks, and Jason Collins. Also, the portrayal of LGBTQA persons of color in the media is becoming less stereotypical, they were portrayed as flamboyant gossipy men with feminine tendencies, however now they are represented as people that you can identify with. For

Australia is a rapidly evolving country branching off from the British monarchy. In this day and age, it seems almost petty to have the need to argue and fight for or against such obviously necessary things such as marriage and adoption rights for LGBT+ persons. In 1994, the Commonwealth passed the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994 - Section 4, decriminalising private sexual activity between same-sex, consenting males. Since then, there have been no major political advances for gay rights in Australia, especially after the rein of the Howard government, which made it more difficult for same-sex attracted and transgender people to associate with the country.

Margaret has spina bifida, a condition in which one or more of her vertebrae did not form properly, leaving her spinal cord—the most vital component of the central nervous system—unprotected. She has had eight operations and wears braces on her legs to keep them in the proper positions. Throughout all of these ordeals, she has retained her outgoing personality and positive view of

Last fall, I went for a checkup appointment because I was complaining to my mom of the amount of pain I was in. My doctor kept telling me that “scoliosis doesn’t hurt”. He took my x-rays and my curves had increased tremendously. We had to schedule the appointment I would have to have my spinal fusion surgery. I remember sitting in the room and the only two things I was thinking about was if I would ever be able to cheer again, and how excited I was to finally be relieved from all the

The procedure always spoke to me as an embodiment of the human spirit. ‘ If we cannot fix it one way, we will do it another; If we cannot mend the brain, we will correct the feet.’ Ever since my operation, I have used this same outlook to overcome all the handicaps. When I came home from the procedure, I had both legs in soft-wrapped splints. I was to be non-weight bearing and to keep still. The recovery period was frustrating for me and absolutely maddening for my mother. I had no interest in being immobile. So within days of coming home in the splints, I had to be brought back to the hospital. I had snapped the splints in to by trying to crawl. Afterwards, I was put into hard castings and I was more cautious. Once out of my castings, I had to endure a year or more of physical therapy, because I had to learn how to walk again. To this day, I refuse to let my disability stunt my potential. I have tried at every available opportunity to challenge myself, to keep on fighting, and to invent ways around my

I ask myself, did it really get better? In many ways, yes. But when I read things like 'masc only' or 'no fems' I can't help but wonder why? I don't blame the individuals for having their own preference. 'Gay bros' are now becoming more predominant and

Adolescence is a difficult stage in life because it is a time for many when social status is seen as very important and self-esteem can be fragile. One’s social status can directly affect one’s self esteem and overall happiness. Unfortunately, many of those who possess a higher social status in middle and high school use it against those who are deemed socially inferior to them, whether that is due to race, attractiveness, intelligence or sexuality. In other words, the adolescents at the bottom of the social pyramid are often subjected to bullying and harassment from their socially “superior” classmates. Bullying