How Do People Use Social Media Eliminate Homophobia?

LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. Most recently the community added on “QI” to represent those who identify as queer and intersex individuals.

Although not being established in the 1700’s, the LGBTQ community has an outstanding amount of people that belong to it. LGBTQ stands for; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. It gives people a sense of place when feeling like an outcast for having an attraction towards their same sex. When being originally written, “The Declaration of Independence" failed to give people in the LGBTQ community rights. Rights for the community has just been handed to them in the last couple of years.

LGBTQ, short for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer is an acronym used to designate a community of people whose sexual or gender identities can create shared political and social concerns. The LGBTQ acronym does not encompass everybody and different organizations may use less or more letters. The LGBTQ Community is a group of diverse people united for one cause: to fight for equal rights so that people of the community are not segregated from the rest of the society. Not only does this community contain LGBTQ people, it also has members that are heterosexual who support LGBTQ community’s beliefs.

I’ve spent the last few years under the impression people make too big of a deal of coming out when their sexuality differs from the social norm. It’s something that people tend to over represent and kind of force onto others too often, making it slightly overbearing for those who view it differently from members of the LGBT community and their supporters. At the end of the day though, it’s a matter of both self-acceptance for those who struggle with their sexuality, and representation to help make it a less daunting and intimidating thing to be open about being different.

Let's start off with the basics. LGBT stands for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. On average, in a 2016 poll, 23% of the American population is either gay or lesbian which is 2% less than a poll in 2011 and

Equality is a principle that must be adopted in order for individuals to live harmoniously amongst one another in society. The LGBT+ is a community of people that consist of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transsexuals, and more. Based on their sexual orientation, LGBT+ people are victims of ongoing hate, prejudice, and bigotry due to their different, but natural characteristics. Discrimination aimed towards the LGBT+ community continues to be a present issue in the modern day. Intolerance towards the group evidently remains as they continue to be excluded in society through acts of assault, stereotype, and mockery.

The LGBT community is another word for the gay community. The gay community is all about getting their civil rights on issues like Economic issues concerning employment. In the

Media is not only a form of entertainment; it also shows the social perspectives around the world. Through television and other forms of media, people learn social norms and how to interact with others. It can also influence personal perceptions, views and values. Media also has a large influence on how people view and treat others. How media portray events related to homosexuality has a powerful influence on public opinion. Many movies and TV series include gay and lesbian characters such as Modern Family, The Fosters & Pretty Little Liars. The media has encouraged social acceptance of homosexuality. Twitter has given a greater voice to the LGBT community worldwide to promote and support LGBT rights by starting campaigns such as the ‘It Gets Better Project’ which gives individuals to share their coming-out

LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and LGBT-supportive people, organizations, and subcultures, united by a common culture and social movements

The LGBT community is a group that often falls victim to negative stereotyping. LGBT is an acronym for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender that categorizes a community of individuals that are a part of the sexual minority (Swain, 2007). One community that falls under the umbrella of the LGBT acronym is the transgender community. This community consists of transgender individuals, a general term to describe those who do not conform to typical gender roles, transsexuals who desire to be recognized as a member of the opposite sex, and transvestites who dress in clothing associated with the opposite gender. Transsexuals are a group that are largely ignored on television, and when they are portrayed they usually belong to roles in which they

LGBTQ+ is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, and more referring to the people categorized by not having heteroxexual and cisngender actions or identificantion. As opposed to having a romantic preference to sex, gender identification is what a person chooses to identify as, instead of it being decided by their sex. Currently, countries and law makers are currently blocking the same rights as heterosexual and cisgender people regarding civil, political, social, and economical stand points.

Today’s society shapes the individuals mind into thinking what actions or physical appearances are the norm. Specifically, the norm for gender is that people are either male or female. This norm is a binary concept because there are only two main categories, which can be very misleading. In terms of sexual orientation, there are realistically more than two categories and society has realized this and coined the acronym LGBTQ. LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning. Individuals who categorize themselves as one of these sexual orientations often face criticism for their standing in the co-culture. The 20/20 video specifically talks about individuals who identify as transgender and the challenges they face from

Coming-out LGBTQ is a highly individual and personal process, where one concedes and affirms their sexual orientation or gender identity, and deciding if, who and when to tell (1). Studies show that the nature of the process is ‘ongoing, dynamic and social’ because of the diversity and complexity of individual humanity. It is particular to each person’s unique circumstances. Sometimes the process is within their control, other times it is far more complex. Coming-out can be as simple as revealing ones self-acceptance of sexual orientation or a terrifying journey of confronting fear and concern for safety, leaving some to remain closeted for most of their life.

Although, the topic of self-representation on social media has been central for many studies in recent years (Sorokowski, Sorokowska, Oleszkiewicz, Frackwiak, Huk, & Pisanski 2015), so far there has been little discussion specifically about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual (LGBT) representation on networking sites. While public opinion towards people of non-standard sexual orientation has improved, approval of homosexuality is believed to differ among individuals and between countries (Gerhards, 2010). To date, there has been no reliable evidence that this improvement is also true for the acceptance of LGBT content online. Apart from Duguay (2016) who demonstrated the relationship between the given social media platform and its influence

Social media is causing teenagers to be negatively influenced. This is an issue, because teenagers are extremely impressionable and social media is negatively impacting their lives each day whether they are conscious of this or not. One anonymous author who wrote the article, “Teen’s Use of Social Media: Positive or Negative?” states, “90 percent of teens have used social media” (Teens’ Use of Social Media). In this statement, it is clear that a large majority of teenagers have already been exposed to some type of social media. Since teenagers learn from direct observation and experience, it is a huge problem when they witness things on social media that concern sexist, racist, or homophobic content. Many teenagers even say that they have an addiction to social media. Teens who have had bad experiences online or who do not use social media on a regular basis said that they have a stronger urge to stay away from the internet. Even though there are many negatives to social media there are some positives as well. NickMcGillivray who is affiliated with the website, TurboFuture wrote the article, “What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth.” In his article, he states, “There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many dangers that come with the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites, and blogs” (McGillivray). In this statement, he makes it clear, that social media has both positives and negatives. One positive of social media that impacts teenager’s lives would be, how they are able to communicate with their teachers and other classmates at any time. This makes it easier for