I am the mother of a gay son. My personal quest has become very personal. I am quite literally on a personal journey to explore my thoughts and feelings and to internally and externally process my evolving experience because of one event which occurred just after the beginning of the semester. During dinner, two days before he was headed back to college, my son came out to his dad and me. Now my focus has narrowed and while I need to explore other aspects of diversity, which I plan on doing through my weekly reflections and class participation, I need to understand more about what it means to be the parent of a gay son and to find out what supports or resources are in place for families. I have questions, I have concerns for my son and I am, at this point wrestling with my own feelings. I believe, however, that this exploration will give me a better understanding of the issues facing the LGBTQ community and will equip me to help other families and my future students.
As evidenced in my Cultural Awareness Survey, where I gave myself a score of 2 on sexual orientation, it is fitting that exploration about the LGBTQ community is going to be the focus of both my personal quest and my presentation topic. Growing up I had very little experience with anyone who was gay or lesbian, and these were the only two words with which I was familiar, I never heard the words bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer. I did, however, hear the word “poofter” used derogatorily to describe gay
LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender. It is intended to highlight a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures. Historically, LGBT people have had to deal with being brutalised and misunderstood because of the misconception that being gay is different and deserves different treatment. However, there are efforts being made daily by the community in order to educate people and ease their fears. The purpose of the following analysis is to deconstruct how people who fought back while growing up realizing they are apart of community help shaped and/or will shape them to become strong roles for LGBT people around the world.
Ches’s believe system about sexuality and gender roles affected his relationship with his son who turn out to be gay. This made him change his believe system and also accecte his son and his believes and sexuality. This makes him a great phater for believing in his son and accepting him for who he is instead of what he wants him to be.
Largely, individual variables within the LGBTQ community can consists of race, ability, gender identification, age, or in this case, age. The cultural competency trainings are based on a “Cultural Humility” meaning change occurs as a lifelong process of learning, this includes self-examination and refinement of one’s own awareness, knowledge, behavior and attitudes on the interplay of power, privilege and social contexts (Joo, Margolies, & McDavid,
Throughout our society today, the debate of sexual orientation has been plastered throughout the media. There are many issues throughout our country that conflict with a traditional viewpoint. Day by day, awareness has been spreading about the issues facing the LGBT community. Throughout much of the reading, I have seen both sides. The side that has tormented many through discrimination and oppression as well as the side that has been liberated and is proud to fight for the rights of themselves and others.
The conception that lesbians and gay men may be parents is frequently perceived in today 's society as impossible or immoral. Gay men and lesbians are often viewed as excluded from having children because sexual reproduction is related to men and women couples only. My approach to this uniquely controversial topic of gay parenting will be that of attempting to analyze the pro side. Gays and lesbians are human too and who is to say that they don 't deserve equal rights in society. Society has to realize that the modern family has developed into many different forms in recent years in that the traditional "nuclear family" is not necessarily the
Teaching about these orientation would be helpful not only to kids who identify as queer but to those who identify as heterosexual because they could learn how to support queer friends or decrease heteronormativity. The LGBTQ+ community is becoming a big part of society because of the increase in activism and the recent supportive law for same-sex marriage. Despite that, there is still harassment and homophobia. In my school, it is not uncommon to hear someone use gay as a derogatory term even in the year of 2015. Even more often, a teacher or student will state something borderline homophobic such as making a comment on a boy wearing something ‘feminine’ or a girl cutting her hair short. I firmly believe that like Sadowski’s student says, “I feel it is especially important…to include the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people into my curriculum…” (59), these issues can improve through teaching of LGBTQ+ through curriculums such as
Supported by my high school principle, I researched the topic, created and presented a multimedia workshop to the Roslyn School District faculty discussing positive interventions for LGBTQ youth facing discrimination. The purpose of the training was to increase awareness of LGBTQ youth, to identify language that supports inclusion, and to offer interventions that address bias and discrimination in school settings.
Families headed by gay and lesbian parents are just as diverse as families led by heterosexual couples (Thompson 36). The only difference in these families is
Sexual orientationism is best described as discrimination or prejudice against homosexuals on the assumption that heterosexuality is the dominant, or normal, sexual orientation. Within society there are many barriers, assumptions, and stigmas placed upon the queer community, numerous of which steam from this heterosexist stance that has become the dominant ideology. This stance has historical significance in trauma, and oppression of those within the sexual minority, and how this can play on representation.
Wilson, Suzanne. "Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents Are Not More Likely to Have Problems." Gay Parenting, edited by Beth Rosenthal, Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010844207/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&xid=8e6207d4. Accessed 7 Mar. 2017. Originally published as "A Conversation with Psychologist Abbie Goldberg: What Studies Show About Gay/Lesbian Parenting," Daily Hampshire Gazette, 22 July 2009.
Powerful social forces propel the controversy around LGBT families and often lead to the fear and confusion that affect so many early childhood educators.
The first topic that will be discussed is quite possibly the most important topic in terms of the LGBTQ community, language. In today’s society we have been taught and conditioned to follow certain gender roles. The men are expected to be manly, physically adept and strong, sports and exercise oriented as well as the dominant figures in society. The females are expected to be delicate, proportioned child bearers and housewives. So when we break these stereotypes we are automatically criticized by society (Anzovino & Boutilier 2015). Words become the weapon of choice, and gay begins to become synonymous with the lesser.
Many LGTBTQ people struggle with identity when they are young. Some tell their parents how they really feel and others choose to “stay in the closet”. Either way, the transition for most people is not easy. The panel leaders at the discussion expressed their different journeys of when they “came out” and how family and friends reacted. One of the panel leaders said that when she told her parents that she was gay, they immediately did not want to talk about it. Some other panel leaders said that their parents blew up about it at first and now they have become more accepting. Some of the common phrases that most friends and family members have told them were “it is just a phase”, “you have not been with the right man yet”, and “you are going to hell”. Most of the panel leaders said that when they “came out” it put a strain on their family relationships. The transgender woman said that she has not been to any Thanksgiving or Christmas gatherings because of the rejection she has felt from her family. She also does not really speak to her dad anymore. Another panel leader, who is a lesbian, said that her mom has met her girlfriend but is still not that accepting of her lifestyle. She said her mom’s biggest question is “Are you going to marry a woman?’. She also does not like to be around her extended family because they always “throw bible scriptures at her”. One thing I found interesting was that all the panelists had in common was that they all have had issues with their family acceptance of who they are, but they feel like they have found a home within the LGBTQ community here at Mississippi State. This is important because Mississippi State embraces diversity. Even though there is still more work to be done to increase diversity and inclusion, many people still can find an organization they can identify with and grow as a person in their own beliefs and
Gender and sexual orientation is a topic that has been and still today is not talked about in such a way it should be because of how society has chosen to structure and control it. Social stratification is a system in which groups of people are divided up into layers according to their relative privileges (power, property, and prestige). It’s a way of ranking large groups of people into a hierarchy according to their relative privileges (Vela-McConnell 2016). People, who deviate from the norm of the “accepted” gender and sexual orientation that society has placed upon us, are stratified below the norm of a dominating binary gender and sexual orientation. People who are queer face the struggle of mistreatment and an unaccepting society that has been socialized to see and act on gender and sexual orientation to being a dualistic system.
The LGBTQ+ community is growing and new aspects of their culture are emerging. They are humans and members of the community as much as heteronormative people are. The words and pronouns they use to identify themselves change as more information about their feelings and preferences are documented and as the terms reach the pop culture stage. Historically, words claimed by members of the community have been used against them as insults. The word “gay” gained a negative connotation when teens and young adults alike, started criticizing the actions of their peers saying, “That’s gay”, after an activity or action that an individual deemed too feminine for a male to perform. Another seemingly ambiguous term/word that gained a negative connotation was “homo”. The phrase “no homo” was coined by individuals who felt that they much reestablish a “hetero-platonic” relationship with a peer after giving them praise, or making a comment.