Neil's False-Personal Narrative

[The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) organization at my high school, which meets twice per month, generated a list of concerns that they shared with school administration. The focus was specifically about gender identity, the lack of support from school staff, and the daily scrutiny they face as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Through collaboration with my colleagues it was evident that there had been an increase in teacher and student referrals surrounding gender identity. The feedback from GSA clearly identified that as a school we are not meeting the needs of our LGBT students and those struggling with sexual orientation. Members of the GSA clearly feel that teachers ignore negative comments like “gay” and “faggot” when they hear them in class, that teachers may not clearly understand gender neutral language, and that our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students do not feel safe and protected in school. Students needed support advocating for their right to use a restroom, correct pronoun, etc., requiring district, community, parent, and colleague

In the documentary, Noah, an 18 year old male to female transgender, many people in school ask question about her gender over and over again. Because of the harassment, many tend to drop out from school. “Harassment and bullying lead almost one-third of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) students to drop out of high school” (T Salazar). For most of them dropping out from school means working at a lower wage. Or even worse they became homeless. Some people argue that we should create a separate school of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. However critics say that it means of “segregation or shielding the youth from the real world.” Giving a class about LGBT people in schools might be the solution, since students then will be aware of it. Education about LGBT people teaches not only students, but also the whole generation. Therefore, schools should be the primary targets to teach the society about LGBT

Social aspects of my life would teach me that being homosexual or bisexual was wrong, but others (while living in Palm Springs, Ca.) taught me that it was completely normal to have such sexual orientations. I have lived in California my whole life which has always had heavy, heated debates about allowing same sex marriages, allowing homosexuals in the military, and fighting for homosexual equality, so the history behind my state has made me grow up to be comfortable around gays even with the disturbing things I had been subjected to while I was growing up in Palm Springs. This class has now taught me many things I did not know about when it comes to the psychological aspects of being homosexual or bisexual, but I am still a heterosexual, and comfortable with it.

For the next two years I struggled with the concept that I might actually be gay. By junior I was certain that I was in fact all the things that I was called in middle school, but because of the negative memories I decided it was a secret that I was better of keeping to myself. That was until the spring semester of my senior year in high school when I decided that I was going to live my life the way I wanted to. I would no longer allow people to scare me into being anything other then what I wanted to be I would live my life openly and honestly. On the evening of February 16, 2014 I came out as Gay on literally every social media platform I owned. The following morning, to my surprise, my classmates for the most part greeted me with open arms. As I walked from class to class I received a staggering amount of compliments and support. I was quite frankly overwhelmed when I did get a negative comment and a dozen people rushed to my

As the bell rings, Grant Stevens steps out of a classroom into the quickly filling halls. He finds a friend and begins talking about what had happened throughout his day with a large grin on his face. Suddenly the smile fades as someone loudly yells, “Faggot,” at Stevens. He walks away.

It is clear that heterosexuality isn’t the norm. Instead of desperately attempting to exemplify the norm like Ms. Mac unfortunately did in her classroom, we must start addressing everyone on equal footing. Homosexuality is gaining momentum day by day in congress as state legislators continue to legalize gay marriage. As we start to see a shift in legislators it is time to start teaching equality in school by targeting our adolescent community. The only way to start to change the norm of heterosexuality is to target adolescents as the first come in contact with sexuality and gender. If we are able to reach kids from an early age, we may notice a dramatic shift in how we interact with each other. If river high choose to teach that there is no such thing as normal in terms of masculinity and femininity and teach students that we are all equal, students like Ricky would never face the hardships he did. While this isn’t an easy process, just the admission that Heterosexuality is not the norm is a

I’m gay. I didn’t want to be for a long time, but what I’ve come to realize is that there’s no reason for me to dislike who I am. I’m an intelligent, compassionate young man. I’m funny (at times) and have ambitions and goals. I want to teach United States history and coach high school football. I want to help educate the future generations of this country. I’ve worked full time factory jobs, minimum wage part time jobs, and most of what’s in between. I enjoy sports, eSports (which I someday hope I don’t have to distinguish from sports, but that’s a conversation for another time) and spending time with my friends. I am a perfectly normal, wonderful human being… and I am gay.

As a member of the graduating class of 2016 at Burncoat High School, I care deeply about its students and their wellbeing. I am currently enrolled at Smith College, and in my sociology class we read a book titled, “Dude You’re a Fag,” by C. J. Pascoe. This book has brought to my attention many problems regarding gender and sexuality in high schools. That being said, I am concerned about institutionalized heterosexuality1 and homophobia2 and their effects on the student population at Burncoat. During my four years at Burncoat High, I witnessed many instances of blatant homophobia with absolutely no intervention from anyone in a position of authority. This must be changed. The curriculum must be updated and new rules must be enforced.

Campbell Collegiate looks like any other high school on the outside, but it has many secrets within. In the 1970s rebellion was at an all time high, students disrespected teachers, and peers, the stole, vandalized property and assaulted others and staff didn’t know how to deal with it. The schools was in distress. Weeks passed as no action was taken, when finally construction began above the rusty old basement that smelt like sewer water which caused the school to smell bad. Rumours started spreading like wildfire as to what could it be. Tyson the Editor in Chief of the schools paper found this as a great opportunity to write the perfect cover story. As he walked down the crowded hall he heard the craziest things possible

“Coming out” is a means of identifying one’s sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. At its most basic, “coming out of the closet,” means being honest with those around you—friends, family, colleagues, and so forth—about your sexual orientation, about whom you are. It also means acknowledging one’s sexual orientation to self. Such disclosure is an ongoing, lifelong process rather than a one-time event. New personal, social, and professional situations require gay men and lesbians to make decisions about the degree to which they can be open about their sexual orientation (Morrow, 1996).

Sexual orientation and gender identity are two things that members of the LGBTQ community often fear opening up about. They fear that they will be rejected or harmed because of who they are, and it is important that we make all aspects of our society a safe place for every human being, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. As School-based risk and protective factors for gender diverse and sexual minority children and youth: Improving school climate explained, “64% of students feel unsafe at school because of sexual orientation prejudice, and 44% feel unsafe at school because of gender expression” (American Psychological Association). Therefore, schools in America should be making a conscious effort to make their buildings a safe, comfortable place for members of the LGBTQ community. Schools can do several things to promote the

“Good job, I’m proud of you.” Howie acknowledged Kevin, whilst he grabbed his hat to go work outside. Kevin smiled and opened the door. He left it ajar for his father, but took off down the street to go and get started on his new job with Cromwell shadowing him.

Growing up everyone is told that they are unique. “Be yourself,” “use your God-given talent,” and other expressions such as these impress the aforementioned narrative into our minds. Thus, when I was around thirteen years old, I thought my sexuality was just a part of me that only I had. I wanted to share this feature about myself; I wanted to take pride in it and show it off. Coming out to a close few friends showed positive and emotional responses. Riding on this high, I was ready to embrace myself in high school. Yet, my naivety took the best of me as I was going to an all male, religious high school. My sexuality has provided me with experiences that have and will continue to shape my life. These struggles, whether they are internal or external, have provided me with invaluable skills.

This paper offers a research proposal to deal with the topic of counseling homosexual students. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals (GLBT) attended school at some point in their lives. Its main concern is how school counselors approach the needs of these students. This paper seeks to establish if counselors ignore GLBT students’ needs or if they influence their institutions to implement policies that cater for these students’ unique needs. It will describe why research into this topic is necessary; discuss the rationale and justification of the study, then review the literature that it forms its basis. Finally, the paper will detail a thoroughly proposed research design using the selected topic.

“Ryan! Calm down, okay, look at me. Look into my eyes.” Tyler cut Ryan’s rambling off and put his hands on their shoulders before slowly moving to take their hands in his own, unclenching their fists. Ryan slowly looked up in Tyler’s eyes and took a shaky breath, “Good. There you go, now, tomorrow