Everyone dreams of the day they will meet “the one”, but for some the climb to get there is not easy and almost unreachable due to its breakage of the natural societal ideas. People move in fear day to day hoping that others don't notice their “little secret” and that they are ashamed that their heart goes after someone different than them. Different. Why is there even such thing as “different” love? Why should it matter that a woman loves a woman, a man loves a man, a white loves a black, or that people can love more than one person? Love is love and these people want to live a normal life with someone whom they will love for as long as they possibly can. Even so, they’re constantly degraded, discriminated and even killed. People will do anything …show more content…
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, we are given the image of a man in a mixed race relationship. His name, Dolphus Raymond. Dolphus will go around living his life in a shell, pretending to be a drunken man just so people can understand Dolphus’ way of love. No one even takes a chance to look back and understand Dolphus. To understand truly that love can be different. These problems are not only in mixed-race couples, but all over lgbt+ couples as well. Schools downright refuse to even think of acknowledging the discrimination amongst its queer population. Kayla, a 17-year-old from Pennsylvania, recollects an incident from her school,” ‘I’ve had to scrape ‘tranny’ and ‘faggot’ off the bathroom stall walls. I went to our center and told the secretary and she was like, ‘Oh, okay,’ but that was it’”(Discrimination Against LGBT Youth n.pag). Not only this, but a separate incident reported by a genderfluid kid named Charlie, a 17-year-old from Texas, recalls, “ ‘In sophomore history class, we had to stand up and say our name and one thing we’re apart of, and I said ‘Charlie, and GSA’ and a girl said ‘what’s GSA?’ and a boy in the corner said ‘That’s the faggot club.’ The teacher just kind of looked at him. The teacher’s turn a blind eye’”(Discrimination Against LGBT Youth n.pag). These …show more content…
The United States own civil rights refuse to acknowledge those who love the same sex. The topic of rights of Gays and Lesbians in the Civil Rights is stated as, “Unlike race, gender, age, ethnicity or religion, sexual orientation is not a protected characteristic under current federal civil rights law” (Gays and Lesbians n.pag). Our own government believes and decides that if someone does not love who society tells them to, then they can not and will not be protected with civil rights. They are prone to discrimination in a workplace and no one can defend them legally. How can this be allowed in the ever-evolving society we live in. People decide that they can sit upon a high horse and declare different beings lower than them. Not only in America is the government interfering with the love of individuals, but in multiple other countries as well. Countries such as Russia and Nigeria ban being lgbt+ all together. Nigeria particularly had a ban proposed in 2009, it
In a perfect world every single citizen within the borders of the United States would have the freedom to be with whomever they wish. No one would have to worry about being judged or mocked for their preferences. In the words of the late Harvey Milk, “It takes no compromise to give people their rights, it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.” This, however, is not a perfect world. People make mistakes, people commit crimes and people hate one another for their individual choices. You could be judged, categorized and demoralized by who you choose to fall in love with in this society. Gay and lesbian citizens are consistently denied rights that are
In “We must celebrate gender and sexual diversity in our schools” published in The Conversation, February 16 2016, Lucy Nicholas argues that the current commentary on the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community against schools and the SSC (Safe Schools Coalition) is extremely out of touch. Many of youths already understand their sexuality, whether it be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.
After reading week 13’s article by Coiser (2009) I agreed with the teachers who were served that said they would intervene if a queer student felt a problem was arising at school. The sad thing is that Coiser (2009) states that students from queer families do not feel confident that their teachers would intervene if a problem arises. This made me think back to my previous comment about how I am unaware of the queer families at
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students; part-time and full-time students; students with and without disabilities; and students of different races and national origins," it says. The guidance goes on to say that schools are obligated to "respond appropriately" to complaints of
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
When a child is stereotyped as “trash” just because of their families wealth, it obviously takes a toll on them mentally and physically. Dolphus Raymond is often looked at as one who does not care about social roles and goes against them, but his actions are very much affected by them. This is his response to when Scout asks him why he drinks cola out of that sack,”It helps folks latch onto a reason, when I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in clutches of whiskey that’s why he won’t change his ways, he can’t help himself…”(182). Social roles have made him hide away from the criticism. It also makes him pretend he is a drunk so he can escape cruelty because he is too afraid to tempt the strict “norms” of Maycomb. The criticism these characters have been through can affect their actions and confidence. Each character, Burris Ewell, Walter Cunningham and Dolphus Raymond, are all in different situations but all have had a negative experience with social roles. Yet, an individual's experience with social roles can be a little different than a whole
Transgender LGB and transgender students face discrimination and harassment at school all too often. Unfortunately, many schools officials know very little about how law requires then protect LGBT students. “Don’t be ashamed of your story it just might inspire someone else” 15% of trans people live poverty. Bottom surgery : surgery on the genitals to align the physical body to gender identity and expression.
Although gay and lesbian marriage is legal nationwide, that does not prevent states or counties from appealing this ruling. It’s also legal to be fired based on your sexuality, which is definitely not free. In the Constitution it states “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” It states that we are free to do what makes us happy as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, which means that citizens should be free to be in love with a person, no matter the gender, because it does not hurt anyone. Despite this claim, we still allow LGBT people to be discriminated against for who they love or are which is definitely not free, or what America claims to stand
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
Homophobia is a historic institution that has impacted the experience of many educators over the years. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans* (hereinafter referred to as queer and trans*) educators, administrators, students, and staff have always been a part of shaping America's schools; however, they have often learned creative strategies for remaining in the closet in order to protect themselves from “ostracism, parental outrage, punishment, and even dismissal” (Blount, 2005, p. 1). Riling against social shifts of (non-)acceptance, there have been documented cases dating back to the mid-1800s where educators have written letters to same-gender partners expressing their sexual and emotional desires. Blount (2005) specifically mentions that Addie
Many students may feel hesitant to speak out against anti-gay slurs out of fear of being persecuted themselves. In the U.K. a series of surveys commissioned by Stonewall reported that as many as 93 percent of young gay, lesbian and bisexual people who are ‘‘out’’ at school suffer verbal abuse (Thurlow, 2001). It is evident that it is not a coincidence the LGBTQ youth face the most harassment of any minority at school.
[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
The LGBT community in the United States has always had massive difficulty fitting into our society. For many years they put up with constant mistreatment and other forms of abuse coming from the those who do not agree with their lifestyle. They have for long advocated for the acceptance of their existence and punishment for crimes committed against them. One of the hardest battles the community has had to face was the right to marry in a society that still holds the values of a traditional relationship which is between a male and female. The struggle was quite harsh but it all paid off by 2015 when the supreme court granted gay couples the right to marry. This historical decision did not go without outcry and criticisms. Most of the dissatisfaction came from those who hold very religious values and beliefs that claims homosexuality is a sin. Religion has always been a part of the American way of life since the nation's founding and with that homosexuality has been demonized throughout our society. Now that gay couple possess the legal rights to have a marriage license, religious companies and/or stores are now denying service to LGBT couples as they believe it sinful on their behalf to even take part. Many people gay or straight who fought for gay rights believe these is pure discrimination and that stores should not have the right to deny service for any customer for any reason. However, this belief is unconstitutional and goes
Homosexuals are being discriminated in their own homes, work place, and schools. Vanessa Garcia was judged and bullied during her childhood because she was lesbian. Garcia “was afraid to go to school [because] everyone treated [her] like a freak”. Her fear came from the peers in her school harassing and calling her names. Garcia never felt like she fit in with her peers. At a moment she even felt that there was “something fundamentally wrong with [her]”; which almost caused her life when she tried to commit suicide. John Williams is another example of the fear that society creates for being a homosexual. Williams is a gay male student who aspires to become a middle school teacher. Nevertheless, he is afraid that there will not be a school that hires him because of his sexuality. Antigay prejudice and homophobia interfere with the dreams of many members of the LGBT community. Homophobia causes heterosexuals to believe that homosexuals are less worthy and therefore it is okay to treat them unfairly. People do not take in consideration the deep wounds they are causing gay individuals with their prejudices. LGBT are human beings and they should not be thought to be inferior.
For centuries the United States has been known for its civil rights and freedoms. Many Americans are angered by the idea of same-sex relationships and