LGBT

2009 National School Climate Survey: Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT Students Experience Harassment in School
This article taken from GLSEN.org

REFLECTION: 
People are bullied everyday because of their sexual orientation. People can't choose the way they feel or the way they think, as least in my opinion they can't. Last year, a boy transferred to my high school from our cities rival high school. There was talk all over the school about "the boy that dressed like a girl". The word was, he was tormented at his old school about the way he dressed and they way he felt.

As it turns out, this boy was in my math class. This was the first time I had seen this infamous new student all day. He was actually really enjoyable to be around. He was funny and very open to everyone the room was full of energy. We had some time towards the end of the period to talk and since the class was small, it basically a class discussion. This boy told us what had happened at his last school and his situation really bothered me - he told us that the older and "popular" boys would throw things at him, they would call him names and torture him to no end. Eventually it became to much for him and he went to the administration and to his surprise, they basically told him they could not help in this situation and that "boys will be boys". That was the last straw so this student transferred schools for his physical and emotional sake.

"There has been an increase over time in the presence of several LGBT-related resources and supports in schools" Since this increase has occurred, many students at these schools were attending classes more, they could identify a person they had to talk to if they had any problems or issues and there was a decrease in harassment including verbal, physical and physical assault. Hopefully this positivity will continue and will develop into even bigger and even better movements.

"Being out in school had positive and negative repercussions for LGBT students - outness was related to higher levels of victimization, but also higher levels of psychological well-being." These students have to come to school - which already throws judgements right in your face the moment you walk through the doors - and they must stay strong even though they have a big part of their life eating them away on the inside. They're stuck. What this quote is saying is: coming out leads to two things, a sense of relief, as though a weight is taken off of your shoulders as well as an opportunity for people to harshly judge you and look at you differently.

What would the world be like if the norm WASN'T being straight? What would life look like for these LGBT students then? Why does it have to be STRAIGHT intending as though someone that isn't in this specific category is "crooked" or "unbalanced"? There are so many - too many - unanswered questions.





If family and friends are in denial about their loved one coming out, they'll start to think that maybe its just a phase that they're going through... I believe this image went well with that thought as well as this article.