2. Why is Gay used as an insult ( in schools) The Stonewall group says 65% of young gay people experience homophobic bullying. And many who aren't homosexual also get labelled as gay. Homophobia is regarded as a form of peer group control. Boys have to be masculine and macho and anyone who isn't must go along with it or face being bullied. It's a form of bullying that domineering people seek out vulnerable people and school age is a time of emergent sexuality which is itself a vulnerable time. The potency of such words is in the fact they go to the very core of who we are. Yet sexual orientation is also invisible The effectiveness of using homophobia as a bullying tactic is that children cannot demonstrate that they are heterosexual as sexually is not physically visible like race or gender. Sexual orientation is a source of potential vulnerability. If there's an area of life that children themselves feel insecure about they're aware of their own vulnerability. The whole point of bullying is about identifying and accentuating weakness in others. It's basically a fear of the different: if different in one way they must be different in another, easily mocked, way.
3. The consequence of Homophobia One reason for the increase in use could be because "gay" has partly lost its sexual connotations among the younger generation. For the majority of youngsters it has replaced words such as "lame". The problem with this is consider a teenage boy or girl, just coming to terms with themselves and hearing the common term describing their sexuality - gay - being used as a synonym for something un-cool, "sad" and disappointing. Imagine how a homosexual teenager or child feels about growing up "gay" when the connotation of this among children is that it is second class and pathetic There are countless suicides every year by gay men and lesbians, particularly youth, which mental health professionals tell us are not the direct result of the victim's homosexuality, but is actually the result of how the homosexual is treated by society.When one lives with rejection day after day, and society discounts one's value constantly, it is difficult to maintain perspective and realize that the problem is others 'perceptions, not one's own, which is why suicide is several times as common among gay men as it is among straight men.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that as many as 30% of completed youth suicides each year are performed by gays and lesbians.
4. The Harmful effect of homophobia on Straight people Homophobia also has a negative effect on the straight community. In school, for a boy, being clever and interested in academia is gay, being kind and thoughtful is gay, being respectful to a parent, authority figure or woman is gay. For a man, being sexually considerate - that is, not sleeping with everything female that moves - is gay. Having non-sexual friendships with women is gay. Being nurturing and considerate is gay. Having a friend who is gay(homosexual) , is gay. Choosing not to drink until you puke is gay. Society still socially reinforce industrial revolution-style gender identity on our boys and men so that to be a "real man" you must be the opposite of anything even remotely considered feminine. People wonder why violence against women is rising, why boys run away from academic pursuits in school , why they rebel against authority and steer themselves from the true expression of emotion despite the consequences? In part they do these things because even when it's irresponsible or illegal, such behaviour serves to reinforce that they are a "real man." Being remotely emotionally intelligent and even slightly able to show appropriate emotion is gay.
5. Role Model Problem Role models are there to reflect and support us. It's not only in the past that LGBT people have been excluded in society, or feel isolated with the "normal" world, especially when growing up knowing, or starting to realise, that you are gay, and having to build up the courage to tell your parents, friends and family, as well as facing the growing sense of shame and isolation . It's hard to imagine when you don't have to go through that, Imagine the feeling of utter exclusion and fear. Having positive role models, knowing that other people were gay and they weren't mutant, manly, man-hating freaks meant that gays can have aid with coming to terms with my their sexuality. The visibility today of famous gay people in all walks of life, storylines in soaps, whole television programmes that deal with gay storylines all adds to integration and togetherness, it doesn't sit apart from it. You don't work towards integration, multiculturalism and equality by ignoring all the things that make up the varied elements of people - you get there by understanding and celebrating it. Surely all of us have had role models that reflect something about us, and that is the very reason for their role in our lives? There is a serious lack of good role models in the media for young teenagers to look up to. One reason for a gay teenager’s isolation is because the chance of an average gay teenager to grow up and become the next Elton John is highly unrealistic. Some gay teenagers don't have the luxury of reassurance that they can be happy , successful if they are gay even if they are not ‘in your face gays’ / playing up the ‘camp stereotype’
6. Famous Gay(/bisexual/lesbian) People Tracy Chapman , Angelina Jolie, Alexander the Great, Giorgio Armani , James Dean, Ellen DeGeneres , Stephen Fry , Mark Jacobs , Elton John , Leonardo DaVinci , Liberace , Alexander McQueen , Freddie Mercury, George Michael , Michelangelo , Rosie O'Donnell , Portia de Rossi , Mark Simpson (responsible for X-Men) , Gianni Versace , Oscar Wilde , Kenneth Williams , Tennessee Williams , Virginia Woolf , Will Young, Ricky Martin , Neil Patrick Harris (plays Barney in How i Met Your Mother) Without LGBT people , the world would be a very different place , there have been LGBT individuals who have made significant contributions to the movie world , the music world , the entertainment world , the philosophical world , the arts world e.c.t
7. Things Will Change It is important to remember that Social norms always change. In the past black people were seen as inferior and un-cool but in today's world black people dominate the music , sport and fashion world. In the same way whilst we may grow up believing that gays are inferior and un-cool our grandchildren may hold a very different view and respect for gay people.
