Blogpost#3: It gets better

Bullying and Gay Rights

It Gets Better

Have you ever hung out with a gay person? Or do you anyone who is gay? Have you seen them so down because of the people who put them down? Go talk to them and listen to their problems, you might save their lives. 

 According to an article I found from the website called www.bullyingstatistics.org and according to recent gay bullying statistics, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit suicide than other youths. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgender identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being bullied due to their sexual orientation. About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop of school altogether. Although more and more schools are working to crack down on problems with bullying, teens are still continuing to bully each other due to sexual orientation and other factors.

Another article I found which was written by Jane Riese entitled "Youth Who Are Bullied upon Perceptions About Their Sexual Orientation" coming from the website called www.violencepreventionworks.org according to the website that bullying and harassment can have negative on the development and mental health of GLBTQ students, such as extreme anxiety and depression, relationship problems, low self-esteem, substance abuse, and thoughts of suicide. These students are also at much greater risk of physical assault than other children and youth. They have skipped school and some of them drop out of school. According to Jane, the author of the article, said that "As many as 93 percent of teenagers hear derogatory words about sexual orientation at least once in a while, with more half of teems surveyed hearing such words every day at school and in the community. Also that negative name-calling and harrassment about sexual orientation can be harmful to all students. Three out of four students who are bullied with such remarks are not identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, or questioning (GLBTQ). These derogatory comments are often used boardly to inflict harm in a school setting." 

I have gay and lesbian friends from college and high school, and during high school, a lot of my friends has opened up to me about their sexuality. I was shocked at first because I wasn't really used to having someone open to me about their sexuality, but now, I support them. I went to through a phase as well, coming from an all girls school, I went through the same-sex relationship thing and I over that now. I support my
gay and lesbian friends.

There's a Hollywood celebrity named Wanda Sykes and, she herself is out and proud of her sexuality, has an article written about her being lesbian and it was written by Sarah Warn, for www.afterellen.com, which is entitled "Wanda Sykes Comes Out as Gay and Married" and in the article it says that Comedian and actress Wanda Sykes officially came out this weekend, announcing to the estimated crowd of 1,00 gathered in Las Vegas at one of the many rallies for gay rights taking place around the country onn Saturday that she's gay, and that she legally married her wife in California on Oct. 25. Wanda Sykes said that "I don't really talk about my sexual orientation, I didn't feel like I had to. I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life. Everybody that knows me personally, they know I'm gay. But that's the way people should be able to live their lifes. We took a huge leap forward and then got dragged 12 feet back. I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked -- our community was attacked. Now, I got to get in their face, I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay." 

When I first heard about the gays, I was kind of confused because back in 5th grade, I was aware that a boy and a girl would end up together, but when my friend opened up to me that she was lesbian and she liked someone, I was shocked because it was really shocking. Now I am supporting them right now because, in my opinion, they need the support that they should get.

According to an article I have read written by Randy Dotinga, who wrote for health.usnews.com and the title of the article is called "Suicidal thoughts more likely for kids victimized over sexual orientation, research finds." and it says that students targeted because they are believed to be gay -- as many as one in seven young teens -- are much more likely than others to be suicidal and depressed, a new survey finds. Also that there are more than 10 percent of eighth-grade boys and girls reported that they're victimized because of perceived sexual orientation, according to a large survey of students in Washington state. There was a professor mentioned in the article named Dr. Donald Patrick, he teaches health services at the University of Washingtion in Seattle, he said "It has profound impaact on their quality of life and the way they think of themselves. Those in eighth grade are in a particularly vulnerable position. These children feel alone in life, that they don't feel as good as other people and their self-esteem is highly affected. It's clear that there's an association, and I wouldn't be so worried about the causation." 

One of the articles I found, which was written by Joshua Poncil for the www.gaystarnews.com, entitled "Male cheerleader forced to quite, change schools over 'gay' bullying" says that a 13 year old male cheerleader was forced to quit and leave his school just because bullies thought he was gay. The middle school student, known as BB, from Louisville, Kentucky, is taking action against the school district. When he joined the cheerleading squad at his first school, he was the only male in the squad. Perceived to be gay, bullies relentlessly tortured him in and out of the classroom. According to BB, who told WDRB, that "It was in the classroom, it was in the cafeteria, and it was in the hallway too. One time I was even practicing and they wre chasing me in the squad auditorium."  BB's mother also spoke out about her son's bullies and said "This is my son and I love him and I don't care what he does as long as it's positive and it's nothing that's going to end up with him in a juvenile detention center." 

I had a similar situation related to the article, I was once a cheerleader back in high school, my friends from my squad hated me for being lesbian and in the squad, we were all girls, my fellow cheerleaders didn't want to have a lesbian friend, so they kept bullying me until I decided to leave the squad. I was devasteted about leaving, but I was getting hurt. Now that I am over that phase of liking girls, my former teammates and I started talking again, I aslo go back to my high school and help the team. These things can make people get stronger and better at the things that they do.

I had a friend, who was lesbian, her family didn't accept her and her choice of sexuality, she was at the top of her game and she didn't expect that from her family, her friends stopped talking her and her classmates ignored her, after that she committed suicide. There is an article I found entitled "Suicide Draws Attention to Gay Bullying", which was written by Anahad O'Connor for www.well.blog.nytimes.com, and according to the article , was written 3 years ago, it says that 5 months ago, Jamey Rodemeyer, a Buffalo junior high school students, got on his webcam and created a video urging other gay teenagers to remain hopeful in the face of bullying. The 14 year old spoke of coming out as bisexual and enduring taunts and slurs at school. And he described, in at times desperate tones, rejection and ridicule from other teenagers. Jamey made the video as the part of the It Gets Better project, a campaign that was started last fall to give hope to bullied gay teenagers and he said "All you have to do is hold your head up and you'll go far. Just love yourself and you're set... It gets better." 

I really think that there is nothing wrong about changing sexualties, I was once lesbian. My comment for the article above, is that it always gets better when you surround yourselves with postive people and those people support you with your desicions, especially when you are having an identity crisis. It really does get better once you accept yourself as who you really are as person. I think being gay is a gift, because with every bad thing you face, it will only make you a stronger and better gay person.

Nicki Minaj had an interview with MTV's Jocelyn Vena and the title of the article is "Nicki Minaj tells her gay fans: 'Suicide is never the answer'" and she says that "I would encourage my gay fans to be fighters and to be brace. People face difficulties, no matter who you are. I faced difficulties with a lot of things. I face opposition every day, but I didn't kill myself and now, thank God, I'm here. So I want my life to be a testimony to my fans and my gay fans. I mean I could never imagine what they're going through. But I know that suicide is never the answer and I know that things always get better. So I am supporting you guys." I really agree with her, I have supporting the LGBT community for as long as I can imagine. I wouldn't be the person I am if I didn't go through that face in my life.

The LGBT youth are just normal people just because they are different, they like people from the same gender or they like both genders or they change their body parts. It doesn't really matter because they're just like us, you can't force to them to go change their sexuality or whatever, they're not like you. Don't expect them to be the same as you. I have been lesbian when I was in high school and I wasn't really because my dad and his side of the family didn't really accept me. I was much happier when I was able to overcome my phase as a lesbian, I am not saying that I wasn't happy as a gay person but it wasn't really the happiest moment of my life because I wasn't accepted in the community.

Accept the people around, whether it be the LGBT community or they're from a different race.