07 Feb What issues do LGBTQ people face?
Being LGBTQ has its challenges in today’s society, although progress is occurring. More and more people support gay rights and openly support their friends and family members who are LGBTQ.
Prejudices
However, many people still hold prejudices and fears about the LGBTQ community, making it difficult for LGBTQ to openly express who they are. Many religions believe that being gay is wrong, or against God’s wishes. As a result, they believe that LGBTQ individuals need to be “fixed” through therapy and/or religion.
DID YOU KNOW? According to the United Nations, same sex relationships are criminalized in 76 countries (mostly in Africa and the Middle East).
(Source: The Week, Dec. 20, 2013)
Presently, in the United States, 17 states have legalized gay marriage whereas 33 states have a ban on same sex marriages (www.gaymarriage.procon.org). It continues to be a subject of immense debate with court cases debating its legality going all the way to the Supreme Court. During the Grammies of 2014, Grammy winner Macklemore sang his hit song, “Same Love” which openly expresses his views that the music community (and others) need to better support the rights of LGBTQ people. With the help of Queen Latifah and Madonna, a wedding ceremony was then performed where 20 couples were married – many of them same sex unions. This shows the growing movement to support LGBTQ rights, which some have equated to the civil rights movement of the present.
DID YOU KNOW? Same sex marriages report less conflict and higher levels of happiness than heterosexual marriages.
(Source: The Week, July 19, 2013)
Family Pressures
Because of this difficult environment, telling people, especially a person’s parents, that you are LGBTQ can feel very scary. Lots of teens report that their parents would “just not understand,” “feel horrified,” or “be disappointed in them.” Therefore, they feel they need to hide their sexual identity from their parents and the world. This can become extremely stressful – often leading to anxiety, depression and even self-hate.
“LGB adults who reported high rates of parental rejection in their teens were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times to report high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs and 3.4 times more likely to have unprotected sex than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.”
(Source: Monitor on Psychology, March 2009)
Social Pressures
Moreover, LGBTQ people are often the targets of bullying and ostracism (being purposefully left out). In order to feel safe and connected to people, people who identify as LGBTQ will often, again, choose to keep their preferences a secret. Seeing how some people treat members of the LGBTQ community often makes LGBTQ people feel fearful or ashamed. To read about how you can help change that experience, read the next post.
(If you would like to read about how difficult being LGBTQ can be, Moffie by Andre Carl Van der Merwe is a good read.)
WLKHS 1409
Posted at 14:31h, 11 DecemberI honestly feel bad to know that this happens to the LGBTQ community
WLKHS1325
Posted at 16:36h, 08 NovemberReading about the challenges that LGBTQ people face makes me very upset. I personally know many people who are affected by the discriminations above and it is absolutely heart wrenching to see them in pain, especially when it is caused by the people that they have to live with all the time. Personally I just cannot wrap my head around how people could be so opposed to other people just because of who they love.
WLKHS1311
Posted at 16:31h, 08 NovemberI don’t have any feelings for LGBTQ people because that is their life and I don’t control their life, and that is their choice if they want to become LGBTQ.
WLKHS1101
Posted at 15:19h, 08 NovemberI feel that the issues they go through are wrong. People should believe what they want to believe and not go through the stress or bullying in life.
WLKS1109
Posted at 14:05h, 07 NovemberPersonally I strongly disagree with gay marriage and I believe that it should not be supported. The problems are understandable but at the same time, must be dealt with since a good amount of society doesn’t support the LGBTQ.
WLKHS 1104
Posted at 14:03h, 07 NovemberI feel that the way LGBTQ community is treated is not alright. These people do not know how it feels.