By Bry Bird | Photo courtesy Rainbow by Chrisser| Creative Commons |
In this generation, being gay, bi-sexual, lesbian, or transexual isn’t really anything new. It’s become more acceptable in this day and age, and many people don’t find it taboo. Yet, in the school system, it still isn’t as easy as some people would think.
The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Alliance out of Austin reported in their 2011 National School Climate Survey that nationwide 81.9 percent of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3 percent reported being physically harassed and 18.3 percent reported being physically assaulted at their school in the past year because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, 71.3 percent heard homophobic remarks “often” at school. Coming out is so hard because students are afraid of getting hurt physically and mentally.
Why can’t we all just be open minded? If a family member came out as gay, bi-sexual, lesbian, or transexual would it be hard to love them the same way? People have the right to be who they want to be. Nobody should force another person tell anyone how to live their life. This is supposed to be “America, the home of the free?” Owning someone’s rights to be happy isn’t okay. Bullying can break down a person, make them depressed, or even force them to commit suicide. Why? Because they’re afraid of being judged and bullied.
According to www.fiercegoodbye.com, suicide takes the lives of about 30,000 each year, and as many as 30 percent of these are completed by gay and lesbian youth.
If people don’t think it is right to go out and murder someone they don’t even know, they shouldn’t bully people either, for any reason, because you never know what it can do to a person. Being gay is a way of life for some people just like being straight. Coming out shouldn’t be hard, but for some people it is because of fear of being judged, bullied, or harassed.
There are some gay/straight groups that bring both communities together. Some people should join those, and help their LBGT’s community by accepting them, and not treating them different. It’s the year 2012; shouldn’t everyone be treated the same? Shouldn’t everyone be treated like a human being? Maybe if some give others a chance then they will see that being gay, bi-sexual, lesbian, or transexual isn’t just a sexual “preference,” it’s away of life. If people tell their children to “treat others the way you’d want to be treated,” that should mean everyone.
To bring down the suicide rate among teens, we should bring down the bullying. We are all only human. And Rome wasn’t built in a day, so we can all understand that change is hard. However, love is love and everyone should have a chance at it no matter what sex we prefer. Coming out is scary but it shouldn’t be that terrifying.
If you experience bullying for any reason, seek help from your counselor or from the district’s bullying web site at http://www.neisd.net/School_Administration/bully/index.html