GLBTQP Harassment- My actual paper

[crimsonarcher]

I know it's long( at least 9 pages), but i decided to put it up here in case anyone is interested to read it. I'll salute you if you read the entire thing!


Imagine driving by a country road in Laramie, Wyoming, to see what seems tbe
a scarecrow tied to a fence. However, it’s a real person, beaten and unconscious. This
is Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, that was brutally beaten by two men, Russell
A. Henderson and Aaron J. McKinney, for being gay. After being severely beaten to the
head, Matthew was tied to a nearby fence in very cold weather, and was left there. He
was declared dead five days later in the hospital. This incident is one of thousands that
have occurred to GLBTQ individuals. GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, and
questioning) individuals have been victims of intolerance worldwide because of various
reasons, ranging from religion to abnormality, ever since they were acknowledged.

The most known reason for gay/lesbian harassment in all of history is religious
views against them. Many religious groups often call homosexuality a “sin””(Carreon).
Christianity, for example, cites verses from the Bible that justify their opinion. However,
Christianity isn’t the only religion that denounces homosexuality. According to Imam
Rashed, “The Koran teaches that sexual relations between men, or between women, are
not acceptable. to say such a thing is not harassment“(Hutcheon). Muslims also see
homosexuality as sinful, and therefore, the predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle
East, such as Afghanistan, are mostly anti-homosexual. Religious views are often the
number one reason of intolerance towards the GLBTQ individuals.

Another reason that intolerance occurs to GLBTQ individuals is how
“abnormal” they look in our society today. Being different in today’s society often brings
intolerance:

Gay, Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning(GLBTQ) youth face

tremendous difficulties in a society where heterosexuality seems to be the only

acceptable orientation. Homosexuality is regarded as deviant, and variation

from cultural concepts of “normal gender” often evokes hostility or violence

( Earls).

If someone wasn’t heterosexual, then they’d be considered abnormal and forced to live
in a society where you’d be harassed, hurt, or even murdered. Hate crimes towards the
GLBTQ are based on the differences of sexual orientation. “Homosexuals are often
characterized by hate groups as sexually promiscuous people who spread the AIDS virus
throughout the world”(Able 17). Due to this stereotype, homosexuals are seen as the
culprits and are persecuted. In today’s society, those who are not heterosexual are more
susceptible to intolerance from many hate groups.

Harassment of any kind can lead to hate crimes, and GLBTQ crimes are no
exception. Hate crimes occur because of the attacker’s hate of the victim’s gender, race,
sexual orientation, and religion. A certain incident that happened in the United States
opened the eyes of many Americans, even worldwide, to the real dangers of gay/lesbian
harassment.

On October 17, 1998, in Laramie, Wyoming, Russell A. Henderson and Aaron

J. McKinney robbed and brutally beat Matthew Shepard, a gay college student.

After the attack, they tied Mr. Shepard to a fence in subfreezing weather. He died

Five days later. The attackers allegedly targeted their victim because he was gay

( Able 15).

This incident affected many people, and also made them realize the real troubles that
GLBTQ individuals face very day. However, as bad as it sounds, some people actually
rejoiced his death. Reverend Fred Phelps of Kansas has gone to funerals of GLBTQ
people, with members of his church, and protested homosexuality in general with his
infamous slogan, “GOD HATES F***!”( “Anti-gay violence“).This angered many, but by
the Constitution, protesting is perfectly legal under freedom of speech. Even today, he
still goes to GLBTQ funerals and protests in them. Looking back, in the Holocaust,
thousands of homosexuals were killed, and were also stuck with a pink triangle to show
that were gay, or at least perceived to be(“Anti-gay violence“). This shows that
homosexuals were also persecuted alongside the Jews. Closer to home here in California,
26-year-old Satender Singh was harassed due to his sexuality at Lake Natomas by a
Russian-speaking group(Carreon). The attacking group is thought to be part of the Slavic
Evangelical Church, which participate in anti-gay protests in the Sacramento area
(Carreon). Since he was perceived to be gay, Singh was punched once in the face, falling
backwards, which cracked his head. This ruptured a part of the brain stem that controls
most of humans’ functions. He died four days later( Carreon). Satender was a victim of a
hate crime only because some people didn’t like how he was acting in the park. Also in
California, 15-year-old Lawrence King died after he was shot by a classmate on February
12 who shot him based on his perceived sexual orientation in Oxnard, CA (Raja).
A fellow student went as far to shoot his classmate just because he was perceived
to be gay. It should be clear by now that harassment should be taken seriously, because
people are dying now due to sexual differences. It may even be happening to someone
right now, somewhere in the world. Gay/lesbian harassment can and/or will undoubtedly
lead to hate crimes, which will make GLBTQ acceptance even harder to gain.

As with any form of harassment, the results can be just as deadly as the incident,and GLBTQ incidences are the perfect example. In terms of GLBTQ harassment,
homophobia directly influences GLBTQ youths’ rates of suicide, substance abuse,
teenage pregnancy, violence, and HIV-related behaviors( Earls). This means that with
every incident that occurs to any gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, and questioning individual,
the more depressed they become, turning to substances for relief, or even resort to
suicide to escape their problems. School is usually seen as a safe learning center, but
that’s not the case for some GLBTQ students. GLBTQ Students who experience
verbal/physical abuse at school have poor grades and truancy, which forces them to repeat the school year( Earls). This can hurt a GLBTQ student’s chances of succeeding in
school. Also, the harassment towards one gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, and questioning
student can affect the people around them as well. Some GLBTQ youth usually commit
suicide( or at least attempt to) because of early awareness of sexual orientation, stress,
violence, lack of support, school dropout, family problems, homelessness, and substance
abuse (Earls). Adding to the list of effects, a family member that is either gay, lesbian, bi,
transgender, and questioning will make others sad once they’ve gone. The results that
appear after gay/lesbian harassment can be ever-lasting and be more painful that the
actual experience.

The results of yesterday’s intolerance towards GLBTQ individuals will somehow
impact the world today. In today’s world, different ethnicities impact homosexuality:
“Many ethnic minority communities reinforce negative cultural perceptions of
homosexuality“( Earls). Because of this, GLBTQ youth of color are more likely to be
ashamed of their sexual orientation, and do anything to try to please those who believe
their culture should be a certain way. Also: GLBTQ youth of color usually take in bad
messages from society about sexual orientation, and eventually hate themselves, as well
as suffer from social and emotional isolation(Earls). The physical/emotional isolation
from others often results in depression, or even suicide. Specifically, in the Latino
communities, masculinity and Roman Catholicism causes homophobia and stops GLBTQ
Latinos from getting much-needed HIV prevention information( Earls). Of course, this doesn’t apply only to Latinos. GLBTQ youth of color face both homophobia and racism
for being part of an ethnic minority, which makes things twice as bad( “Black and Gay”).
The definition of homophobia is the hate/prejudice against homosexuals. Homophobia
happens to most, if not every GLBTQ individual on this planet, on every part of the
globe. The effects that gay/lesbian harassment can have on the world has a direct impact
on the world and its peoples today.

The issues that appear due to gay/lesbian harassment changes the cultures in our world today. Homosexuality in general has, well, scared people into thinking that the
love between two men and two women will sway from the average heterosexual family
lifestyle. According to Matthew Staver, “ Same-sex marriage would result in the
Abolition of male and female by making gender irrelevant, and the abolition of gender
would have devastating effects on children”( Richman). Basically, the legalization of
marriage equality will anger some, but enlighten others. Another statement claims that:
“We must not rest until we once and for all defined marriage as the union of a man and
a woman in the United States Constitution“( Richman). People are really against marriage
equality and homosexuality in general that they want to establish it as a constitutional
right to declare gay marriage as abnormal. Now, the world is split between those who
support marriage equality, and the there are those who fight to abolish it legally, socially,
and religiously. In the end, the issues that homosexuality brings slowly, but surely
changes the world’s present culture.

In conclusion, gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, and questioning individuals are
constantly harassed because of how they are perceived, either as a sin or abnormal, all
around the world. However, all the background, facts, results, and specific incidences all
lead to one overall idea/theme. We, as human beings, have to treat every other person,
whether they’re family, friends, or strangers, as we would want to be treated. GLBTQ
individuals should be no exception to that idea. Also, if you are one of those people who
use the word “gay” as a reference to something being “stupid”, just don’t do it. You
wouldn’t say a racial slur to a friend of yours, so why should you use “gay”? Accept
people for who they are. Hopefully, harassment against GLBTQ will eventually come to
an end so that they can finally live peacefully in this world.

You Made It!


In the end, I got an A-!!

Wow that's really good. Nicely written and well researched

[heatqueen]

That's really good! Well done!

[LOVEjames]

The only criticism I would have is to be a tad bit more passionate in your writing. But that might just be because I'm overly-passionate in my writing. :P

And on the subject of GLBTQ writing... this is an assignment I did early this year for my English class. The prompt was to write a persuasive essay about whatever you wanted. xD I had a lot of fun with it.

Gay marriage is a highly contested issue in the beginning of the 21st century. There have been many debates regarding it, it’s a major political factor during the ’08 presidential race, and it’s something that a lot of people seem to have a strong opinion on. It’s an important issue, and one that needs to be discussed. Many people argue that it goes against their religion and the Bible. Some suggest alternatives such as “domestic partnerships,” thinking that homosexuals should be happy with the so-called ‘alternative’ – but fail to see how demeaning the term is. Others believe that homosexuals don’t deserve the same rights as heterosexual couples because they think that they can’t really ‘love’ each other like a man and a woman can. There seem to be so many different reasons for someone to be against gay marriage; however few people are able to recognize how small of a request it is, or how little it affects society as a whole.

There are very few religions that do support homosexual couples and homosexual sex, but a vast majority do not. In Christianity it is said that a man sleeping with another man is an “abomination;” while Islam says that while it may be a natural desire, it is forbidden and goes against the natural aim of sexual activity. The main thing is to see how, for lack of a better word, outdated some of these texts are. And while that may be controversial, you should think about some of the things that the Bible also says that “The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak.” And while you may not think that you can equate homosexuality with women not being able to speak in church, did we not just go through the revolution of women’s rights less than a century ago?

Many alternatives have been suggested instead of homosexual marriage including “domestic partnerships”, or, “civil unions”. While these seem like perfectly logical and acceptable solutions to an ever growing debate, you must consider the term “domestic”. Animals, servants – these are things you pair with the word “domestic”. To domesticate is to tame and control. Because of this, many people in the homosexual society find the idea of a domestic partnership extremely demeaning. It’s not unreasonable for a couple to be displeased with a controlled partnership while other members of society are able to have marriages.

It is not uncommon to find that religious leaders and the majority of republican leaders believe that those involved in a potential “domestic partnership” do not deserve the same rights as heterosexual married couples. There are a vast amount of laws (1,138 to be precise) purely dedicated to the federal rights, protections, and benefits of married couples. Homosexual couples, however, are simply denied most of these rights. For example, a spouse as the right to take twelve weeks of unpaid leave off of work to care for their husband or wife and be guaranteed the same job when they get back. Same-sex partners are denied this right because they are not recognized as “family” under the law. It’s hard to understand how someone can be denied the right to sacrifice their job for three months to care of a loved one, only asking that the same job be waiting for them when they get back.

For homosexuals to be told that they’re going to Hell for something they never had a choice in is simply wrong on a number of levels. To categorize them with animals and servants while others enjoy a comfortable marriage by law is wrong. To deny them the same basic human rights that others are granted only because they’re dating someone of the opposite sex is wrong. With effort, and by changing a few things in our world, we could fix so many of these injustices, yet no one is fully willing to take the steps.

[Trumpetplyer23]

Great job!!! Very well-written. I like it a lot.

[musicgirl112233]

Awesome story!

[Grof142007]

that was a great read and i would have been dissapointed if u didnt get a A

thnks for posting

[Peridot]

Very good paper.

Sounds like something I would write.

Congrats on the A!
Change the world and get good grades. Killing two birds with one stone, I see.

[shakerdancee]

Okay... thanks for posting and I SWEAR I'll read it tomorrow.

goodnight