I was thinking about my college today. There's a lot of subjects done there, but at the campus, they do mainly art and music. I've been there about 8 months now, and I kinda noticed that the older students there (As in the adult students. Above 30/40.) are kinda closed minded about stuff. I mean, I was walking along the corridor with my pink hair and singing Queen songs, and this group of old women were looking at me as if I'd just farted in their handbags and handed it to them (LOL?!). I assume that it's because they were raised in a time when everything was repressed and sorta... bland? But then again, one day in class, the subject of homosexuality came up in our class. (We just discuss random stuff while working away.) The oldest guy who was in our class was spouting some crud about it being horrible, and a bad influence for his children that homosexuals are allowed to have normal jobs, live together and adopt children. He also said something about how gay people who earn money in the UK is taking away from the rights of 'normal' people. He said, in quoted words, "They take up housing that could be used for real families, and the money that they earn to basically keep up their sick lifestyles could be used so that people like me, with a real family, could get money to support my kids." Four of the people in my class agreed with him, all of them under the age of 18. The people between 18 and his age, they all sorta ignored it at the time, but when we discussed it later, once the guy had gone, they said that he had a point. It made me wonder. Is the world really becoming more gay friendly, or is it just a front put on a problem so that the government can say that it's all okay?
That actually scares me. o_o As a whole, I would DEFINTLY say the world as a whole is getting more tolerant. Marriage Equality is taking huge leaps forward every year, slowly but surly. The UN is putting out a proposition to de-criminalize homosexuality world wide. Pride Parades are growing and expanding EVERY year. More and more anti-discrimination laws are being put up. Not saying that its getting better in every little pocket of society everywhere, but as a whole. Even your school, im sure your not allowed to be discriminated against for being gay. Sure, some/alot of people may not like you for it, but they would never try and take action against you without the fact that severe punishment would be dealt back to them. More than if they beat up a straight person for sure.
It's getting better. But one thing Ireally, REALLY do notice is that its the newer generation, not the older. That sounds almost as bad as the time my writing class was made to read a story on black people. And I'm the only black person in the class. And the thesis had to do with the word nigger. Weather blacks were using it inappropriately and my teacher just JUMPS head first into the roundtable discussion by using it. Meanwhile everyones staring at me like I'm going to go up and anally rape him for using it. Like they were expecting me to stop him or something. There's nothing wrong with it...but then the whole class started saying it over and over and it turned into a debate and I felt so alienated. People kept asking for my opinion as if I were treated special and noone wanted to tread over my feelings. Just say the damn word, but when people act all stupid it makes me feel really awkward. I felt like running away from class but that would've been so embarrassing. I was sitting there the whole time with a straight face, mentally facepalming.
This video kind of gave me hope for tolerance. At least considering these guys were pretty obnoxious and its in a New Jersey sports bar.. I love hidden camera social experiments, haha. And I feel touched when I see people who have your back. [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD97D6OEV80&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
That's a really good vid, gives a bit of hope. I can see peoples points of view in regards public displays of affection, but only if people are bothered by both straight and gay displays. But as I said it's does give some hope
Wow i LOVE that video! Good find! I feel so warm and fuzzy inside. Side note: That couple in the video was so cute :3 totally what im going to be like with a boyfriend in a bar too hah, partly just for reactions :x
Indeed, tolerance has become a value of Western society, and something which people pretend to possess even if they do not. As generations go on, the newer generations are raised with this value and are therefore more likely to genuinely possess it than the older generations, who claim to be tolerant to conform with the values of society. My generation is pretty-much totally okay with homosexuals. Homophobes are now the minority, and it's considered seriously uncool to bash gays or harrass them over their sexuality. My parents' generation is less enthusiastic about gays, but nevertheless are tolerant. For example, my aunt didn't respond badly when her daughter confessed to being a lesbian, but she wasn't too happy about it either and it's not what she wants for her daughter. She tolerates it, but doesn't like it. My grandparents' generation is almost completely homophobic. My grandmother, for example, considers homosexuality to be a perversion and an abomination. As tolerance increases, so does the environment of tolerance, and in that environment tolerance is nutured and promoted amongst the newer generations.
why is it a problem that gay people are contributing members of soceity. it is no ones fault but his own if he cant afford to support his children... Honestly, I do not know any gay/lesbian/transgendered/bisexual people who throw it in others faces. Infact, they are far more normal and well adjuested then alot of straight people I know. Sexuality is not a judge of stability. I am gay, I work in the school district. I get paid to keep kids safe, but there are people who would demand I was fired simply because I am gay. To me that is incredibly sad. my sexuality is not a issue interferring with my ability to complete the job given to me.
I honestly don't see why it makes a difference what I said in reply, but since you brought it up, I ended up asking him what he would do if his children turned out gay. His retort? That he would throw them out, and cut contact with them. Again, I replied. "You can't be a great father if that's what you would do to your own children." At this point, he went off on a rant about how his children were raised to be straight, and would not be influenced by the 'gay media'. After that, I asked him if heterosexuality was also a disease, as they are the same thing, by any standards. He shut up after that. So I did stand up for my rights, as I am assuming you thought I would not have? And to the person who mentioned my living in Dundee, I don't actually live there, but a little ways off in a place called Carnoustie. xD;; Not much better by repute, and don't I know about the tolerance! ]:
I doubt that your classmates actually AGREED with him; perhaps they were just going with the flow to fit in? Was there anyone else in the class saying that he was wrong and expressing an alternative point of view?
Thinking back to when I was in my teens and early 20s and how things were then, I would say that people are definitely a lot more tolerant. That doesn't mean everyone is of course, we still have some way to go, but the overall trend is definitely in our favour.
