Thankfully, I have never been subjected to any type of personal bias but I have witnessed plenty of episodes from those close to me as well as on the Internet and television. The experience that I am choosing to focus on will be that of a friend/family member. She was my best friend before I married into her family, so now we're like sisters! In high school, I was the first of many to find out that she was gay. I actually found out by mistake. She, I, and a few of our other closest friends would often share lockers in high school. We both had a notebook that was similar and I accidentally picked up her notebook instead of my own. I realized this once I opened it up and noticed a letter written to a female detailing how she was in love with her. It was a total shock but I was determined to be there for my friend regardless! When people at school found out they treated her SO BAD! Calling her all types of cruel names, etc. Her family wasn't very accepting at first either. Her mother threw her out of the house and she had to live with her grandmother until her mother realized she had made a huge mistake. Even today, she still gets a few whispers, stares, and negative comments but our community has grown to love her for who she truly is.....not who she chooses to love!
The fact that she is gay has truly affected her equity. People definitely look at and treat her differently in some situations. For example. She and her girlfriend started to attend my church. A few others who attend my church are gay as well. Not soon after, other people from other churches were saying that our preacher was starting to cater to gay people because we had church full of them. I feel this was sad because we come to church to praise the Lord and not too be judged. Equity is treating others fairly and equally. I feel that others trying to speak negatively of those trying to serve God is definitely not fair or equal. How fair is it too be judged in the house of the Lord?
I feel that equity issues are getting a bit better for the LGBT community. Gay people are now allowed to marry one another and it seems as though people within the Transgender community are being more accepted since Caitlyn Jenner has been accepted and even honored.
Hi Shawanza
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to hear that you accepted your relative as an equal. I had a cousin that was gay and I treated him badly when we were kids. I would call him a "Sissy", tease him, and punch him for no reason at all. I can tell you that I did these things because he behaved differently from the other boys and I did not understand why. When we connected again as adults he told me that he thought I did not contact him because he was gay. The real reason was because he changed his contact information like the weather. I felt badly when he told me this because I had a negative impact on him from when we were kids. We actually grow up together in the same house for a number of years. I love my cousin and I made sure to tell him that until the day he passed. Thank you for sharing.
Shelita
Shawanza,
ReplyDeleteThat is so awesome that you were such a loyal friend. I to had a very similar experience with my best friend who was male. He came out our sophomore year of college and he to experienced some pretty nasty things. I am thankful his parents were very excepting...I kind of think they knew but were waiting for him to feel comfortable enough to talk to them about it.