According the Macleans magazine, the majority of fundamentalist Christians who consider homosexuality to be a sin have never met someone who is a part of the queer community. Clearly, their stereotypes and prejudices are rooted in the fears of the unknown. In this case, any positive interaction that we can have with those who have very little personal experience with the queer community can, and has proven to, make differences in the ways that people view members of the LGBT community, simply because it helps them realize that we are just ordinary people who are fighting for the respect of our love. Considering this, it is important that we show care to those that we encounter, especially if they know or might find out about our orientation, because we don't fully know what point in their journey that they are in accepting members of the queer community.
Caring for others is a fantastic way to demonstrate that we are good people who deserve to have the same rights and respect as everyone else. Raised in a fundamentalist Christian environment myself, I had never met a homosexual myself until I was 19 years old, volunteering at a group home for people with disabilities, which also happened to be a haven for members of the queer community. This encounter with wonderful, caring people really challenged the stereotypes that I had been raised to hold against the gay community and, inadvertedly, provided me with a safe place to begin questioning my own sexuality. When I was to later come out to my parents, it was their positive, personal encounters with other caring members of the queer community which made (and is making) their journey towards accepting me much easier for them.
Volunteer work is a really great way to give back to others and it provides the opportunity to meet people who might not otherwise be in your circle of aquaintence, extending the possibility of transforming stereotypes of our community for those who might not be personally acquainted with members of the queer community. In every encounter that we have with others, it is important that we share our ability and desire to positively contribute to our communities, both within and without our circle of pride.
Even within our own community, there are many opportunities to show our pride through our care. According to the fantastic documentary, For the Bible Tells Me So, gay and lesbian teenagers are three to seven times more likely to commit suicide, and each suicide represents twenty-one attempts. Members of our community, especially those who are still teenagers, are in desperate need of our care, and an important way of sharing our pride is through volunteering or financially supporting organizations which are there to support LGBT members in need of care.
Do you have any examples of how care transformed stereotypes or worked as a means of showing pride?
3 comments:
This is a great post :D I do believe that if more people that hate homosexuality/the queer community could interact more positively with gays & lesbians, and see we're not some dangerous part of society to be feared we could all come to a better understanding...maybe that's a little too optimistic but I believe it.
I'm just glad that when I was little, I was never taught being gay was "wrong". But on the other hand, I was never taught that it was "right" or even "okay" either so I was always in that kind of grey area, which made it really hard when I started having my own doubts about my sexuality. But closer to high school when I kinda had a little eye-opener about the world and gay people in general, I finally came to my own conclusion that these are just humans too you know? That's like a really long story cut short but yeah.
So again, great post and this Showing Your Pride series is excellent!
thats why i really like the rainbow world fund a lgbt group that does work around the world to help others
Hello. My name is Edgar and I'm an editor at OpposingViews.com, the debate website. Since we both cover homosexuality, I thought I'd drop you a note. I would've e-mailed you but I couldn't find an address.
See, we're currently having a discussion about whether or not homosexuality is a sin. You can see it here:
http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/is-homosexuality-a-sin
Although vetted experts are the ones doing the debating, anyone can contribute by choosing a side and posting comments about the experts' arguments.
Check it out and, if you have the time, send me your thoughts via e-mail.
Thanks!
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