Running Head: MINI ASSIGNMENT C: CULTURAL IMMERSION

Mini Assignment C
Cultural Immersion Experiences: LGBTQ
John Burroughs
Georgia State University

Running Head: MINI ASSIGNMENT C: CULTURAL IMMERSION

Cultural Immersion Experiences: LGBTQ

Many people debate whether homosexuality is a choice or based on biology. Personally, I
have always thought that people do not have a choice in their sexuality. While homosexuality has
never made me feel threatened, my father made it clear from the day I was born that I should
only like girls. Fortunately for him, I am heterosexual, but his message was clearit is wrong to
be gay. None of my close friends have been homosexual, although there were people in high
school that were openly gay. In college, people seem to be more open about their sexuality, but I
have not previously had the experience of discussing how it shaped someones life prior to this
interview. Media coverage has taken a positive turn with regard to homosexuals in recent years.
Television shows portray homosexual individuals in every day roles and without common
stigmas (GLAAD, 2014). There are advertisements that now show same-sex couples, which was
something that was historically taboo (Italie, 2013). Even though there is more support for
homosexuals in todays media, they are still a group that receives a lot of prejudice and
discrimination, so we need to continue to be sympathetic to their difficulties.
For this assignment, I chose the LGBTQ community because I wanted to hear firsthand
how a life is affected by the process of coming to terms with ones sexual identity. I had the
opportunity to meet a very interesting same-sex couple, one woman who identifies as a lesbian
and her partner who is heterosexual. Interviewing them seemed like a great opportunity to learn
from people who did not have a typical, same-sex relationship.
For many people, it is a common perception that we are either gay or straight. In our
heteronormative society, we think of sexuality in a two-tier system heterosexuality, the norm,
and homosexuality. This is very similar to the way binary society looks at gender: Youre either
male or female, and you perform your societal gender roles as male or female (Fernandez,
2010). However, finding appropriate labels for sexuality is becoming more complicated, and
perhaps unnecessary. Laura Levitt, Director of Womens Studies at Temple University, states, I
think the sensitivity to labels is to really think about who is labeling whom in what context and
what work the label [does] for them (Fernandez, 2010). She goes on to explain that labellessness could help the individual get out of LGBTQ labels, so that those arent the only options
(Fernandez, 2010).
Meeting someone who identifies as heterosexual, but is in a same-sex relationship gave
me a different perspective than before. While I assumed that homosexuality was genetic, meeting
Sharvie Banks and her partner Dawn Dickerson challenged that viewpoint since it showed that
someone can make a choice for a partnership. Sharvie had only dated men prior to her
relationship with Dawn and is not attracted to other women. Sharvie stated that she would not be
with a woman in the future if her relationship with Dawn were to end. She still identifies as a
heterosexual and stated being with one girl does not make her a lesbian. Alternatively, her
partner, Dawn, realized by age 8 that she was attracted to females when she developed a crush on
her third grade teacher, as well as classmates. Dawn understands that Sharvie still identifies as
straight, stating that one drop of anything does not make you something (Dickerson, personal
communication, 2014). Sharvie says she goes back and forth on whether or not one can make a
decision to be homosexual. I believe you can be born a certain way, but there is still some
choice in it. You can still choose to not be with someone of the same sex (Banks, personal
communication, 2014).
One of the most difficult aspects for both women has been reconciling their religion to
the relationship. For Dawn, being a lesbian caused conflict with her religious beliefs. At times I

Running Head: MINI ASSIGNMENT C: CULTURAL IMMERSION

suppressed who I wasI didnt understand. Going into my twenties, I had not told my parents
and had not publicly displayed overt homosexual tendencies. I struggled a lot. The last thing you
want to be is homosexual and have to deal with what the world thinks about it, what your parents
think about it. I tried to pray my way out of itSo religion helped me, it hindered me, and then it
helped me when I realized I needed my relationship with God (Dickerson, personal
communication, 2014). Sharvie also struggled with her religious beliefs and needed to reconcile
them before she could commit to the relationship. My spiritual connection is stronger because I
had an issue from a religious standpoint that I had to get past. I struggled with it for months and
prayed about it. I wanted her, but I just couldnt rectify it in my mind. It definitely strengthened
my spirituality though because I had to be very specific with God about what I wanted (Banks,
personal communication, 2014).
This experience really made me think about how people are classified in our society.
Sharvie and Dawn are two women who love each other, but because of how they identify, it is
difficult to put a specific label on them. In the LGBTQ model, one could say that Sharvie is
questioning, but in reality she is not. She identifies completely as a heterosexual woman who
happened to fall in love with a lesbian. It changed my viewpoint on ones ability to choose a
partner based on the person we fall in love with as opposed to the biologic wiring that we are
born with. It also showed me that labels can be restrictive and defining; the persons story and
feelings are more important than any label society may assign to them.
When asked if homosexuals are oppressed and discriminated against, both women said
absolutely. Dawn stated, For the LGBT community, the paradigm is shifting, but it hasnt
shifted entirely. For me being black and me liking womenthats all the strikes that Ive got.
All of my strikes are gone. There are still hate crimes and people who want to completely do
away with the LGBT community. So there is a lot of oppression that exists from peoples
beliefs (Dickerson, personal communication, 2014). Since Sharvie had only been in
heterosexual relationships before, she can objectively compare how differently she is treated
now. She said there are definitely negative connotations from being in a same-sex relationship.
When asked how social workers could positively work with the LGBT community, Dawn
suggested, Be of service. Let your life be an example of the things that you promote. Never be
afraid to fight on someone elses behalf who might not be strong enough to do it (Dickerson,
personal communication, 2014).
Meeting these ladies helped broaden my perspective and will impact my use of labels as a
social worker. To continue increasing my cultural competence, it would be helpful to spend time
with people from the gay and transgender communities. Before the interview, I thought that
people did not have a choice in their sexuality. Seeing how much love these two women had for
each other helped dismiss the labels that society would have utilized.

Running Head: MINI ASSIGNMENT C: CULTURAL IMMERSION

References
Fernandez, J. (2010). Drawing the line between LGBT labels. The Temple News. Retrieved from
http://temple-news.com/lifestyle/drawing-the-line-between-lgbt-labels/
GLAAD (2014). 2014 where we are on TV. Retrieved from http://www.glaad.org/files/GLAAD2014-WWAT.pdf
Italie, L. (2013). Gay-themed ads are becoming more mainstream. Huffington Post. Retrieved
from Huffington Post retrieved at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/gaythemed-ads-mainstream-_n_2821745.html