Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Mini Assignment C
Cultural Immersion Experiences: LGBTQ
John Burroughs
Georgia State University
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.
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