The Struggles of the LGBT Community 1

Jada Hollingsworth
November 9, 2015
INT 360
Dr. Aprilfaye Manalang

The Struggles of the LGBT Community

Topic Area/Research Question
The LGBT community goes through a great deal more than the average heterosexual
person in terms of acceptance and being able to live a normal life. The LGBT community has
problems accepting themselves, coming out to their friends and family, and living their lives true
to themselves because of lack of acceptance from heterosexuals. Sociologically and
psychologically speaking, the LGBT community has been suffering far too much for way too
long.
Statement of the Problem
There are many different instances of homosexual people being bullied, tormented, or
even killed just because they chose to be themselves. Although the LGBT community has been
receiving an abundance of good attention lately, from gay marriage being legalized nationwide to
gay pride rallies in everywhere, there is still a long way to go. From coming out, surviving high
school, going into the military, receiving higher education, going to church, homophobia, making
your transition, and gender roles, the LGBT community is affected by Society throughout their
entire life.

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Literature Review
The video "Human Sexuality is Complicated", breaks down the different internal factors
of homosexuality for people of all sexual orientations to understand. Hank, the maker of the
video, stated that Sex and Gender are two different things. Sex is what genitals you are born with
while Gender is what you feel you are and what you decide to identify as. As far as orientation, it
can be broken down into two different subdivisions: romantic orientation versus sexual
orientation. This is what classifies you are heterosexual or homosexual. Your sexual orientation
is based on what gender you are physically attracted to whereas your romantic orientation is
based on what gender you are romantically attracted to. Gary J. Gates, from the Williams
Institute of UCLA did a survey on how many American people actually identify as a part of the
LGBT community. In his article, he reviews 11 previously done surveys that ask questions about
sexual orientation. His research data shows that there are roughly 9 million LGBT Americans,
while 19 million admit to having a same sex experience, and 25.6 million admitted to at some
point having a same sex attraction. About half of the people who admitted to being of the LGBT
community were bisexual, and of those bisexuals, the majority of them were women. Together,
there were more men admitting to be of the LGBT community than there were women. The fact
that there are so many people proud to admit that they like the opposite sex is astounding,
especially since there was once a time where people were afraid to admit their truth. It is also
found very interesting that so many people admitted to having an attraction to the same sex, or an
encounter with the same sex, but didn't identify as LGBT.
Most homosexual people have a problem coming out to their families. This problem is
amplified if the family is African American, Christian, or homophobic. Although proud of their
sexuality and the lifestyle that they live, some know that the love and acceptance that they

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receive from their family will be taken away or changed if they knew that persons truth. Family
Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults from the Journal of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing published an article based on Quantitative data from
qualitative experiences of people in the LGBT community showing that the likelihood of people
in the LGBT community suffering from substance abuse, mental health, promiscuity, depression,
and suicidal behaviors is loosely based on whether or not their parents were supportive of them
when they came out. It is proven throughout this article that "family acceptance predicts greater
self-esteem, social support, and general health" (Ryan). This information is important and
relevant because now that it is legal for people of the same sex to get married, more and more
people have been coming out of the closet. With a Christian family, homophobia is almost
inevitable. Chants like Homosexuality is an abomination ring through the sanctuary and into
the ears of heterosexuals who then quote it to anyone they deem in need of the word.
"Although no largely African-American denomination has issued a public statement outlining its
position on homosexuality, the stances of individual churches and ministers are revealed on
Sundays. The motto of the black church seems to be 'don't name it, don't claim it." (Religion and
Coming Out Issues for African Americans) Because of the way black churches are programmed
to think, they will most likely not have a positive reaction to their any of their loved ones coming
out as homosexual. They will assume that their loved one is a sinner and is going to Hell for that
sin. Their families reaction to them finally owning their truth will have a lifelong toll on them
and according to the research in this study, can affect them both physically and mentally for the
rest of their lives.
The Military is very similar when it comes to dealing with openly gay soldiers. The
Dont Ask Dont Tell Policy was put in place for homosexuals to keep their sexual orientation

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to themselves. Congress three years ago repealed dont ask, dont tell, the policy that barred
gays from serving openly. (Somashekhar) Unfortunately for Transgender soldiers, there is no
way to keep their transition under wraps. There is actually a ban on transgenders in the military
that has them discharged post transition. U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Sage Fox went through her
transition from man to woman and was then told by her battalion commander that she would be
placed in an inactive status and to not come back. Following investigation, it was found that 24
other service member where banned due to their change of gender. One year later, The US
Military is still not open to lifting their Transgender Ban.
Being gay is such a phobia in youth that they will literally make you miserable than
come to truth about their own indiscretions. In the article "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Youth Talk about Experiencing and Coping with School Violence: A Qualitative
Study" by Arnold H. Grossman and associates, they qualitatively study high school students that
are of the LGBT community on their experiences in high school. Every youth that participated in
the study admitted to some form of violence or homophobia against them while at school. They
have been bullied, called derogatory homophobic slurs, and some have even been physically
harmed as a result of their sexuality. The research method consisted of gathering research from
many different quantitative studies and then gathering a group of LGBT teens to sit and share
their experiences with the researches and each other. A diverse sample of LGBT youth was
recruited from the after-school program of a community-based organization serving sexual
minority youth in New York City. Announcements were made asking youth who attended public
high schools to volunteer to participate in a focus group to talk about their experiences in school
(Grossman et al). In the study, it is said that some youth would rather skip school entirely than
deal with the harassment they receive from trying to further their education. In the study, Carl, an

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African American 17 year old gay male, stated that in school it wouldnt matter where you are
going. You be going to the next class, somebody is saying something to you. You can go to
lunch; somebody else has something to say. You go to the bathroom; somebody [has] something
to say. Its like everywhere I go somebody has something to say because of the way I dress, the
way I look, the way I act (Grossman). This research project is extremely important because it
shines a light on just how much LGBT youth have to go through at school just for being
themselves. Even heterosexuals that appear homosexual are teased and ridiculed in high school,
as if being homosexual is the worst sin in the bible.
Transgenders tend to have it even worse. Gavin Grimm, a 15 year old student at
Gloucester High School, came out as Transgender and is now fighting for his right to use the
mens restroom at school. Parents are livid because they refuse to have a girl using the same
restroom as their sons, but according to Gavin and his family, Gavin is a boy. This insensitivity
to the needs of transgender youth plays a huge toll on them for the rest of their lives. Another
instance of Transgender inequality is with Ryan Ziegler, a self-proclaimed heterosexual black
man that grew up as a little girl. For most of his life, Ryan considered himself a lesbian. He did
not feel like he was in the wrong body, he just felt like a tomboy. While in graduate school, he
began classifying himself as genderqueer, and then as transgender. He underwent his
transformation while in his final year of school, and walked across the stage as a black man.
Ziegler states I would bring up my research on queer individuals, and colleagues would dump
on it in ways that werent about pushing me as a scholar. They were uncomfortable about
engaging in an intellectual space with someone who was openly queer. While in the AfricanAmerican-studies program at Northwestern, I noticed that people bought into respectability
politics in a harmful way, and there were gender and sexual micro aggressions that I had to

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navigate as a student. I dress masculine, and people expected us to present ourselves in a certain
way because we were the first cohort of doctoral students. One professor commented about how
I looked unprofessional and said they wouldnt want to work with me again. What does it mean
to be professional? I didnt come to school with food on my face. (Patton)
Society seems to be very invasively curious with the Gender roles of homosexual
relationships. Upon meeting gay couples, a lot of heterosexuals want to know who is the boy
and who is the girl or who is the top and who is the bottom but this is highly inappropriate
because to them, they are both males or they are both females. "Researchers found that a sample
of Black lesbians perceived lesbian gender identity as analogous with heterosexuals gender
identity views. Traits such as being feminine, warm, and adaptable were negatively
associated with a butch identity. Traits such as masculine and athletic were negatively
associated with a femme identity. The women in the study also negatively associated traits such
as: sensitive to the needs of others, affectionate, and understanding with that of a
masculine identity" (M.K. Lewis and I. Marshall). This could be stressful for homosexual
couples because they begin to feel as if they have to fit into these stereotypes.
Methods and Techniques
This problem is interdisciplinary because it draws on Sociology and Psychology. Society
affects the acceptance of the LGBT community and how they are able to live their lives. Society
also affects their outlook on the world which could be a contributing factor to their psychological
and physical health.

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Conclusion
Society has a huge impact on the way homosexual people live their lives. It can cause
them stress, it can leave them ridiculed and embarrassed just for being who they are, or it can
even affect them psychologically. Although homosexuality is being accepted more and more in
mainstream society, there is still a long way to go before the hate crimes and bullying stops. No
matter how much attention homosexuality gets, there will still be teenagers that are ashamed to
be who they are, bullies who want to hurt anyone whos different from they are, and parents who
want their children to live their lives by the bible. The sooner people come to peace with the fact
that some people are just born differently and would rather live their lives differently, the sooner
the world will be a better place for all that inhabits it.

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References
Grossman, Arnold et al. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Talk about
Experiencing and Coping with School Violence: A Qualitative Study Journal of LGBT
Youth, 6:2446, 2009. <http://www.thefrederickcenter.com/uploads/3/2/2/9/
32298427/lesbian_gay_bisexual_and_transgender_youth_talk_about_experiencing_and_
coping_with_school_violence-_a_qualitative_study.pdf >
Ryan, Caitlyn et al. Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults;
Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing; JCAPN Volume 23, Number 4,
November, 2010. <https://nsu.blackboard.com/courses/1/INT-360-90
151/db/_1354478_1/ Even% 20better %20Quantitative%20Data.pdf >
Human Rights Campaign "Religion and Coming out Issues for African Americans"
<http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/religion-and-coming-out-issues-for-africanamericans>
Hank. @VlogBrothers "Human Sexuality is Complicated..." <http://www.YouTube.com/w atch?
v=xXAoG8vAyzI>
M.K. Lewis and I. Marshall "Gender and Black Communities", LGBT Psychology, DOI
10.1007/978-1-4614-0565-8_2, < https://nsu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1658642dt-content-rid-30761788_1/courses/INT-411-90-151/INT-411-90143A_ImportedContent_20150514041422/9781461405641-c1.pdf>

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Gates, Gary J. The Williams Institute, UCLA <https://escholarship.org/uc/item/09h684x2#page1> April 11, 2015.
Hurdle, Ava. Wavy News 10. http://wavy.com/2014/11/12/transgender-student-im-fighting-formy-right-to-use-the-correct-restroom/
Patton, Stacy. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Education-of-a-Scholar-Who/149571/
Somashekhar, Sandhya. The Washington Post. October 27, 2014.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transgender-military-members-are-in-aprecarious-position/2014/10/27/38204fd6-5870-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html
Butler, Judith. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and
Feminist Theory, Theatre Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec., 1988), pp. 519-531
<https://nsu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1658642-dt-content-rid30761805_1/courses/INT-411-90-151/INT-411-90143A_ImportedContent_20150514041422/Butler_1988%281%29.pdf>