Lauren Ring

English IV
1st Period

Homosexuals are Harmed by Social Views

“Fag.” That’s what many of us hear on a daily basis, no matter where we go.

“Dyke.” It’s offensive, ignorant, and harmful. Not many people realize the harm they are

doing, but every day homosexuals all across this nation deal with harassment, violence,

and bigotry due to the opinion of the majority (Catchcart). This paper sets out to prove

that the widely accepted social views on homosexuality are indeed harmful, not only in a

physical sense, but mental and emotional as well.

This work isn’t a whirlwind of adventure, but it’s also not a drab speech given by

a boring professor. It’s meant to be able to capture the audience’s attention and draw them

in to the true struggles faced by an entire community. It starts with a bang, and there is

no happy ending. Reading from page to page, don’t try to restrain your judgment or

biases, because I’m not trying to change your mind. Instead, I want to open your eyes.

You may finish reading and feel nothing, or you may feel guilt or any other of the

countless emotions- as long as you feel something.

Many obstacles were overcome when it came to research. For one, various school

filters got in the way of finding adequate evidence supporting my thesis. Search terms

such as ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ were deemed inappropriate on Google, and websites such as

the Washington Blade (a known gay newspaper) were blocked and categorized as adult

lifestyles. I had to find a way around those filters, but instead I used lesser-known

sources from various databases. It left a bit of oomph out of my paper that I had been

hoping for, but it got the point across nonetheless.

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This topic is not only important to entire communities, but it’s relevant to my own

life. As someone who has faced harassment and bigotry before, I can associate myself

with homosexuals across the land not only because of my past, but because I’m also

bisexual. Any instance where bigotry prevails is personally offensive to me, and I mourn

the loss of every gay teen who commits suicide because of social pressures. I was

horrified when I learned that a teen couple’s photo was blacked out of a yearbook

because it was an innocent kiss between lovers, yet other heterosexual kiss scenes were

preserved (Addison).

The only thing I learned while researching and writing this paper, due to the fact

that I have written countless debates on the subject, was that people are still trying to cure

‘being gay.’ There are therapists everywhere who believe that being gay is a mental issue,

not who they are, so they feel that talking to someone or prescribing medication will fix

the ‘problem’ (“Therapists…Homosexuality”).

While reading this, you’ll follow a chain of events surrounding the life of Jessica

Johnson, from that fateful shooting to the last page she wrote. Act as if she’s your sister,

or even daughter. Feel some sympathy for the situation she was thrust in, or disgust at

who she feels she truly is. This isn’t something you can just skim through and hope to

get the message- you have to have real, human emotions to even grasp at what I’m

getting across.

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1st Period
This is a newspaper article from the Detroit Free Press, which is available to nearly all of southeastern
Michigan. The article covers the recent death of a teenage boy.

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Teen Killed at School- Hate Crime Based on Orientation?
In Sterling Heights last week, eighth grader Douglas Harvey was shot to death in his school’s computer lab
by a peer. Prosecutors are seeking ‘hate crime’ charges in the murder.

Recently, Doug, 15, ‘came out’ and told everybody he was gay. He endured weeks of harassment from a
few groups of classmates. The 14-year-old who killed him was a member of one of the more prevalent
groups.

Doug was an open kid, he would flaunt who he was because he was proud, he was not ashamed of who he
was.

“They teased him because he was different,” said Angel Addams, 13, also in the eighth grade. “But he
wasn’t afraid to show himself.”

He would come to school in his favorite high-heeled boots, and would wear mascara, lipstick, and
‘feminine’ jewelry. Some students say it was the way he showed himself that originally started the
harassment.

When he would be harassed or bothered, instead of cowering, he would retaliate in a clever way- He would
pretend to hit-on, or flirt with, the boys, which would get them to stop. Unfortunately, this also spurred
massive homophobia in Joey Lenzion, the shooter.

A makeshift memorial is set up at the school he attended, and grief counseling will be available for all
students.

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This ‘Letter to the Editor’ is in response to an article that was written in the Detroit Free Press honoring
the death of Douglas Harvey, a gay teenager who was shot inside of his school. This is one of many
negative responses that the editor had received.

Dear Paul Anger,

I am truly sickened by the article about the gay

boy. The last thing this country needs is yet another

left wing libertarian spewing crap about how it’s

“alright to be gay.” It is DEFINITELY NOT alright to be

gay. Haven’t you ever read the Bible? Leviticus 18:22

says “thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with

womankind: it is abomination.” All gays and lesbians

are going to burn in hell unless they learn to abandon

their sins and repent for their wrongdoing. There is

only one way of life, and that is for a man to be with a

woman. Sure, the kid’s death is a tragedy for his

family, but there is no honor in dying a fag. The

shooter should be charged with murder, but not for a

hate crime. Hate crimes are meant to protect those of

other religions and races, NOT sexualities. Race is

something natural, and religion is within families and

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follows race. People choose to be gay, they are not

born gay. I was horrified when I went to San Francisco,

there were homosexuals EVERYWHERE. They were

parading themselves about like they were proud of

being abominations. These people, if you can call them

that, are polluting this Christian nation, and there will

be no forgiveness when the Last Day arrives.

Sincerely,

Winona Johnson

This diary entry comes from the daughter of Winona Johnson, the woman who wrote the editorial response
on the article about Douglas Harvey. She is confused about her sexuality, and feels like she has nowhere to
turn because of her mother’s point of view.

Dear Diary,
I’m scared. I’ve never been this scared before. People were asking me today
who I liked, and I froze. What did they mean? Is it someone you want to be with, or
someone you think is hot? Either way I think I’m screwed. I mean… I’m a GIRL. I can’t
be like that…
But what if I am? Oh God I can’t be. Don’t let me be… Why me?
She’s nice, funny, pretty… and all the boys are gross and they smell bad. They
always come in at the end of the day smelling like sweat, but the girls always smell
good, like fruits or flowers. The guys fart and think they’re funny, but it isn’t. They
think they’re so awesome, they think they have the right to have us. But, that’s not
how it works.
Oh God, what will my mother think? I’m dead. I’m dead and there’s no coming
back. I can’t tell her. But won’t she wonder? Won’t she ask if I don’t bring home a

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1st Period
boy, ever? She’ll worry; she’ll ask questions… is it lying if I just don’t bring it up?
What if SHE brings it up?? Do I lie? I can’t do that… lying is the worst thing I can do,
right? No, she’ll think this is the worst thing I’ve ever done. How can I do this to her
after everything she’s done for me?
Now that I think about it, what HAS she done for me? She yells, she fights, she
bosses me around… I’m not a child but she treats me like a toddler. Is it really so bad
for her to have a single blow to her ego? I already don’t feel welcome at church, is it
so obvious to them yet I didn’t know until now? How could they tell? Why didn’t I?
How am I ever going to go back when they preach that I am the devil itself? Do I grin
and bear it, do I stop going? Won’t that make me more obvious? She’ll probably send
me to some shrink to try and get ‘cured.’ I’ve heard of what happens in those places;
I’d rather face her wrath than get ‘cured.’
Oh why couldn’t I be a ‘normal’ kid and get pregnant or do drugs? I’m sure my
mother would be proud of me following in her footsteps and not her sister’s.
Jessica

This is one of Jessica Johnson’s yearbook signing pages. She wanted to have all of her friends sign before
the end of the school year.

AUTOGRAPHS

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Hey

Hey babe! We gotta hang out this summer! I

Jessica!
I hope you
Ilu Jessica!
have a Still best
great
summer :D friends?
Don’t grow
up too
Sorry for
being,
missed you!
fast!!
ilu! Bobbi!
<3 Mike!

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 Lauren Ring
English IV
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Jessi, >.< Whore. Dyke. You’re

you! Laurena
year, I’m gonna miss
Hey sis! Best of luck next
You’ve disgusting Jessica, if you can

forgotten even call yourself that

‘bout me, anymore. Why don’t you just

haven’t you! go kill yourself. You’re not

You gotta go gonna get into heaven

sign mine! anyway. You’re sick. How can
Cindy you do this to us? You’re going
to burn and you know it, fag.

This poem was submitted to the “Poetry Out Loud” contest as part of a manuscript based on the death of
gay teenager Douglas Harvey, and was disqualified for covering the ‘inappropriate topic’ of
homosexuality, while issues concerning abortion and teen pregnancy were not disqualified.

Wandering eyes following all the time,

Wondering why it’s not a crime.
I walk in with my head held high,
Only a matter of time ‘til the insults whiz by.
“Fag,” “whore,” “dyke,” “tranny-”
There’s way too many.
Pretending to be deaf is vital,
Yet I can’t help but spew a rebuttal-
“Oh you’re so handsome, let’s leave this place,”
They act like it was a slap in the face.
Stares follow every day,
I’m a freak because I’m gay.
Ellen, Alexis, George and Rosie,
Not me, but David Bowie?

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English IV
1st Period
Remember what the old King said:
“Love is the only force capable of
transforming an enemy into friend.”
Yet, what I cannot win is their love,
Still I seek to rise above.
Hate and tyranny rule my school,
The overseer’s dubbed ‘Queen of Cruel.’
We have to rely on those above us,
What if they’re all mean and callus?
I fear I’m stuck in this form forever-
Doomed to always feel like a liar,
Trapped in all- spirit, body, and mind,
Knowing I can never hit ‘rewind.’
~Jessica Johnson

These online interviews highlight the problems faced by two generations of homosexuals, both male and
female. They were part of a continuing series in the ‘Washington Blade.’ Each person is from an online
community that promotes the choice in lifestyle for American teens, and some aliases were used.

REMOVED FOR SHEER SIMPLICITY. THERE IS NO POINT IN KEEPING THE INTERVIEW

IF I HAVE TO KEEP EDITING OUT SINGLE PEOPLE FOR PRIVACY ON GG.

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This is the last page in Jessica’s diary, dated after the interview she had with Amy Cavanaugh.

Diary,

It’s been a few months now, and truly, nothing and everything has changed…

I feel like I lost the battle. I mean, I admitted to it, to my mother, who spread it

around, and one friend, who did worse.

I’ve lost everything. I can’t go to church because I’m not ‘pure,’ whatever that

even means. Can’t, you know, priests ‘purify’ me? I know there are gay Christians out

there. Can’t I be one like them? Is there some special church for gays?

My friends abandoned me (what great friends they were) and my mother

kicked me out. Some places won’t hire me. They say it’s because of lack of

experience, or some bull about references, but I know the real reason. So much for

equality.

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Can I even say that? I’ve only been ‘out’ a few months and I’m already

suffering. What about people like Rosie or Ellen? Do I even GET to complain about

equality?

I feel like I’m an open target. I’m watched when I’m out in public, I get stares

from people I used to know… Why couldn’t I choose to be straight? Normal?

Heck, I don’t even know what normal is. If normal is the majority, does that

mean whites are normal and blacks aren’t? Does that mean any race in China (other

than other Asians) is freakish? Am I a freak if I live anywhere other than southern

California?

I hope helping in that interview will help someone like me realize it’s not a fad,

and that people like me are dying over this.

Jessica

END NOTES

The first piece you encountered was my newspaper article. While the article itself

was fiction, it was largely based on fact. I took a lot of my information from Cathcart’s

article on Lawrence “Larry” King. I replaced the names of every person mentioned with

people I encountered in my childhood, like Doug Harvey, Angel Addams, and Joey

Lenzion. I kept the quotes as they were in the article to keep a sense of realism. While

the shooting occurred in California, I kept the event within Michigan, as that’s where my

protagonist resides. There really was a memorial set up at Larry’s school, and the habits I

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1st Period
gave Douglas truly belonged to the dead child. This is likely the most realistic piece in

the paper, and so it was the easiest for me to write. Another thing I took into

consideration is that even people who are not gay, but portray the ‘identity’ of

homosexuality, are affected. Heath Ledger, who was not gay, was being targeted after his

death (Goldman). The article was meant to show that violence is a true issue facing

homosexuals.

The next piece you ran into was a ‘letter to the editor,’ which most major

newspapers have. I had it addressed to the real editor of the Detroit Free Press, and the

letter itself was styled after various insults and declarations I have heard throughout my

life. The mother of my protagonist wrote the article, and I felt that was the perfect way of

introducing a ‘human’ aspect. Quoting Leviticus was an attempt to throw in intense

religious views, as Leviticus 18:22 is widely used as ‘evidence’ in the fight against

homosexuality (Walsh). Another aspect I had to throw in was the assumption that hate

crimes are only based on race. In reality, the hate crime laws were recently amended to

include gender and sexual orientation (“Hate Crime Laws Expand”). The hardest part of

writing this was going against my own beliefs. I obviously don’t believe that being gay is

wrong, but many do, and I had to embody that opinion for the sake of legitimacy.

Obvious fictitious parts include there being gays everywhere in San Francisco, which was

a stereotypical exaggeration, that people choose to be gay, and that homosexuals parade

themselves around. However, adding in those small parts brought together the entire

letter, and truly showed the bigotry that is America.

The first diary entry you run into is meant to show true fear. Jessica, the other

woman’s daughter, has recently realized that she may be gay, after years of not knowing

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what exactly it was that made her feel different. She spends a bit of time trying to

rationalize, then struggles with coming to terms with what she is. Technically, everything

in the diary entry is fictitious except the mention of people who ‘cure’ homosexuality

(which was taken from “Therapists…Homosexuality”). I based the first part of the diary

entry loosely on my own experience with realizing who I was. I didn’t have the religious

issues, but I was in deep denial, which I wanted Jessica to show the audience. The rest of

the entry was based on what various friends have told me about their experiences, though

everything was reworked until it was truly fiction. It shows that many homosexuals live

in fear, even before ‘coming out,’ and fear that lasts over a period of time has been

proven to cause lasting harm.

The autograph page that comes right after the diary entry was a spur of the

moment decision. It is supposed to be from after Jessica ‘came out,’ but as you’ll read in

the next genre, it wasn’t quite that simple. I was trying to find forms of harassment, and

yearbooks stuck out. When I read the article on the gay couple’s photo being blacked out

of every single yearbook, I knew I struck gold. Most teenagers who get yearbooks want

their friends to sign it before they go off for summer, as a way of remembering the year

that passed. However, it is also an outlet for aggression and not many do realize it. The

photo blocking was a form of discrimination, since no other ‘romantic’ pictures were

taken out, and I wanted to do the same. I created a signing page, and had some fictional

friends sign it, and one person spew insults from left field. Harassment is a serious

problem faced by homosexuals, it has lasting effects, and not much is being done about it.

The poem may seem like it was thrown in, almost like it was randomly chosen.

However, poetry is often used as an outlet for emotions, and that’s exactly what this was.

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1st Period
The poem was not based on her own emotions, but her interpretation of how Douglas

Harvey (the fictional embodiment of Lawrence King) may have felt before he was killed.

Since much of the poem was speculation, it has to be considered fiction. However, some

factual parts were the list of gay celebrities (‘Ellen…Bowie’) and the quote I used from

Martin Luther King Jr. (“Love… friend”). I thought mentioning King would be a good

idea, since many use him as an example for equality, which is what we all strive for. I

mentioned that the poem was disqualified from “Poetry Out Loud,” which is a real

competition, because I have had poems on homosexuality disqualified from other

contests because they were considered ‘inappropriate.’ The poem symbolizes the

emotional struggle that many homosexuals feel, not only in school, which was the setting

of the poem, but in life itself.

The longest part of my paper was definitely the interviews. I conducted interviews

with some people I knew online, from a community on www.gaminggutter.com. The

people I talked with ranged in age from 14 to mid-twenties, which gave me a decent

range of experiences to work through. Everything in the interview is factual, as it is all

first-hand experience. I gave myself the name of Amy Cavanaugh, who is one of the

writers for the Washington Blade, a gay newspaper. The names given are either real first

names or aliases that these people used, and the only fictional character was Jessica

herself. The interviews were a way of throwing in real experiences from people of all

walks, and while some of the people I talked to didn’t have many negative experiences,

transcripts showed that the majority did face tremendous problems because of how

people view their sexuality.

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The last piece I included was another diary entry. Again, it is from Jessica, and it

was a way of closing the paper. It is mostly fiction, with a few real instances. It takes you

back into her mind as she recounts what happened to her after she came out, and reveals

that the people she thought she could trust spread it like wildfire, effectively ending her

happy teenage life. The fact that a rumor is mentioned shows why there was only one

negative yearbook signing (rumors in high school are often spread amongst the social

group that starts it, and can take a while to spread). Her saying that normal is the majority

was taken from a comment I read a few weeks ago concerning President Obama. The

comment had said something about blacks not being normal because they are not the

majority, and while it was an offensive statement, it was a novel concept, and I ran with

it. I have her asking questions about equality because the character realized that others

have been struggling for much longer, and she had barely been through anything. There

are many teenagers today claiming bisexuality because in some social groups, it is

considered ‘cool.’ I wanted to mention this because people are dying over homosexuality

(Cathcart) and the fact that a fad makes light of that fact is offensive. The way the last

line is worded is meant to be a cliffhanger. It can be read as a somber reminder or as a

hint as to what comes next for Jessica.

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WORKS CITED

Addison, Kasi. "Gay Pair's photo blacked out of yearbook." New Jersey Real-Time News 22 June 07. 6
July 09 <http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/06/gay_pairs_photo_blacked_out_of_1.html>.

Behind message of 'love,' an anti-gay agenda." USA Today (n.d.). Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.
[Fossil Ridge High School], [Keller], [TX]. 7 July 2009
<http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=J0E198941675009&site=ehos
t-live>.

Cathcart, Rebecca. "Boy’s Killing, Labeled a Hate Crime, Stuns a Town." New York Times 23 Feb. 08.
New York Times. 23 Feb. 08. 2 July 09 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/us/23oxnard.html>.

"Hate crime laws expand.(News Notes)." Curve 19.6 (July-August 2009): 31(1). General
OneFile. Gale. FOSSIL RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL. 7 July 2009
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>.

Goldman, Russel. "Anti-Gay Church to Protest Ledger Funeral." ABC News 24 Jan. 08. ABC. 7 July 09
<http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=4183635&page=1>.

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"Therapists still attempting to 'treat' homosexuality." Psychologist 22.6 (June 2009): 472-472. Academic
Search Complete. EBSCO. [Fossil Ridge High School], [Keller], [TX]. 7 July 2009
<http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=40395762&site=ehost-live>.

Thomas, Joel. "Outrage Grows After Fort Worth Gay Bar Raid." Television News Web Site Article. 30 June
09. CBS 11. 7 July 09 <http://cbs11tv.com/local/Gay.Bar.Raid.2.1066472.html>.

Walsh, Jerome T. "LEVITICUS 18:22 AND 20:13: WHO IS DOING WHAT TO WHOM?." Journal of
Biblical Literature 120.2 (Summer2001 2001): 201. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. [Fossil
Ridge High School], [Keller], [TX]. 7 July 2009
<http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6278393&site=ehost-live>.

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