Petrillo 1

Paige Petrillo

McLaughlin

English 12

18 March 2019

LGBT Inclusion in Education

The topic of LGBT inclusion in the news and media varies in popularity all over the

country, some places are very diverse when it comes to the LGBT community, while others are

not. A small city like DuBois, for example, does not openly accept and support diverse groups of

people, and the topic of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or transgender people, is almost awkward to

talk about. This should change, and there is one way to start - the educational system. Teaching

the public about different people would be very beneficial for young people. Schools would just

have to tap into educational support programs that are in existence for this exact purpose. The

Gay-Straight Alliance is the most popular and widely accepted program, and it is a great start.

Why would educating youth be effective? If LGBT inclusion was taught in educational settings,

people would have a better understanding of it from an early age and be less prejudiced against

diverse groups of people.

For years, the LGBT community has fought for the right for equality and free will. This

has been quite successful in the past decade, but there is still more work to be done. Through

education, by teaching students new things and giving people amazing new experiences. The

knowledge of the LGBT community and their struggle throughout history can easily be taught in

school, just like any other major event in history being taught in a classroom. The topic should

be embraced, even normalized, and any stigma towards it should be abolished. This will help
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people feel more comfortable; both LGBT and non LGBT people will benefit from learning new

things. Suicide rates for LGBT youth will plummet if the world was just a little bit more

understanding.

In the mid 1900’s, homosexuality was labeled as a mental illness; homosexual people

were put through conversion therapy that claimed to “cure them.” Book, The LGBT Rights

Movement, explains how doctors would perform brain surgery, shock therapy and sometimes

drive these people to suicide. It also states how the AIDS epidemic did not do anything to help

the image of the LGBT community, but it did actually help bring people together and created

awareness to the danger of the disease. Aside from these events, in more recent history, the

world is giving LGBT people new rights to freedom just like anyone else. They can get married

and can also adopt children too, if they desire to have a family. Many people would argue that

the child needs a mother and father figure to grow up “correctly.” But there are millions of single

moms and dads too, who are doing just fine on their own. Besides adopting, two gay men can get

a surrogate donor, which is a female who agrees to have a baby for them using their DNA.

Aside from this, it took awhile for LGBT people to legally be able to join the military.

The repeal of DADT, which is defined as “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” in 2011 by President Barack

Obama, provided the freedom and safety for all LGBT people to join without fear. However, this

was just too good to be true; President Donald J. Trump made several tweets hinting towards

making LGBT inclusion in the military illegal again.

The topic of transgender people is very controversial and sometimes hard to understand

or talk about. The number of misconceptions is astronomical and this is why school should teach

what is fact and what is wrong. Education allows for a better understanding and treatment of
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those who are different from the norm. Transgenderism is when someone identifies as the

opposite sex they were assigned at birth. Basically, someone who is born male will identify as

female or someone is who is born female will identify as male; through several hormonal

treatments and surgeries, these people can feel and appear the way they feel inside. This helps

with their gender dysphoria, which is the condition of feeling one's emotional and psychological

identity as male or female to be opposite to one's biological sex, which is a major part of going

through the transitional process. “Between the Gender Lines: the Science of Transgender

Identity” illustrates that a transgender man’s brain, for example is neurologically the same as a

cisgendered (someone who’s not transgender) man’s brain and vice versa. There are many

misconceptions on what a transgender person is exactly because the media has made

transgenderism a trend. This gives people the wrong idea and causes many of misconceptions

about transgender people. Most people who are uneducated on this topic may think that these

people just change with flick of a light-switch or overnight and all they get is a sex change. But it

is a long, most times difficult, journey that is different for every transgender person. Besides

basic ignorance, there is a far worse danger; transgender people are at higher risk of being

attacked or killed from just being themselves in public.

Many would argue that the topic of the LGBT community should not be “glorified” by

teaching it in schools. One of the most recent arguments among these is the argument that LGBT

people, primarily transgender people, should not be allowed to join the military because the

government cannot pay for their specialized healthcare. President Donald Trump tweeted a

statement similar to this and received tons of backlash and much retaliation; this statement also

directly relates to the DADT repeal and what could become of it. The second argument against
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LGBT people is the religion-fueled statement “God hates gay people.” However, the bible

directly states “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you," John 15:12. The third

and one of the most controversial arguments against LGBT people is the belief that sexuality is a

choice and transgenderism is not real or is just a mental illness. “Between the Gender Lines: the

Science of Transgender Identity” shows valid scientific differences in the brain from someone

who is born transgender versus someone who is not. The claim that sexuality is a choice is

completely false and there is no proof to back it up.

In conclusion, LGBT inclusion in the educational system would be extremely beneficial

and a great impact on young people when it comes to learning diversity and understanding

different people. Most people today are very accepting of LGBT people, but there are still those

out there teaching their kids ignorance and hatred. All ages of students should have LGBT

exposure, which would help young people be more comfortable and less confused about these

differences. This would also immensely help LGBT people come out and feel welcomed to be

themselves. With help from sources like SAGE, which teaches the struggle of elderly LGBT

people, or The Gay-Straight Alliance, who set up programs to teach in schools, which could

easily teach the history and importance of the LGBT community in school and educate everyone

for the better, for the future.

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Works Cited

“Refuting Anti-LGBT Arguments.” Continuum Fallacy - RationalWiki,

rationalwiki.org/wiki/Refuting_anti-LGBT_arguments.

“Advocating for LGBT Seniors | Fighting for LGBT Rights.” ​SAGE,​ SAGE, 20 Feb. 2019,

www.sageusa.org/.

“Between the (Gender) Lines: the Science of Transgender Identity.” Science in the News, 10

Aug. 2017, sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/gender-lines-science-transgender-identity/.

“GSA Network.” GSA Network, gsanetwork.org/.

“The LGBT Rights Movement.” Rarus, P. 9781682824214. Push for Social Change,

https://books.google.com/books?id=fCPZtAEACAAJ. 2018. ReferencePoint Press,

Incorporated.

"LGBTQ Parents." ​Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection,​ Gale, 2017. Opposing Viewpoints

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1a99ce
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Movement Advancement Project, et al. "Transgender People Need More Legal Protection."

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fd844. Accessed 19 Feb. 2019. Originally published as "Executive Summary from “A Broken

Bargain for Transgender Workers”," A Broken Bargain for Transgender Workers, 1 Sept.

2013.

“Refuting Anti-LGBT Arguments.” Continuum Fallacy - RationalWiki,

rationalwiki.org/wiki/Refuting_anti-LGBT_arguments.

"Senior Action in a Gay Environment." Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Gale, 2014.

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