Homophobia Essay Example

“....the truth of the matter is that homophobia is everywhere, and tragically, it's not dissipating as soon as it should,” (Chatel). Homophobia is causing a drastic amount of violence in our world, and it will continue to do so if we don't try to stop it. In our society homophobia is not only a problem in itself but can also cause serious mental and physical health issues for those that are targeted by homophobes. Homophobia has been around for ages even dating back to the 1600s when Virginian colonist, Richard Cornish, was hanged by his colony for a same-sex relationship. A more recent act of homophobia was on November 8, 2017, when a gay then 17-year-old was allegedly assaulted by then 18-year-old Trevor Godbolt. The attacker was reported to have had the teen take off his clothes and belongings before beating him and stealing his items. Imagine the pain the victim went through not only physically but all the emotional trauma and fear that came after the attack, (wikipedia.org) Sadly, attacks and harassment just like this happen to people that are queer, causing them both emotional and physical trauma. Homophobia can’t only cause physical health issues but can also cause mental health issues for people that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. People that are queer are more likely to develop mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression due to the constant fear that they will get harassed, hate crimed, or that if they come out they will lose people/ people will be disgusted by them. Amanda Chatel, a HuffPost writer, wrote “The Suicide Prevention Resource Center estimates that somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of LGBT youth have attempted suicide. And those living in homophobic communities, on average, died of suicide……,” (Amanda Chatel). Suicides are very common within the LGBTQ+ community because often they feel like it is an easier option than living their life in fear of just encountering a homophobe. People that are homophobic have so much power over people that are queer not because they are weak, but because they are scared of what might happen if they were to encounter a homophobe. These thoughts can cause many issues such as depression because people that have been hate-crimed by a homophobic person, can fear it happening again to the point they won't want to leave their house or even their bed. There are too many people that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community that develop mental health issues due to homophobia and homophobes. How are we supposed to feel safe in a world where people are broken down because of their preferences and how they want to live their life? Often the places where people are supposed to feel safe and comfortable are the places people like homophobes are more likely to bully the people in the LGBTQ+ community. Places such as schools can become a playground for bullies to harass people that are queer since they are less likely to say anything about the bullying. An article called LGBTQ+ facts and figures states “42% of LGBT+ school pupils have been bullied in the past year, double the number of non-LGBT+ pupils (21%),” (stonewall.org). Bullying that is fuelied by homophobia and is directed at people that are queer can cause people that are young and old that go to school to dread going or even get them to drop out. Homophobic bullying might cause anxiety because a person may be so scared to go to school for fear of getting harassed. Bullies often think at people that are queer are more likely to not report them because reporting the bullies also risks the person getting outed or being forced to come out. Bullying or anything that involves harassing a person that is queer can cause not only mental problems, but also health problems.   People that are queer often have a fear to go to a health care center because they fear that they will get harassed, laughed at, or discriminated against while there. More than half of people in the LGBT community have been discriminated against or even turned away by health care providers due to homophobia. This is dangerous especially if the person is in a serious emergency, homophobes will prevent them from getting the care needed. The fear of getting discriminated against by people that are supposed to help no matter what lives constantly in queer peoples mind causeing them to put fear before their health An article written about LGBTQ+ facts states “Almost one in four LGBT people (23%) have witnessed discriminatory or negative remarks against LGBT people by healthcare staff,”(www.stonewall.org.uk). Due to remarks that some people that are queer will hold off going which can cause serious injuries/diseases. People that are queer are more prone to getting health issues such as cardiovasuclar disease. Studies have shown that people in the LGBT+ community that are living in prejudiced areas are at a 25 percent higher risk to develop heart disease, (Chatel). Individuals that are a part of the LGBTQ+ often don’t expect much of their life, because they know that something will always stop them whether it’s a mental illness, a heath disease, or discrimation. “Those gay and bisexual people living within communities where anti-gay sentiments are not only common but also accepted, have, on average, a shorter life expectance,” (huff post.com). People that are queer have accepted that they might not have the privilege to do activities that people that are straight or cisgender can. Queer indivials may decide that there is no point in trying to live their life if they can't live it to the fullest because there's alway something or someone trying to stop them. That mind set can again cause major health and mental problems. Some may say that homophobia is not as big as a problem as people in the lgbt+ community and their allies are making it. People that are against homophobia are just making things up to scare others with this information. Homosexuality is more normalized in present time then was in the past so homophobia is no longer a problem. It may be true that being queer is more normalized now then it was before but that doesn’t mean homophobia is just gone forever. Many people still have parents that were raised to see homosexuality as werid or repalsive, due to the parents might raise their kid the same. Homophobia isn’t just about homosexuality being normalized, it’s about how people think about a person that is queer or how they chose to act around the person. Homophobia is not just some rumor that is going around, the issue is actually happening and it’s affecting people whether its physically or mentally innocent people are still getting hurt because of homophobia. Addionationally homophobia can stop people from doing things that are health for them such as playing sports or going to the gym because they feel no matter what they do someone will judge them.  Homophobia can cause people to not try new things such as playing sports, and it can cause people to never want to try out nor ever try anything else in the fear of encountering homophobes.“17 percent of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people have experienced and 49 percent have witnessed homophobia or transphobia in sport,” (www.stonewall.org.uk). There are multiple cases of people hearing or seeing hate crimes toward the LGBTQ+ community on sports teams and when watching sports games such as baseball or football. Due to the homophobia witnessed during sports, many people in the LGBTQ have the constant fear that if they put themselves out there to try a new sport they will get discriminated against, hate crimed, or stereotyped. An example of the hoimophobia that takes place in sports is that many MTF (male to Female) trans women are keep out of sports because since they were assigned male at birth they have a more strength than a cisgender woman. This is just not true, studies have shown that trans people's brain and body are more fitting to the gender they identify with, so a trans person no matter what excuse should be able to play in sports and in their gender category. We need to find a way to fix the future so the LGBTQ+ community can feel safe.  “No child is born homophobic, Teach acceptence, Not ignorices,” (@untie_uk1). If we start teaching our childerm now that being queer is okay and not being queer doesn’t mean someone that is, is repulsive. Teaching them this will make them grow up knowing that people are queer and that's okay. They will make the future a better place because our kids, and their kids are the future of this world. If we could find a way to stop homophobia for good our future generations that are queer would feel safer and like they can be themselves without getting harrased or discrimanted. With homophobia gone the amount of individuals that are a part of the LGBTQ+ that have mental illness such as depression or anxiety would decrease greatly, suicide rates in queer teens would also go down. Sadly, homophobia is everywhere and may not be vanishing any time soon. With some work though regular people and allies of the community might be able to shrink the amount of homophobia in our society.