By Rifath Islam
Have you ever met a homosexual or bisexual person? It could seem as if coming to terms with their sexuality was easy for them. In reality, it isn’t at all.
A lot of people who are homophobic — people who dislike or are prejudiced against homosexuals — believe that homosexuality is wrong because it ruins the sanctity of marriage. Let’s face it: we’ve seen much worse, right? There have been many people who had marriages that ended on bad terms. Like Kelsey Grammer, when he ended his fifteen year marriage. Larry King had eight divorces. Kim Kardashian spent nearly $10 million on her wedding — but her marriage lasted only 72 days. Do you know those famous weddings vows “Do you promise to be true in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and honor her all the days of your life?” Well, Newt Gingrich had affairs while his first and second wives were sick. Whatever happened to the promise of nurturing your wife/husband in times of sickness and in health?
People used to believe that divorce is a sin unforgivable by God because marriage was created to unify two people. However, many homophobic heterosexuals who believe in God have gotten divorced. To say that two men or two women that are in love (and may have been for many years) should not be allowed to get married because of the word of God is unfair — shouldn’t the rule also be that any religious heterosexual in a marriage can’t get divorced?
We also see hatred of homosexuals among teenagers. In a survey conducted in 2005, the second most reported reason why teens were bullied was because of sexual orientation or gender expression. Finding your identity during your teenage years can be hard. To be bullied or harassed over coming out after possibly years of denial or hiding negatively affects teens’ self-esteem, which could cause major psychological damage. For example, according to gay bullying statistics, students in the LGBT community are about five times more likely to miss school due to feeling unsafe after being bullied about their sexual orientation. About 28% percent of those groups feel the necessity to drop out of school altogether. Also, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than other teens. About 30% of all completed suicides are related to sexual identity crisis. Nine out of ten LGBT teens were reportedly being bullied at school because of their sexual orientation. Are you seeing a trend here? I sure am. It seems that sexual orientation among teens is a recurring bullying topic.
When we think about it, sexual orientation is forced upon children at a young age. Parents have no problem with their children being heterosexual rather than homosexual. In an article in Rolling Stone, we learn of twenty-four old Jackie who was disowned by her family and kicked out of her home because of her sexual orientation. Many role models are lesbian, gay or bisexual, but they’re well-known for their talent, not their sexual orientation. For example, Ellen DeGeneres is happily married to Portia de Rossi with a child. Elton John is openly bisexual; after his marriage with Renate Blauel, he married David Furnish.
Homosexual, lesbian and bisexual relationships have been looked down before in society. However, as of June 26th, gay marriage has been made legal in all 50 states. Although this still relatively new law is a big step for the LGBT community, they’ve still got a long way to go to achieve true equality.