Social Acceptance for the LGBTQ+ Community

I chose the LGBTQ+ community, I chose this because of the very recent changes in laws and social acceptance and I found it interesting. LGBTQ+ have only recently started to be widely accepted into society. Very recently, only 4 years ago in 2015 same sex marriage was finally legalized after years of oppression and hate. The LGBTQ+ community are people who are just trying to be themselves and just now are people accepting them because they are different. Until now this group of people have been shunned, disrespected, mistreated and not given the same rights just because their views are different and new, and it didn’t matter they were not affecting anyone else just trying to be themself.

   

Many of the stories I have read were about struggling to fit in and how it was hard to tell their friends and even family who they are. Many of the stories included the person struggling to come out and when they finally when they plucked up the courage they were embraced by their family but bullied and excluded by classmates. For some extreme cases their family renounced their child and wanted to “fix” them or get rid of them. Many people used the words in LGBTQ+ to define who they were, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer. I don't have much to share with the experiences of the this group of people, although I have experienced the entitlement of some people thinking they are better than anyone who is in the LGBTQ+ community.          

    

While many of these people are having the same problem of trying to find who they are and get people to accept them, they not all subject to the stereotype people assign them. Everyday people differ from each other in so many ways, people in the LGBTQ+ community are no different. They could be anyone from a CEO of a billion dollar company or just an office worker. Differences define us, but thats should not be the difference that you notice and define them for. Within their community they differ by being themself. A large challenge that only they faced was being able to be accepted into society. For the longest time they had to hide who they were just to get a job or even be liked by other people. Even more noticeable though is that they have now successfully done that. I think that the perspectives that we are missing are those who dislike the LGBTQ+ community, while it is skewed , it would be interesting to know their thought process.

The largest challenge these people face is finding themself, it’s hard enough with everyone bullying or not accepting them as they are, but they also need to accept themself. Many people will probably be able to understand what they are going through because even as a normal untroubled teen there is pressure to find yourself and how you want to live your life. People might assume that the people of the LGBTQ+ community might socially different or weird, but they are really just like you trying to find themself in a confusing world. Stereotypes about them would not affect them as much as the stereotypes of other people. Many types of people don't appreciate the LGBTQ+ community and will express it loudly negatively affecting people of this group.  

In a world where people in the LGBTQ+ community are trying for be accepted into society they are also trying to accept themself. Weather they are a well known Celebrity or just your neighbor they are a person and shouldn’t be defined by being part of the LGBTQ+ community. Stereotypes of the LBGTQ+ community might not affect them as much as a stereotypical “hater” that disapproves of their lifestyle, their vision of what other people think of them can affect them a lot. These people have been shunned and disrespected for years and are now just getting the recognition and respect they deserve.

As a community we can help defend these people in the LGBTQ+ community, if you ever see someone being oppressed because of this, you should stand up for them. I can and am helping these efforts by doing this if the situation ever arises.