Coming out isn't always easy
- Tatiana
Archive for the ‘LGBTQ’ Category
The Struggle
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Support for LGBTQ Youth
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Help for LQBTQ youth
Learning from mistakes is one of the biggest lessons we’re taught growing up. It’s acceptable to err, so long as you use the experience to grow and make better decisions. Somehow, this simple, sensible view hasn’t translated to the global scale. Persecution based on arbitrary delineations- color, religion, ethnicity- has continued to occur year after year, century after century, for nearly all of our existence. One might be tempted to say that as civilization advances, such atrocities regress. But in fact, the treatment of LGBTQ throughout the world illustrates that such a view is ignorant and detrimental to the crusade against discrimination. By pretending that all things are alright, we can’t fix the things that aren’t. The National Runaway Switchboard is a big force behind the movement to help LGBTQ youth. By providing resources like counseling and shelters, specifically catered to this population group, NRS is working to specialize and deliver needed services. Calling NRS can give you, or anyone else, a person to talk to, a place to stay, and a plan for the future.
- Will
Help For LGBTQ Youth In New York
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
photo courtesy The Safe Space
There’s no denying that LGBT youth face severe discrimination at the hands of their peers. Just consider how for many youth, gay is synonymous with bad (“That’s gay.”) The hope, however, is that more mature people are capable of understanding the plight of LGBT youth, especially those in crisis situations. New York City’s proposed budget cuts- which would halve the money spent on LGBT shelters- dashes this hope by offering the reduction of vital services to an unfairly persecuted group. The teens that would be affected by these cuts are already in danger based on ignorant bigotry, and if a shelter’s closing put them on the streets, they would be even worse off. Even though the National Runaway Switchboard can’t do anything about New York’s budgeting process, we can help those who call our hotline. If an LGBT shelter closes, we can help teens find a new one. If there aren’t any beds available, we can find another solution. Our access to resources and dedication to assisting callers allows us to find a fix to the toughest problems. A call to NRS is a call for help- one that will not be ignored.
The Civil Rights Movement of Our Times
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
To the extreme disappointment of many gay couples in both the state of Maine and to an extent nationally, a law in Maine that would have allowed gays to be married has been repealed.
For a nation that wants to pride itself in its steps towards equality, this for us is a step back (in my opinion at least). But it is a constant struggle, the ideals of which I really hope will be realized one day (soon!). I look to this nation’s history as an example and as an exemplar for the civil rights movement of this age: though still racial tensions and inequality remains in spite of the strides the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s had made, the fight for equality is well worth it.
To those that say that “equality” should only be reserved to certain groups that fit within a specific mold, that is still bigotry, through and through. To claim to support equality among different races, genders, socioeconomic class, etc. but then to bristle at the notion of equality in spite of differences in sexual orientation is hardly espousing “equality for all”.
Gays in general are already marginalized all around the world, with homosexuality officially considered a crime in some countries, while in others the criminalization of homosexuality is more implicit through the attitudes of people towards gays. To be marginalized, especially at such a broad level in governance, overall attitudes that a society holds does have an impact on how someone comes to view themselves and the relationships they have with others. Many who consider themselves LGBTQ can be alienated by those around them with prevailing notions as to what it means to be gay, bi, transgendered, etc. LGBTQ teens, in particular, are at higher risk for attempting suicide than heterosexual teens in part because of negative attitudes towards gays.
There are people who rail against equality because they believe that it will lead to the homogenization of all people. Contrary to that notion, equality is predicated upon the idea that we are equal in the eyes of the law in spite of our differences, not that we should all be exactly the same.
- Allyson
*The opinions of Switched-On bloggers are their own, and do not reflect the opinions of the staff, board, or volunteers of the National Runaway Switchboard.