| If educators care about all youth and if educators want to help all youth to do better in school then educators need to make all classrooms safe for lesbian and gay youth. Almost sixty percent of gay males and thirty percent of lesbians are verbally or physically attacked in junior high, senior high, or college (Bass, 1996, XIX). Over a quarter of gay and bisexual male teens are FORCED to dropout of school because of this harassment, or because school is so uncomfortable for them (Bass, 1996, XIX). A 1989 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that lesbian and gay youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people, and they may account for up to thirty percent of all completed youth suicides. The report stated that �The root of the problem of gay youth suicide is a society that discriminates against and stigmatizes homosexuals while failing to recognize that a substantial number of its youth has a gay or lesbian orientation� (Bass, 1996, XIX). To make matters worse sixty percent of gay and bisexual male teens have drug and/or alcohol problems (Bass, 1996, XIX). Over one half of lesbian and gay youth report periods of extreme anxiety or depression (Bass, 1996, XIX). Thirty to forty percent of runaway and homeless youth are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (Bass, 1996, XIX). These statistics are the facts of a very depressing and ongoing problem in North American society. It is also sad that more is not being done to make our schools safe for lesbian and gay youth. Many schools have started gay support groups for these youth, however many schools still refuse to discuss the issue. The issue of providing safe school environments for lesbian and gay youth is not a moral issue; it is a welfare issue. Most people do not want youth to suffer, especially not the way people in our society have made lesbian and gay youth suffer. Schools should be helping all students to become good citizens; to stay healthy, and to develop the skills needed to do well in the world. Lesbian and gay youth deserve safe environments. The purpose of this literature review is to report on the critical issue of gay and lesbian youth oppression and discrimination due to cultural norms in North American society, and to provide some insight and strategies to help educators support gay and lesbian youth. The Gay Rights movement exploded in 1969 when gay people at the Stonewall nightclub, tired of being harassed by police, fought back in a massive three evening protest for their constitutional rights of assembly and association. The protest took place in New York City but it has ignited a movement that has helped people around the world. In America before Stonewall there were less than 50 formal gay and lesbian organizations. Within 5 years after Stonewall there were more than 3,000 gay and lesbian support groups. Stonewall is now celebrated every year in the month of June by gay and lesbian people throughout the world (Strickland, 1995, 137). Schools are often reluctant to support gay and lesbian youth. Many educators feel that it is enough that our society has made great progress in dealing with racism and sexism and that there is not a need to deal with discrimination against gay and lesbian people (Bally, 1997, 14). These educators feel that homosexuality is too controversial to deal with and they forget that human rights issues are always controversial (Bally, 1997, 14). Misguided assumptions and pressure from the Christian Religious Right causes many educators to run away from the �golden rule� laid down by Christ. Homophobia is defined as the irrational fear and hatred of homosexuals and homosexuality, and heterosexism is defined as the social context and prejudice that institutionalizes heterosexuality and supports homophobia (Kielwasser, 1992, 350). In North America everyone is homophobic (Johnson, 1996, 39). It is this fear within North American society that causes gay and lesbian youth to experience oppression and discrimination. Prior to coming out (expressing ones self) Johnson (1996) believes that gay and lesbian youth are among the most homophobic people on earth. This is because gay and lesbian youth, like straight (heterosexual) youth are taught to hate homosexuals. Imagine the stress of finding out that you are something that you have been taught is morally wrong. Societal attitudes toward homosexuality began to change with Kinsey�s massive study of sexual behavior in the United States. Kinsey found that sexual orientation was diverse and that it is not an issue of homosexual or heterosexual. He defined sexual orientation using a seven-point scale. At one end of the spectrum were people who were exclusively heterosexual and at the other end were people who were exclusively homosexual. Mixes between the two were in between. (Uribe, 1994, 167). In the late 1970�s the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a form of mental illness in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. People in the medical, psychological, and mental health professions are increasingly viewing homosexuality as a normal variation of human sexuality and they are recognizing sexual orientation as one dimension of sexual behavior and personality development. (Uribe, 1994, 168). Sex is one of the few physical experiences that people know how they feel about it before they do it (Johnson, 1996, 39). As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is generally present throughout life and is not a choice (Uribe, 1994, 168). Most research findings indicate that sexual feelings are part of a persons psyche and that a persons sexual orientation is established at a very early age before conscious choice would be possible (Gonsiorek, 1995, 41). Homosexuality is often used to obscure everything else about a person when in reality the only difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality is the object of attraction and affection ( Uribe, 1994, 168). An accurate estimate of the number of homosexuals in North American society is unattainable (Uribe, 1994,168). Most research suggests that 4 to 17% of the United States population has a same sex orientation and that the real number is likely to be in the middle of that range (Gonsiorek, 1995, 47). It is difficult for researchers to obtain accurate statistics in studies of gay and lesbian youth because self-disclosure is not something that most gay and lesbian people are willing to do (Gonsiorek, 1995, 43). There is no serious doubt that there is a large number of people who consistently have same sex behavior and interests throughout most of their lives (Gonsiorek, 1995, 47). Culture is defined as knowledge, values, attitudes, and traditions that guide the behavior of a group of people and allow them to solve the problems of living in their environment (Mathison, 1998, 151). Gay and lesbian people have made significant contributions to society in areas such as math, economy, politics, athletics, art, and many other areas throughout world history (Mathison, 1998, 151). Aristotle, Socrates, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and others laid the foundation for much of the modern world (Mathison, 1998, 151). Authors James Baldwin, Willa Cather, Langston Hughes, Yosana Akiko, and Rita Mae Brown, along with musicians from Tschaikovsky, to Elton John, conductor Leonard Bernstein, and composers Benjamin Britten and Oscar Hammerstein have created artful portrayals of universal themes of joy and sorrow in life (Mathison, 1998, 151). It has only been in recent history that gay and lesbian people have been ignored, oppressed, discriminated against, or persecuted for being gay or lesbian (Mathison, 1998, 151). Not all cultures believe that being a gay or a lesbian makes you a bad person. The Aboriginal people considered homosexuals to be two-spirited, having a male and a female spirit (Mathison, 1998, 151). Before Europeans came to North America many Indian cultures gave homosexuals a special and honored place in the society (Mathison, 1998, 151). The Melanesian people in the Southwest Pacific consider it normal for both males and females to masturbate and in addition all unmarried males engage in homosexual relations with full knowledge and acceptance by the community (Magruder, 1996, 317). Views on homosexuality are clearly learned and depend upon the culture that one is brought up in. (Click to page 2, below). |
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