A Community Transformed

There are so many things we can do to end discrimination. So many simple little things that can make such a difference. The most simplest of thing to do is just watch your language. Avoid slurs. Even if you don't mean anything by it, it may mean something to someone else. You have to look at what you do and say and what it may mean to others. It may seem silly or embarrassing, but if you see someone else say something, point it out. It is okay to call people out and do what you can to make a change. It may seem silly or pointless, but sometimes littlest things can make the biggest difference. Advocate for groups. So many high schools attempt to start groups or clubs, but so many kids are too nervous about the response of their peers if they find out. If it was made clear that they would be comfortable and accepted, people might start feeling comfortable enough to come out of their shells and find acceptance and peace with who they are. 

I have always had such a positive relationship when it comes to the LGBT community. Since I was a little kid, my parents would always preach acceptance of everyone and anyone. My town was very open and accepting. I was so proud of where I lived, anyone could be anyone they want to be and were almost guaranteed to find their place where their felt happy and belonged. I never thought that there could have been a time where people were unaccepting, or even places that still were throughout the world. One year, I went on a family vacation to Sanibel Island in Florida. It was maybe 7 pm on a Saturday night and we had biked into the town and were sitting eating dinner at a little diner off the main road. We saw the sweetest couple walking down the street. Two men were walking down the street holding hand with their milkshakes. An elderly couple were speed walking and went straight past them. As soon as they walked past, I watched them turn around and make the absolute nastiest face I have...

Renowned Author Stephen King Stephen King, a renowned horror story author, works hard to bring to light the issues with American society in relationship to the LGBT community throughout the 1980s. King says quite clearly throughout his novels, " Your parents won't help you. Teachers won't help you. The police and authorities won't help you. " The society of the time was so closed off and narrow minded that most people were completely oblivious in regards to the LGBT community, and if they were, they were shameful and negative in relationship to it. It is so painful to see all of the hate throughout so many communities of America throughout the time and how they strove to make the LGBT community feel sunned and alone. All King does is point out the negativity and discrimination surrounding the subject. He leaves the interpretation and work to take action and make change up to the audience.

It. The movie, the novel. Heard of it? A horror classic written by Stephen King in 1986. Unknown to most, after great analysis, I realized how packed it was with commentary about the LGBT community and the AIDS epidemic. The premise of the novel is a group of children, the Losers' Club, who face and destroy the It creature living in their hometown of Derry, Maine. The It creature comes and haunts the town every decade or so and always returns in a different from, in this novel as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. He makes the children of the Losers' Club participate in blood oaths and taunts them throughout their live s, appearing any and everywhere the go, whether together or separate. Pennywise portrays what the children fear most, scaring the creativity and individuality out of them, making them come to terms with a life within societal constraints. He takes their creativity, and brings it to life in negative ways, as he comes to life in the children of the Losers' Clu...

I truly believe that if not for the 1980s, our world today would be much more progressive than it already is. Before the 80s, American society was becoming much more accepting of all people, with Women's Rights, desegregation movements, and the beginning of the LGBT movement.  The LGBT community began to gain a small presence in small spots throughout the United States as people grew to be comfortable within their own skin.   Throughout the 1970s, Greenwich Village in New York City began housing numerous gay bars, places for the gay community to be comfortable and out in the open without the fear of discrimination. In the 1980s, everything began to take a halt. Not only did it halt, it spiraled backwards. No one spoke about being gay, no one was accepting of expression, everything transformed into the picture perfect American Dream family. The art style shifted from expressionistic and vibrant to square and modern. Women stayed home and cooked and took care of the family w...

People used to suck. To say the least. They were negative, degrading, and made the lives of those they disliked painstakingly and absolutely awful. People were rude and hurtful and a lot of it was brought about because of the societal standards at the time. But, as time went on, life seemed to turn about for those in the LGBT community. As we reach the 2000s, we begin to see people becoming a lot more comfortable and coming out of their shells. After such a long fight, people are still sometimes faced with hate and degradation, but they are still in many ways much more accepted within their society. Today there are people to go to feel accepted such as The Center  or The ILGA , places committed to helping people feel accepted and comfortable within their own skin. Of course, there is still a great deal of hate and pain circulating about the LGBT community but it is growing onto a larger platform and is becoming so c...

There has always been a stigma behind Gay rights. It was something new, strange, and we all know that most people find themselves extremely uncomfortable with change. As time has gone on, it has become more widely accepted, but 40 years ago, a different world had a grasp on the people of America. Whatever was taught to you from a young age, was the truth, and the only truth. No other information was valid. People were simple minded, didn't have room for others. With the Equal Rights Amendment just passed, in 1981 they passed the Equal Housing Code Amendment, stating that "It shall not be unlawful of deny housing on the basis of sexual orientation." Is it not sickening? Just to think there was a time where people couldn't live where they wanted because they loved someone. At the time the closest people would get to talking about Gay was saying that someone sounded or acted Gay. It was seen as derogatory, something that used to be used to describe gleeful or jol...