You go to school, get an after-school job and help your parents around the house. You're busy all the time, and your life isn't perfect. You constantly fight with your parents, your siblings seem to be out to get you, a family member is fatally ill, you need to keep your job to help pay the bills, but your grades are starting to suffer and your chance at scholarships is slipping away. These are all things thousands of teenagers deal with on a daily basis. You live your life day to day, not really watching what's happening on the sidelines, not really even caring. One day you open your eyes, go to school and meet someone who's different. They make you- without even trying- slow down, and see what's going on. They make you feel better than anything else in the world. They're your best friend and you fall in love, only to be rejected by the world.
In the mellow, free-to-be era of the seventies thousands of people found the courage to tell their families, and since then the coming-out age has lowered to thirteen years old. Homosexuals, whether some people choose to accept it or not, are people. They go through the same struggles; they've experienced the same things. On top of all of the things normal teenagers have to deal with, they have the added stress of trying to get the world to see them as equals.
“When some people find out that I'm bisexual they avoid me, so I feel like I need to keep it a secret and hide myself from my friends,” said one junior who would prefer to stay anonymous. Homosexuality, bisexuality, heterosexuality are all just classifications, and isn't that what America's NOT for? America is called the mixing pot, where race, religion, orientation isn't supposed to matter.
“I'm not too fond of gay boys, as far as gay guys go, they disgust me,” said senior Jason Stephens. This is a common opinion amongst many males in our school. Other people, mainly females, were more open to homosexuality. “Gay people are cool, my aunt's gay,” said junior Dominique Moore.
“Some girls in my class asked me if I had any gay friends and when I told them I did they told me not to hang around them anymore,” said junior Tiffani Orcutt.
After asking some openly gay, bisexual, or homosexual-accepting individuals about how different orientations are treated many similar responses were given. “People are so disrespectful towards us. There is this girl in my class who started saying, "hey girl, are you gay?" After I would answer she would laugh and give me a dirty look,” said freshman Casaurina Rodriguez, who feels very strongly towards this issue, jumping at the chance to respond. She, along with many others, want to get the word out. "Gay is o.k.”
“I have a lot of gay friends and I think they"re treated wrongly. This school is homophobic,” said Elizabeth Valle. Many of her friends at her lunch table nodded in agreement, some of them adding their own opinions.
“Gays get yelled at, have outbursts aimed towards them and get called names all the time,” said Christine Murillo after Valle's statement. This caused another surge of energy in the surrounding crowd.
When starting out on this article many believed it wouldn't cause much of a reaction. It seems, however, that this truly is a problem, one that can be solved with acceptance, and equal treatment.
“If a straight couple is kissing and a teacher spots them, a lot of the time they won't say anything, but the same teacher who dismissed one couple kissing, completely went off on a gay couple kissing. It should be equal treatment for all, not selective,” said sophomore Ian Clyde about his homosexual friends.
As well as these statements, it seems that lesbians are considered acceptable, while gay men are not. Most groups that accept homosexuality only accept the feminine side of it. “A lot of the girls in my class are "bi." (They) think it's ok for girls to be gay, but boys aren't ok with gay guys,” said freshman Haleigh Fenlon.
So, even though you may think that homosexuals shouldn't be accepted, think about the person you care about the most. What would you do if they “came out”? “My best friend told me she was bisexual last year and it was a surprise, but we dealt with it and we're still just as close, maybe closer because now I know the truth,” said sophomore Tina Wang.
