LGBT sexuality isn't the problem – bigotry is
- Emily Band
- guardian.co.uk
Growing up being different is not easy. This is especially true in schools: signs of weakness or difference attract bullies like ugly moths to the light. This is especially true for LGBT students, who are statistically more likelyto be bullied.
I was unlucky enough to be one of these lights, and a very attractive one at that – I wear glasses when I'm working, I'm a geek, I have a funny accent and I'm attracted to other women. I've left that treatment behind permanently, but I'm all too aware that there are other students who still have to endure this abuse. I've even encountered some shocking homophobia in conversations with older people. I won't dissect the sentiments in detail, but I will say that it involved aliens and abandoning a certain demographic on their planet.
There are public figures who continue to lend an air of legitimacy to homophobic attitudes and indirectly condone the bullies. Peter Heck, a conservative US radio host and columnist, recently claimed that coming out as lesbian, gay or bi was just "an alarming fad" and that these types of sexuality are "decadent". The straw man that gay people aim to "incessantly shove their unconventional behavior in front of our children's faces" also made an appearance – emotional blackmail involving children is often used as a substitute for logical argument in debates about sexuality.
Heck goes on to say that "there is absolutely no courage to be found" in someone declaring that they are gay, lesbian, bi or transsexual. Well, you know what, Peter? When you've gone through years of abuse and harassment , I can guarantee that you'd find coming out of the closet a frightening experience too. The feeling of acceptance can be wonderful, but rejection can be deeply wounding. And, sadly, rejection is not uncommon in a culture where organisations such as Narth in the US continue to encourage patients to "develop their heterosexual potential".
Young LGBT people face a higher rate of self-harm and suicide than their heterosexual peers. This unfortunate pattern is also seen in older LGBT groups as well – a study by the Brighton & Hove LGBT Suicide Prevention Working Party shows that people in this group who are under 40 are three times as likely to have considered suicide as a similar heterosexual group, and more likely to turn to substance abuse.
Some representatives of conservative ideologies are keen to take a hardline stance and further supress any deviation from expected gender norms. Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council in the US proposes the following solution to the high LGBT suicide rate: "The most effective way of reducing teen suicide attempts is not to create a 'positive social environment' for the affirmation of homosexuality. Instead, it would be to discourage teens from self-identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual." This is actually a compromise on his desired aims – he'd rather see homosexual acts banned than simply repress self-identification of sexuality.
This repression is likely to be counter-productive – data is not the plural of anecdote – but hiding a large part of your identity can cause a lot of stress, especially when it comes to romance and relationships. The idea that being LGBT is something that should be hidden only gives further credence to the idea that these traits are shameful and clandestine – after all, talking about the day out you had with your same-sex partner is hardly material fit for casual conversation, is it?
Sprigg says explicitly that he doesn't think creating a positive social environment for LGBT youth will help the problem of high suicide and self-injury rates, despite the evidence that a supportive environment is thought to reduce the chances of suicide attempts in this group. The Tennessee senate appears to agree with him on this one, introducing the "Don't say gay" bill earlier last month. While the UK's section 28 banned promoting homosexuality or "acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship", the new Tennessee bill calls for instruction and materials used in schools to be "limited exclusively to age-appropriate natural human reproduction science". This excludes all education about same-sex relationships and anything else deemed "unnatural" by the powers that be.
However, I'm delighted to announce that creative souls have already been at work on undermining this example of homophobia. The Star Trek actor George Takei has been kind enough to lend his name to the cause, encouraging people affected by this bill to publicly support Takei rights and Takei marriage. And unless the authorities start claiming that George Takei is unnatural, there is nothing the bill can do to prevent this.
Although people like Sprigg may genuinely be trying to offer a solution to these awful statistics, they are only contributing to the problems that cause them in the first place. We need an antidote to these attitudes – while they are given a veneer of respectability, LGBT youth and adults alike will continue to suffer for a trait we did not ask for or choose. It's not our sexuality that is causing us harm – it's the bigotry surrounding us.
• Emily posts on Comment is free as MostUncivilised. This article was commissoned after AllyF requested it in our You Tell Us thread.
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