Let’s be QUEER about some things…

Breoni Prewitt

LGBTQ, or lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and queers, is a community of well educated students at West Chester University. Now, some people might think and even be ignorant enough to say that homosexuals couldn’t possibly make it this far in life because they are “mentally ill” or deprived of proper parenting. Well, I think I speak for the good group of gays that I know when I say…bullshit!

Two things I would like to hone in on from recent class discussions and readings are homosexual marriage and terms based around homosexuality in everyday life.

Protesters for same sex marriage in NYC

Same sex marriage has become an ongoing topic that is circulating more and more as the idea of being “gay” becomes evermore public through media and through today’s society. But even though famous people who are idolized, like Wanda Sykes, Queen Latifah and Rosie O’Donald, do it there are still people opposed to the idea.
Opponents think that such a marriage is a sacred bond ONLY between man and woman due to religious beliefs and the simple up bringing of children. Let’s stop and ask ourselves…does everyone have the SAME religion?, does every religion have the SAME vies? And most importantly DOES EVERY SINGLE PERSON WALKING THIS EARTH BELONG TO A RELIGION?? The simple answer to that question is no. Marriage holds sacred vows between the two willing to give them. These are two people who genuinely love each other to no end. This has no boundary and no limitation no matter the race no matter the sexual preference, but to the COUPLE paired by fate and bonded by happiness and hopefulness. With that being said, Religion does not hold a valid argument against same sex marriage. Beyond that is the upbringing of the children in which same sex couples may choose to bare. Just because people couple up and decide to get married or even just to be together does not mean they want to have kids, this is but another underlying thought over reason why the opposing party thinks same sex relations shouldn’t occur. But if such a couple did decide to, did the opposed ever stop to think that maybe just maybe a lesbian couple, for example, raising children could hold the same value as that of a single parent household? It is similar in that if either the couple or the single mother had a son, he would still be brought up with out a male figure in the home. In such a case that young male may have more of a chance of being in touch with his feminine side, but will he become gay? Will his female tendencies make him appear gay around others?

This brings me to the topic of the reading DUDE, YOUR A FAG? by C. J. Pascoe.

The above video shows Wanda Sykes, a proud African American lesbian woman, confronting teen boys who used the phrase gay in a joking matter to refer to their peers as stupid or dumb. The terms we use in our every day lives may be accepting to some but not to all. Calling something or some one gay can be taken into a completely different context if over heard by someone of that culture. But even when using the term “gay” to express how one feels about something can be used in different context when transitioning from a boys joking conversation to a females.

The above video shows Hilary Duff, a famous actress who supports gay rights, confronting two young ladies in a clothing store because instead of  one young lady saying the shirt didn’t fit appropriately or wasn’t cute, she decided to use the term gay.

In either case the word was used inappropriately and could be a misleading phrase to anyone who may not know what one really means to say and just as someone could take offense to one using the wrong phrase, that same person could take offense if every time someone did something stupid they described that person. This is what was talked about through out the reading and a visual sum up of how the high school boys responded to each other when jokingly calling them a fag. But why has word gay or faggot, just as in the past bitch or nigga, become so openly accepting? Were we not all taught or educated enough to know how to use proper terms when referring to different objects and people. Why is it that the gentlemen studied felt that it was ONLY inappropriate to call an actual gay male gay or a fag? 

All in all, as new generations grow homosexuality will spread so I feel it is something that should become widely accepted. If people want to have same sex marriages they should be allowed to do so because everyone deserves to be happy and should have the same opportunities appointed to people of opposite sex. They all deserve the respect of the names or titles they choose to take on to not be used in other idiotic contexts.

I mean there is a whole dictionary thesaurus and encyclopedia everyone, lets try not to be afraid to use them and how about worrying a little less about your child's or the next persons sexuality how about... EDUCATION EDUCATION EDUCATION!