The LGBT community has grown more and more accepted as decades have gone by, however, despite their growing popularity, many still do not accept this community, and common criticisms have emerged. Throughout this year I have done extensive research on various sexuality and gender identities and the progression of their acceptance in our society. To aid in this acceptance, I would like to explore the judgments and stereotypes that society has created. I hope to provide insight to you, the reader, on the falsity of these stereotypes, and help you to develop a new and more educated insight on the LGBT community.
Homosexuality
The Family
Many argue that a child of a same sex couple will not be able to grow up as happy and healthy as one of a heterosexual couple. This argument is naïve and ignorant, seeing as that there are dozens of studies proving otherwise, thus making these arguments null. The Washington Post published a study in July of 2014 that stated
"[A] team surveyed 315 same-sex parents with a total of 500 children across Australia. […] Children from same-sex families scored about 6 percent higher on general health and family cohesion […]. [O]n most health measures, including emotional behavior and physical functioning, there was no difference compared with children from the general population." (Lindsey Bever, Washington Post)
Without fail, statistics have constantly shown that children of same sex couples live just as happily and with just as much care as any child of an opposite sex couple. Though some may say that a daughter cannot grow up without her mother or a son without his father, it is clear that this idea is just a straw man argument, thus hiding society of the truth behind the facts. Furthermore, many homosexual couples may chose to adopt a child to start their family, thus providing a child without a family, a safe home and parents that love and appreciate him or her.
Religion
A popular anti-same sex marriage argument is that the Bible prohibits it. My own refute is merely the fact that not everyone believes in the same religion. If I don't believe in the Bible or any Christian ideals, why should I find that someone else's own ideas are wrong because of them? Religion is an individual's personal beliefs, so it doesn't make sense to force your own beliefs onto another. We have the right to have our own faith. Those who do argue that same sex relationships are sinful have the right to think so, but no right judge others who do not.
Bisexuality
Maybe they're just confused?
Bisexuality is not just the product of a confused teenager who cannot decide whether they are gay or straight, nor one who just doesn't want to come completely out of the closet. This is an understandable common misconception for someone who is uneducated on the subject, or really just doesn't know what bisexuality is. For those who do not already know, bisexuality, as defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary, is being "sexually attracted to both men and women". Bisexual people are not indecisive, but just naturally are drawn to both sexes. For those who believe that an individual has to choose either one gender or the other, think of it like a having a friend. Do you only have friends of one gender? Most people associate themselves with both genders, seeing as they like the relationship they are able to have with both. A bisexual person feels the same way, just in a romantic relationship.
They are incapable of monogamy!
A monogamous relationship is one that includes just one pair of partners. In a polyamorous relationship, each partner may have more than one other partner*. It is a common belief that all bisexual people are really just people looking to sleep around, or ruin other peoples' relationships by stealing boyfriends or girlfriends. The idea is that they are slutty and unable to maintain monogamous relationships. Though some, like heterosexuals, may choose not to be monogamous, many bisexuals look for love the same way any other person, homosexual or heterosexual, would. The only difference between them and other sexualities is that they are attracted to more than one type of person. This does not mean that they would be any less committed to their partner, and certainly does not mean they would be unfaithful, just because they are bisexual. A heterosexual man can cheat on his girlfriend just as easily as a bisexual man or woman could on his or her girlfriend. They are often outcasted by both the hetero and homosexual communities because of the fact that many assume this idea that bisexual people cannot maintain relationships, often making it even harder to be bisexual then gay.
*Just to clarify, polyamory is not the same as polygamy. Polygamy is mainly when a man has many woman partners, usually for religious beliefs. Polyamory, on the other hand, is when both partners have the freedom to have as many other partners as they and their partner are comfortable with.
Transgender
They are just really gay
While some transgender people may be gay or lesbian, it is not uncommon for them to be straight, meaning that they are attracted to the gender they were born as. Because they identify as the opposite gender, then liking someone of their original gender is considered being straight.
They all dress in drag
There of course are populations of individuals that dress in drag, however, dressing in drag and being transgender is not the same. Someone who dresses in drag is usually defined as a man who dresses in women's clothing, but does not identify as a woman otherwise. A transgender person is one who identifies as being the opposite gender as their biological sex. It is also more common for someone to cross dress for entertainment such as a play or show, while being transgender means that the individual will not only dress, but feel like the other gender all of the time.
The sexual and gender orientations I talked about in this piece are not nearly all of them, however I hope that I was able to better inform you on the few I did discuss. For more information about any other sexualities or gender identities, a good source is in the "Unitarian Universalist Association" website. Click "LGBTQ welcome and equality", and then "identity 101", which gives clear definitions on many others, like pansexuality and asexuality. No one has to be a perfect match to these definitions though; the "right" identity or sexuality is the one you chose to be, regardless of what anyone else says.
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