Post 5

The difference between my high school British experience and my American University experience with LGBT people and it's Implications on my thinking.

This week we have been talking about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals in the educational arena. The conversations we have been having made me wonder how different my experience in the UK is to my experience in the USA. It is more similar in some ways but different in many others.

My high school was a private boarding school in a small rural town in Somerset. There were only two gay people in my school, that I knew of, and both were students. It was a very ignored subject in school around those two people, but many jokes were made. Being gay or lesbian was definitely made fun of, and the idea that someone might be homosexual was highlighted, anyone who had this was picked on a little for it. People also gave a wide birth to those which our school society deemed possibly homosexual. The idea of bisexuals and transgender people baffled most in the community, no jokes were made or comments because nobody really knew about it. We didn't have any information on them and nobody seemed sure about how to deal with anyone like this.

In the UK as a whole being homosexual is fairly accepted, not completely, but most people are fine with it. But, like at my school, many people in the UK don't really know how to approach Bisexuals and Transgender, because it is not commonly known. I do not know why this is but it does seem to be the case.

Here at John Carroll University, it seems that homosexuals have less jokes made of them than at my high school, I'm aware that there are still some, but fewer. The biggest contrast to here and the UK is the reaction to bisexual and transgender individuals, it is mainly accepted here and people seem to be more informed about them. I believe this is a good thing, because it is important to be informed to know how to react to different people's situations. I find this is the case throughout the USA, or at least in this area of the USA.

This leads me to an important advancement that I believe should be done throughout all educational institutions in all countries: to educate about being LGBT, what it means and how you should react to it. If it is made to be a perfectly normal thing then no one will tease or react to it. It is different but the difference should eventually be as accepted as women wearing trousers (pants or jeans) in today's society. It was socially unacceptable, but now, nobody looks twice, and that's what we should be working towards for LGBT people. I think this now after learning and working out more things about these individuals, without this I didn't care, I believed it normal to joke about it, and that was fine. I do understand that some may find it wrong to be LGBT, and that is an ok belief to have, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be accepting of those who are LGBT or that you should tease them. It is easy just to not bring the issue up.