Had to share...

Relationship with family....

     A gay/lesbian teen will one day have the difficult decision of when, how and if to tell their parents about their sexual orientation. I can only imagine how difficult this would be. I also hate to think of the many teens who end up having no love and support from their parents and family after sharing this personal information.
     Most of the existing research I found focused on negativity in the relationships between lesbian and gay teens and their parents. No research I easily found considered the possibility of acceptance and support  from the family.
     A study conducted by Ryan and Russell (2010) looked at the relationships between a gay/lesbian teen and their parents at the time of the "coming out". The researchers looked at a group of 245 teens and found that the teens who expected a negative reaction from friends and family also reported they had a problem with substance abuse. Another part of their study assessed the relationship between the health of the teen and family rejection. Their study showed clear associations between parental rejecting behaviors during adolescence and the use of illegal drugs, depression, attempted suicide, mental health problems and sexual risk by the gay/lesbian teens. But, they also discovered that after their parents become sensitized to the need and well-being of the teens, many family relationships improve (Ryan and Russell, 2010).
     I feel that gay/lesbian teenagers whose family has rejected them would be at the most serious risk for serious emotional distress. I want to always try my hardest to help my children be happy and be who they really are on the inside. My job as a parent is to support and love my children no matter what their sexual orientation. I want them to be able to be honest and open with me about who they are as a person without the fear of me ever rejecting them. If one of my children choose a different sexual orientation I will support them and let them know they are loved and accepting....I feel every parent should always do the same. If my children are happy...then I am happy.


Diaz, R., Huebner, D., Russell, S.T., Ryan, C., Sanchez, J. (2010). Family acceptance in adolescence and the health of LGBT young adults. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23(4), 205-213.

The hard part for many teens....

I wish I could say this mindset was surprising to me.....

   
     A prom is suppose to be a fun event for high school students. But, if you are gay or lesbian it may be nothing but an event that causes more hurt and pain. In Utah a young girl was asked to leave a special dance because she was there with a female date. This clearly violated her rights because of the federal court cases there have been upholding the rights of same sex couples to attend the prom. Those two court cases were: Fricke v. Lynch in 1980  and McMillen v. Itawamba in 2010 ("ACLU of Utah", 2011). A public school in Mississippi cancelled the prom rather than allow a student to bring a same-sex date ("ACLU of Utah", 2011). To cancel a prom for this reason seems so completely wrong in so many ways!
     We have talked so much about discrimination over the last four weeks. I feel that a school board ruling that gays/lesbians are not allowed to attend their prom is a perfect example of just that; discrimination. There are several different sexual orientations and it seems ridiculous that a school would ban certain students due to their choice of orientation. Makes me wonder how much the schools are helping to continue the bullying and discrimination of gays/lesbians in high school. 
     Let's look at Sullivan High School in Indiana...be prepared to be very angry!

The school board at Sullivan High School is against banning any gay/lesbian students from attending the prom. Because of this, a group of about 600 students from Sullivan High have rallied to have a prom that bans gay couples; a "traditional" prom as they are calling it. These students believe that if they make the prom "good" they convince more people to "follow what they believe" and attend the traditional prom. Not everyone in the community thinks what the students are doing is right (Anderle, 2013).
    Many high school students look forward to attending their prom.  It's a very big event in high school....everyone should be able to make the memory of attending it no matter who they take as a date.

American Health Information Management Association. (n.d.). AHIMA code of ethics. Retrieved from

    http://www.ahima.org/‌about/‌ethicscode.aspx

Anderle, M. February, 2013. Gay ban at prom nixed, so some students try to hold their own. Newsmax. Retrieved from

    http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/gay-ban-prom-nixed/2013/02/11/id/489791

A quote for everyone to live by, no matter their sexual orientation...

Not a good statistic....

We must prevent more suicides...

     A typical teenager may have hard issues to deal with through high school.  If that teenager happens to be gay/lesbian, it can make things even more difficult.  But, how are we supposed to make things “get better” if we avoid the issue.  So many kids are misinformed on this subject.  A better education could mean a better future for all the gay/lesbian teens who are contemplating suicide.  I feel discrimination has a lot to do with experience.  Unfortunately there are many people who are having no experiences with this issue and learning nothing about it.  There are also religious groups who continue to teach hatred against gay/lesbians.

     McFarland (2008) stated that professional counselors at high schools have the ethical duty to serve all students including gay, lesbian, and bisexual students.  He feels that they need to understand why this hidden minority is at a high risk for suicide in order to develop and implement interventions through a developmental guidance program. 

     Gay/lesbian teens may end up contemplating suicide because they are not behaving in ways that conform to their gender roles.  After watching the video tribute for gay/lesbians I thought to ask my teenager children if they have ever spoken of this issue in their health class.  They all answered no.  They have spoken about dating and how the male and female bodies work but never anything on this issue.  They have never discussed this topic in school.  I wonder….would any teenager still be alive today if an adult at their school had opened up a conversation on the topic?  There has to be someone reassuring these teenagers that it really will “get better”.

McFarland, W.P. (1998). Gay, lesbian, and bisexual student suicide. Professional School Counseling, 1(3), 26-29.

Several studies show.......

     There are many issues that gay and lesbian high school students must deal with everyday in school.  Elze (2003) has found that many of the problems in school are related to sexual orientation include rude jokes and comments, discrimination and harassment, vandalism to their lockers, violence from peers, and threats from other students' parents.  Elze (2003) found the most common form of victimization being verbal harassment from not only peers but teachers also! 
     A study that I read about online that was conducted in Britain, followed 4,000 gay and lesbian teens from 2003-2010 found that bullying does decline dramatically over time just as the video, "It Gets Better" stated.  Throughout the seven year study the cultural acceptance of gays and the intolerance for bullying by no doubt has affected the results of the study.  The researchers also stated that bullying is more of an issue for young gay men.  By the time a gay man is 19 and 20 years old they are more than four times as likely to be bullied than a straight peer.  In this Britain study Robinson stated the fact that masculine tendencies in girls and women are more culturally acceptable than femininity in boys and men.  This obviously is reflected in the study.  I am glad to read that gay and lesbians have less issues as they get older but that still does not make what they live through acceptable, especially through adolescence. But, I feel as a person grows older, they become more accepting of  themselves which helps in so many ways and with so many issues.


Elze, D. E. (2003). Gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths' perceptions of their high school environments and comfort in school. Children & Schools. 25(4), 225-226.

Tanner, l. (2013). It really does get better for gay teens: bullying declines with age, new long-term study finds. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com    

Why Have I Chosen This Topic?

     I am attending Albright College and have begun a Diversity class.  I was asked if I wanted to write my very first blog and was brainstorming about what I would choose as my topic.  What diverse topics have come up after reading the stories in our textbook?  What diverse situations have I dealt with in my life? 

     My thoughts took me back a few months to a male pageant at my daughters' high school.  There were several young men taking part in this event but one stood out to me because of the information my daughter had just learned and shared with me...he was openly gay.  Both my daughter and myself were both very happy that he choosing to be part of this event knowing that winning had a lot to do with popularity.  I remember sitting in the high school auditorium amazed when he came out to begin his performance.  He was wearing tight, pink shiny pants, a feather boa, a large brimmed hat and high heeled boots!  He looked awesome and was obviously in his element!  But, he was not wearing the typical dress of a senior male in high school.  His entrance onto the stage caused one thing.....complete insanity!  The high school kids were all screaming and applauding for him.  I was applauding but, also could not help from smiling at what I was witnessing.  This was something that I never would have seen in my high school.  This young man ended up coming in second place!  This evening made such an impact on me and it actually gave me hope that this generation may see some change. 

     Diversity refers to the similarities and differences that individuals posses.  Some may see it as "the spice of life" (Budescu, 2012).  Sexual orientation would be included in this diversity.  We have already had several conversations in class about gay/lesbian individuals and all the stereotypes and such they must endure; especially in high school.  For some gay and lesbian adolescents, educational experiences are marked by stigmatization, prejudice, isolation, and discrimination (Budescu, 2012).  I never would have known it was possible for a young gay man to not experience all of this on a daily occurrence if I had not seen it with my own eyes.   

     

Elze,D. E. (2003). Gay,lesbian, and bisexual youths' perceptions of their high school enviroments and comfort in school. Children & Schools. 25(4), 225-236.

Just a Thought...