LGBT Community
By: Haley Marx, Sophia Rodriguez, Stacey Mescher
Transgender
Trans: People who cannot or choose not to conform to societal gender norms based upon their physical or birth sex.
62% of transgender have a doctor they saw regularly for health care. 46% of transgender people had to educate the doctor on their needs in health care.
Over half of the participants felt uncomfortable or extremely uncomfortable discussing their status as a transgender with a doctor who did not understand
One in five transgenders have felt they had been denied a job due to their status. 13% feel they have been fired due to their status.
⅔ of participants have reported suicidal thoughts in their lifetime, including 79% female to male and 58% Male to female.
Drugs used by transgenders → Marijuana (67%), painkillers (42%) powder cocaine (32%) and downers (27%)
Participants in this were asked to assess the level of support → Transgender friends, transgender support groups, non-transgender friends. The lowest levels of support came from family by marriage, church or temple, and birth family.
The estimated median age for suicide attempts were 15 and 16 years old.
- An estimated 0.3% of adults in America are transgender.
Employment and Housing Discrimination
Data Collection Participants
Lesbians and Gays
- Lesbians have higher self esteem than heterosexual females.
- Lesbians who are out have been proved to be more happy than those who haven't.
- One study shows that 23% of 83 Lesbian females said they have attempted suicide. 29% of the report were not true, what they tried to do was not life threatening.
- Homosexual young adults are only slightly more likely to commit or attempt suicide but other data offers higher numbers.
- The gay rights movement began June 27, 1969.
- Same-sex marriages were made legal in Virginia on October 4, 2014
Richmond Billboard
Same-sex Marriage Map
Bisexual
- The word 'bisexual' has 'bi' in it, which means two.
- Being bisexual means you like more than one gender, or you have multiple gender preferences for your partner.
- Bisexuals are often questioned about why they call themselves bisexual. The question usually implies that identifying as bisexual is unusual, unnecessary- or worse; an act of treason, a sign of immaturity, “just a phase.”
- Often the question is accompanied with a personal attack, such as, "why are you bisexual when you are committed to (person's name)?"
- Some people often find a spiritual or holy relation to their partner by looking beyond gender.
- The Golden Rule of bisexuality refers to a person who prefers to identify as pansexual, disregarding gender and only caring about the soul, flexisexual, flexibility of orientation, or fluid, changes in orientation, instead of bisexual has every right to do so. No one is wrong for not wanting to identify as bisexual, they are simply expressing themselves.
Summary
The problem with society today is that we are afraid of the unknown. We refuse to work past things that we don’t like, like same sex-marriage or people that choose be a different gender than what society calls normal. The ways that we propose to stop discrimination against the LGBT community is teach people that it is ok to be who you are at an early age. Over the past couple years the LGBT community has grown in size, but there have also been many suicides and deaths because people refuse to accept gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. Two fifths of the transgender people in Virginia have admitted to having suicidal thoughts, 79% of those people being woman that have turned into men. In the U.S there are about 8 million people that are either gay, lesbian, or bisexual, making up 3.5% of the adults in America. Another way that we propose to stop the discrimination against the LGBT community is for the government to make it a law that each state has to now allow gay marriage. We also want them to make it a law that all gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people are treated the same in the work environment. In some places gay people can be given a lesser amount of pay.
Overall, members of the LBGT group are not treated as equal as others and they deserve to be treated
What we can do to spread awareness
What schools can do:
Identify people or places where LGBT youth can receive support from, such as teachers, school staff, administrators, or support groups.
Encourage student-led or student-organizations that welcome an accepting environment of their gender identity or sexuality.
Have school district and school staff to educate and publicize trainings on how to support different gender identities and different sexualities.
Educate students at a younger age that having a different identity or sexuality than the norm is okay, so that when they grow older they are not exposed to LGBT communities and so they will not be so disrespectful and giving negativity to the people in the community.
What parents can do:
Parents have a tremendous impact on the youth’s mental health. If they respond negatively to their child coming out about gender identity or sexuality, it can damage the youth’s mental health for a long period of time, or maybe even life.
Speak to their child and ensure that they are not being a victim of violence or bullying- or that their child is not victimizing others.
If bullying, violence, or depression is suspected, parents should seek help, whether it is from staff from the school or other adults in the community.
Talk and listen to their teen in a way that invites an accepting and open conversation about their child’s sexuality or gender identity.
Proactiveness- finding organizations or online information to how they can support their LGBT teen, their friend’s, or other family members.