Interview

Today I was interviewed by our school newspaper about gay rights at my school. here is the text.

Have you faced any homophobia at our school?
Yes, people have strayed and felt uncomfortable when i talk about anything related to homosexuality at school. I know that people also talk about how it is a choice to be gay (even my own family, some of whom strongly disapprove of my sexual orientation) when many studies prove that being gay is something that you are born with and is part of your psychological function. It has also come to my attention that people at school will hang out with gay men (mostly girls) but then contradict themselves by refusing to hang out with lesbian women such as my self (according to my father, even my own mother thought this) because they are afraid of being hit on. There is such a misconception that just because your gay you are attracted to every person of the same sex. Its no different being gay than being straight other than liking people of the same sex, straight people arent attracted to everyone they see and neither are gay people. and that is only some of the homophobia ive seen.

Do students at our school often use language such as "thats so gay" and "no homo" and what effect do they have?
students use homophobic language like their computers every day all day. Ask any sophomore, I am the chief policewoman at Heschel on homophobic language. On average i hear 2-5 homophobic remarks a day from people in my classes alone. Many times I try to stop them but they never listen. They either: (a completely ignore me (b tell me to shut up because its not important or (c (and this is usually with my close friends (yes they make homophobic remarks too, no matter how many times i try to stop it) they say ok, beat themselves up and then do it again two days later. I have even recently encountered homophobic language in literature used at school. Over break the 10th grade was assigned Dr. Jekkel and Mr. Hyde to read. In the last part of the book i encountered the word faggots (more commonly used as fag) to describe the two parts of Dr. Jekkel's self. I know that the author probably did not mean for it to sound like this but I think it encourages kids to say it more if they read it in a school book or hear it from a person they look up to. That is why to me if a celebrity who uses homophobic language is not getting any of my support. Lastly, I think that no homo affects me so deeply because it is saying no (none ,like never again) homosexual (LGBT people) it gives me a mentality like there is going to be a sort of homosexual holocaust. It instills a great fear in my heart and gives me no hope that people at heschel will ever accept me or anyone else for exactly who they are and that depresses me to the core and caused me last year to do things is i still regret to this day. 

How can people act out against homophobia?
 People can act out against homophobia by telling there fellow classmates to stop using homophobic language, even in a joking way. They can wear pins that support LGBT causes. They can participate in events such as rallies or the Day Of Silence (dayofsilence.org) that support gay people an their allies. They can join the GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) mailing list and follow on twitter . If they are really into it they can contact me for more info on how I am involved and what they can do. They most important thing to remember is that its all about education. That 98% of LGBT students reported being harassed (physically or verbally) 2 years ago (2008) and in the same time period close to 15% of HS students dropped out because of that harassment and 20-40% of the 1.6 million homeless youth in America are LGBT youth who have been kicked out of their homes because of their sexual orientation. I have a saying that I want to share: "ignorance is not bliss, ignorance leads to hate, which leads to violence which leads to death, and death is never bliss." All that being said I have no intention of being political (gay marriage, dont ask dont tell) about this because I dont intend to be a politician. I just want to inform and change how LGBT students are being treated, not just in my community or in America but around the world.