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Marsha P Johnson once said “If a transvestite doesn’t say I’m gay and I’m proud and I’m a transvestite, then nobody else is going to hop up there and say I’m gay and I’m proud and I’m a transvestite for them.” LGBTQIA+ culture and history are topics that are not really talked about in learning spaces like schools. More students being openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, should open the doors to spread the history of activists and many different things that LGBTQIA+ people had to go through. This community has such a terrible stigma surrounding it, this is not being taught in schools because it is seen as morally wrong to teach about gay culture, being seen as a sin and as really disgusting people. In which increases the rates of bullying and suicide rates because of many students and teachers that are not open minded and willing to learn. From a survey I conducted on whether LGBTQIA+ culture and history should be taught in schools, 100% of the Curie Students that I surveyed in my English class, agreed to LGBTQIA+ culture and history to be taught in schools. Although we are in the progress to being able to spread awareness of LGBTQIA+ culture and history, bullying of LGBTQIA+ students is still happening and rates are increasing, many bills around the country are being passed that affect the way many LGBTQIA+ students can be able to live their live and affecting their acceptance in this country, conversion therapy is still a big thing that needs to be addressed and should be a topic that should be talked about in schools.

The rates of bullying against LGBTQIA+ students are on the rise. Many are bullied because it is seen as morally incorrect to be in a relationship with someone of the same sex. Because of bullying, this unfortunately increases the suicide rates of LGBTQIA+ students. According to Healthline, “LGBTQ Youth Are Still Experiencing High Rates of Bullying In-Person and Online,” by Brian Mastroianni, they state, “The Trevor Project found that bullying was reported by 65 percent of LGBTQ middle schooler respondents, while 49 percent of high school students reported bullying. Within the greater LGBTQIA+ community, 61 percent of transgender and nonbinary students reported bullying compared to their cisgender LGBQ peers at 45 percent. (Mastroianni)” In other words, due to many students being open about their sexuality, this has lead to rates of bullying to rise drastically. These numbers are really alerting because it goes to show how students are not really educated on what living a life as a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender person is like. Bullying occurs because being gay is seen as something that is not normal, many kids grew up with that belief that relationships and marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Being in a relationship with someone of the same sex is almost seen as something that is really disgusting and should not be legal, which is why many people gravitate towards hate instead of support. Moreover, another reason that LGBTQ should be taught in schools is to solve the serious issue of bullying and violence against transgender students. According to the Human Rights Campaign, by Madeleine Roberts, they state, “29% of transgender youth have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, compared to 7% of cisgender youth. (Roberts)” This quote by the Human Rights Campaign reveals how transgender youth are in really huge danger in schools. Schools are supposed to be places where all of the students feel safe and are cared for, but when transgender youth are being threatened by weapons in schools, just changes that narrative and shows how schools are truly not safe. Bullying towards transgender youth has been on the rise because many students in schools don’t understand that there are many kids who really feel like they were born in the wrong body. Them identifying as a trans man or trans women is a way for them to feel that comfort within themselves and accept themselves for who they are. Because LGBTQ is not being taught in schools, many students misgender transgender peers and go on to comment really disgusting things like “what you have in between your legs, its what you are.” Comments like this are really disgusting and should be something that schools should address. Overall, rates of bullying against LGBTQ students have been on the rise due to lack of acceptance and lack of knowledge when it comes to learning about the LGBTQ umbrella.

In the United States, it has came a long way with passing bills that support LGBTQIA+ rights such as same sex marriage and much more. But as the years pass by, many conservative states have been trying to pass laws that affect the way that LGBTQIA+ youth and adults live in this country. According to The Guardian, “ Don’t say gay’ bill: Florida senate passes law marginalizing LGBTQ+ people,” it states, “ The Republican-dominated Florida legislature passed a bill on Tuesday which would forbid instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, rejecting a wave of criticism from Democrats that it marginalizes LGBTQ+ people… The bill would not bar spontaneous discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools but instead is intended to prevent districts from integrating the subjects into official curriculum, Harding and supporters have said.(The Guardian)” In other words, learning about LGBTQ culture and history has become illegal in the state of Florida. This was seen as something that was potentially harming to kids in many schools because being gay is something that is seen as morally incorrect. This is seen as a attack to the LGBTQ comunity and on teachers because it steps away students from learning about the history of LGBTQ, but it also removes all of the books that are about homosexuality. Teachers want to make sure that their students are comfortable and safe, but the “Dont Say Gay Bill,” has really put students to the edge. Moreover, it is terrible to ban LGBTQ books when many students have been hiding their sexuality for so long and express themselves in their writing. According to the Texas Tribune, “ Texas students push back against book bans for censoring LGBTQ, racial justice issues,” by Brooke Parks, they state, “The books Texas is targeting — mainly novels that focus on discussions of race, sexual orientation and gender identity — tell the tale of Izu’s past and future. The 17-year-old high school student is Asian American, Black and Hispanic and bisexual, and she hates to see her identities or her peers’ censored.“I ignored [my sexuality] for a really long time. And I think that as a young girl, if a book showed me that this is a life that could be lived, I could have had a lot more peace and coming to terms with bisexuality.(Parks)” This quote goes to reveal how banning books that bring up topics of homosexuality really does affect students that are part of the LGBTQ community. Students hiding their sexuality to finally be open and are being bashed for it is not okay, it really takes so much strength and patience to come out. By banning most of these books that bring up topics about things like homosexuality, they are limting the learning of every student in school. It is okay to disagree with what certain books may be talking about, but this law certainly is taking away that privilege for students to be informed about LGBTQ history in schools. In which, also reveals that because they are banning many of these queer books, it is showing how same sex relationships is unacceptable and innapropiate. Overall, the passing of the “Dont Say Gay Bill” and banning books about homosexuality is only going to teach studens to hide who they are and feel shame because they identify as part of the LGBTQ community.

Conversion Therapy is a process that many LGBTQIA+ people would be put through by their family in order to revert back to being a Heterosexual. It is seen as punishment for those who are gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, queer, and more. There are still many conversion therapy facilities that are still in running and it is important to teach in schools about what the terrible things that this community faces. According to the Human RIghts Campaign, “The Lies and Dangers of Efforts to Change Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity,” they state, “So-called “conversion therapy,” sometimes known as “reparative therapy,” is a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Such practices have been rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization for decades, but due to continuing discrimination and societal bias against LGBTQ people, some practitioners continue to conduct conversion therapy. Minors are especially vulnerable, and conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide”(Human RIghts Campaign). In other words, many members of the LGBTQ community are being put through conversion therapy where they can change who they are. Someone who is gay should not be put through a hard process of changing who they are, many come out to feel that freedom and truly be themselves. This will only make kids want to keep things to themselves and struggle with mental health. Religion really plays a huge role when it comes to conversion therapy, christians believe that homosexuality is a sin, in which this leads to parents putting their children through so much trauma . Conversion therapy should not be a option because acceptance and support is something that kids need during these tough times. Moreover, not only does conversion therapy affect the way that LGBTQ youth live their lives, but its puts them in a place where they are thinking of suicide. According to CNN, “Conversion therapy is harmful to LGBTQ people and costs society as a whole, by Jen Christensen, they state, “I think often parents, they're not trying to hurt their kids, or they think they're trying to help them," said Cahill, who was not involved in the research. "I think it's really important for parents to know that if they have their child do conversion therapy, their child has a greater odds of experiencing serious psychological distress, depression, substance use and suicide. I would think that a lot of parents would not be happy to learn that. (Christensen)” Despite conversion therapy being seen as a solution to turn a homosexual back to a heterosexual person, families need to realize that they are putting the life of their child at risk. The process of conversion therapy is really traumatic and hard to go through, leading to many teens taking their lives to end with all that suffering. Parents need to come to a realization that being gay,lesbian, bisexual, or transgender is not a choice, many feel like they dont meet certain expectations and gravitate towards one gender a lot more than another gender. Due to this, numbers of LGBTQ that have attempted and succeeded with suicide have been on the rise because they dont have acceptance from the people that they love the most and also because of all that hatred that they get for being who they are. Many need to realize that putting your own child through conversion therapy will cause more harm than good. This is why LGBTQ should be taught in schools because many students need to learn about how conversion therapy is a place where they mistreat and harm many LGBTQ members for being who they are. Overall, conversion therapy should not be seen as a option, teens are committing suicide because they dont want to live with that pain of being told how to live their live.

Indeed, the LGBTQIA+ community has come such a long way today thanks to the amazing activists like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, the ‘Queer Eye’s’ Fab Five, and much more. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, especially when trying to teach LGBTQIA+ culture and history in schools so that students can be more open minded and accepting. Severe topics such as bullying and suicide rates rising high in LGBTQ students, new laws that affect the way that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people live their daily lives. Lastly, fighting to abolish and ban conversion therapy in America to be able to help the LGBTQ youth live a better life. Overall, there might be so much work that we as a community need to do, but we can not stop here. Many of the activists in the 1900’s did not give up and risked their lives to fight for our rights, so now its our turn to return that favor and continue following their footsteps. If Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and many more activists were still living till this day, they would be so proud of the huge progress that we all as a community have made in this country. We need to make sure that we protect our queer people, but most importatnly, protect transgender people because Trans Lives Matter.

Works Cited

“'Don't Say Gay' Bill: Florida Senate Passes Law Marginalizing LGBTQ People.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Mar. 2022, www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/08/dont-say-gay-bill-florida-senate-lgbtq.

“CDC Releases National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Results.” Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org/news/new-cdc-data-shows-lgbtq-youth-are-more-likely-to-be-bullied-than-straight-cisgender-youth.

Christensen, Jen. “Conversion Therapy Is Harmful to LGBTQ People and Costs Society as a Whole, Study Says.” CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Mar. 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/03/07/health/conversion-therapy-personal-and-financial-har“The Lies and Dangers of ‘Conversion Therapy.’” Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org/resources/the-lies-and-dangers-of-reparative-therapy.

“The Lies and Dangers of ‘Conversion Therapy.’” Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org/resources/the-lies-and-dangers-of-reparative-therapy.

Mastroianni, Brian. “LGBTQ Youth Are Still Experiencing High Rates of Bullying.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 14 Oct. 2021, www.healthline.com/health-news/lgbtq-youth-are-still-experiencing-high-rates-of-bullying-in-person-and-online#The-high-rate-of-bullying-experienced-by-LGBTQ-youth.

Park, Brooke. “Texas Students Push Back against Book Bans for Censoring LGBTQ, Racial Justice Issues.” Chron, 7 Mar. 2022, www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/texas-students-banned-books-protest-clubs-16982846.php.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zaNkzZvKEFZ_c1dcW9Uadf3LjAb41Ltq7_X3X-ztVDE/edit#slide=id.p