Often times, queer young adult literature highlights issues that plague adolescents without ever providing an account that feels authentic for its readers. Chulito by Charles Rice-Gonzalez is a gripping fictional account of what it means to be young, gay and Puerto Rican in New York City. Rice-Gonzalez is a lecturer at Hostos Community College and a longtime LGBT activist within the Bronx. Set in the South Bronx, Chulito explores a variety of themes, including masculinity, gayness, identity, and love. In this book, Rice Gonzalez highlights the importance seeing masculinity as being complex instead of dichotomous-
Society tries to create a “perfect” image on people; leading us to believe that if we are not the specific way that we created, we do not fit in. In reality everybody is supposed to create themself, regardless of what society believes. Does what we label others matter? Who are we to judge how others chose to create themselves? In David Crabb’s memoir Bad Kid, Crabb takes the readers through what it was like discovering that he is gay, and how that changed how kids treated him during school.
To understand the linkage between sexuality and gender, it is important to reimagine the relationship between sexuality and gender and the rapport they hold with self-identification. Not long ago, sexuality was tied to procreation - becoming the core of one’s identity. Gender had always been tied to biological sex. However, a crisis of gender identity emerged and blurred the gender and sexuality binaries that had become commonplace social facts. A fluidity was created that allowed individuals to not feel the pressure of fitting inside distinct identification categories.
It is not nearly as easy as just deciding one day to change your life forever. Most people who end up coming out, however, say that they felt better after doing so. Some individuals in our world are not in an accepting enough world to come out though, and that is not fair. This got me thinking about how I can try to make the world a more accepting place where nobody even has to think twice about coming out. The Trevor Project is a non-profit charity that works with LGBT+ youth through crises and works to make the world a more accepting place.
In October 12, 2010, Joel Burns made a public message towards the GLBT teens by sharing a personal story. He delivered an amazing message by sharing also those who’ve been victims of being portrayed as gay, bullying, and suicides. Inspiring the young GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) teens that life does not end by the words of others who have an oppose mentality. Life does get better once you graduate high school, adventure throughout your adult life, finding someone you may last a lifetime, and building a foundation just like those individuals who singled you out for having different interest. “...that the things would get easier, please stick around, society will change, please live long enough to see it…”
Are we ready to start being asked about our sexual orientation? LGBT? Does one even feel comfortable being asked about one’s sexual orientation and giving an answer to strangers. In the essay, “Despite the Controversy, We’re Glad We Asked” by S. Alan Ray talks about them asking students their sexual orientation on their college application.
Xhonneux, L. "The Classic Coming Out Novel: Unacknowledged Challenges to the Heterosexual Mainstream." College Literature, vol. 39 no. 1, 2012, pp. 94-118. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/lit.2012.0005.
When writing an essay or article you need to be able to keep the audience’s attention. Keeping the reader’s attention through your essay is important because you want your reader to stay interested in the essay and not get bored and stop reading. In Roxane Gay’s “A Tale of Three Coming Out Stories”, she uses multiple techniques to keep her reader’s attention. When you are writing, use different techniques such as, emotion and examples/evidence to your argument.
In this day and age, the LGTBQ+ community is expanding rapidly. Therefore, the community has included the plus sign at the end to represent those who are questioning, pan-gendered, intersexed, transsexual, or two-spirited and the many new ways people are self-identifying. Each generation is becoming more exposed to more information and are capable to choose from openly out members of the LGBTQ+ community as role models. For younger generations, it may become easier to recognize and acknowledge one’s sexual orientation or gender identity than those apart of Generation X and the Baby Boomers. However, even in this more open-minded society, homophobia is still living, breathing, and thriving.
Most people would argue that a parent should love their child unconditionally no matter what, but how is it that nearly 43% of homeless LGBTQ+ youth were forced out of their homes after coming out? (Seaton Perspective | homeless rates for LGBT teens are alarming, but parents can make a difference) Given this high percentage, it’s easier to understand why so many kids are scared to come out and share themselves. More importantly, they help us understand more about Yasaman, the main character in “Why I Learned To Cook”, a short story by Sara Farizan. In the story, Yasaman, a bisexual girl, faces the same struggle many members of the LGBTQ+ community face, coming out.
Walking down the streets of the city I am faced with the problem head on. It inspired me to propose and lead a school wide fundraiser to raise money for youth homelessness and donate the contributions to Larkin Street Youth Service — a local organization in San Francisco that provides shelter, drug abuse treatments, counseling, transitional living programs, food, clothes, medical care, and drug training to homeless youth. The money was raised through a raffle, as well as through a game of jeopardy where the answers where different gender identities, and sexual and romantic orientations. This game helped to engage and educate the students on the large variety of identities in the LGBTQ community and what each one means. I also wrote and distributed information about youth LGBTQ homelessness so people were more aware of the large problem many LGBTQ youth face.
Sex, gender and sexual orientations are different and what part is played my respective identities in a person’s life. We discussed issues faced by gay, lesbian and transgender people in college and work environment. Due lack of knowledge related to LGBTQ issues, we often approach situations in a wrong manner and one small ignorant mistake can embarrass them. Everyone should be very considerate in dealing with transgender people pay necessary attention on their pronouns and how they wanted to be perceived. Our presenter talked about the myths people have towards LGBTQ community and what these baseless myths make these people feel.
Even though he struggles with his sexuality and coming out of the closet, he does not identify himself with other homosexuals, but, quite the contrary, supports the conservative views of Reagan’s oppressing politics. Joe is an idealist, incapable of seeing the world as it is; his political views do not correspond to his true personality. Because of that, he suffers greatly throughout the play. Even though he comes out of the closet and embraces his true self at one point, he does not experience a complete change and thus is left in a sort of a limbo, never getting a full redemption like some other characters. Kushner uses the character of Joe to show that one should be true to oneself, and that blind following of any particular ideology
In being seen as different and as challenging a societal norm, they are often ostracized and discriminated against. Therefore, in an investigation into the higher rate of suicide among LGBTQ youth, people should not look to them for the cause, but to themselves and their stigmatization of the LGBTQ youths because people perceive them as “different from
Transgender is the term used to describe an individual whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth. The documentary, “Growing up Trans”, is a sensitive clip to watch about young youths who attempt to navigate family, friends, gender, and the medical decisions they face at puberty. “Growing up Trans” focuses mainly on transitioned young youths. The transgender youth from the documentary links to many theories from chapter eight. Theories such as socialization, gender, sexuality, homophobia, transphobia, and microaggression are associated with “Growing up Trans”.
