Overcoming Stereotypes Of The LGBT Community

Through the eyes of someone who hasn't experienced the direct effects of the discrimination that the LGBTQ community regularly faces. It is easy to dismiss their calls for help and rights as unnecessary. For the public is blinded by the great “strides” it has made from successful lawsuits to legalizing same sex marriage,that they have created a sort of equality facade were mainstream LGBT individuals are projected as the pinnacle of equality, even though this scenario can be the farthest truth to the average person who identifies as an LGBT individuals . The LGBT community is a wide community, according to the website “the daily beast” around 10 million Americans—4 percent of the population—now identify as LGBT (1). Based on the information,

These people do tend to face their own individual challenges, however many of the struggles that they face are common across the community. One of these struggles can include overcoming stigma, individuals can be greatly affected by predetermined beliefs about their sexual identity whether it's positive or negative(3). As a society, we tend to be with actions as long and they're not directly harmful to another person. For its ok to to state that “ gay men are more feminine while queer women are more masculine”, these statements seem harmless because they are not a hundred percent derogatory. However, if we focus too much on these stereotypes inevitably they can alter and guide our actions against and a person will perceive one of these people. Allowing these stereotypes to used as a substitute to real life interacts, can cause a person to gain prejudice. Even though Prejudice is usually defined as an unjustifiable negative attitude toward an outgroup or toward the members of that outgroup (4). Prejudice can take many forms of discomfort,anger, fear, etc. These stereotypes are very problematic to the LGBT community because it steps away the individual's identity because society had already constructed one for them. If people decide to let these “harmless” stereotypes to guide them in their opinions about this group of people, the strides we have made within these past years

When speaking with Kassandra Rendon-Morales from the association COLOR, she explains how detrimental it is to recognize the impacts stereotyping has on these individuals, she illustrates the struggle by stating “ yes, I am mexican, yes, I am latina, but im also much more than that i'm my own person with my own degree, I have family, I am my own person, yes I do identify with these labels but that's not the only thing I want people to see me as” . The same theme arises in this quote from book Luna, ." He let out a short laugh. "Who's that? A caricature I've created. A puppet, a mime, a cartoon character. I'm this male macho version of a son that Dad has in his head. Even though, the interview and quote aren't directly connected to sexaulity they provide the same theme. These stereotypes and label may be useful to get a quick understanding of individual, however when the labels are used to give reason and to structure a person's life it's become toxic. Kassandra understands her labels are a part of her identity but also understand that these labels are barley skin deep, for the experience people face and the personality they create over time is what really matters. The quote from “LUNA” symbolizes the same theme, this individual Liam inside identify more as a girl than a boy, but at throughout the story you see how the father has this large idea of what a “boy”