Taylor Inouye

Kiana Reconsal-Brown
Period 4
Saving the LGBTQIA
Section 1: LGBTQIA Background
Everyone has their own unique traits that define them as an individual, however,
people tend to forget that, and become instant critics. The LGBTQIA community is
comprised of many individuals who are criticized because of who they are and who they
choose to love. LGBTQIA stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer,
Intersex and Asexual, but this community is encompassed of much more sexual
orientations than stated. Their choice of gender identification and preference causes their
peers to chastise them because it is not viewed as socially acceptable or normal. This
harassment has increased the suicide rate of adolescents in the LGBTQIA community.
Dating back to as early as the 1940s, discrimination of individuals in the LGBTQIA
community have been apparent, Police constantly entrapped and brutalized gay people.
Public disclosure of homosexuality was enough to get most people fired from their jobs
and ostracized from families and communities (Ford, 2013).
Although, times are changing and a portion of society has learned to accept these
individuals, those who oppose still exist, More and more people are out of the closet, but
while that may relieve and liberate in some ways, it also makes people easy targets for
discrimination and hatred (Ford, 2013). According to The Trevor Project, every incident
of physical or verbal abuse teens become two and half times more susceptible to selfharm. Not only self-harm but this harassment can lead to suicide attempts, feelings of
inadequacy (Savage, 2010) depression and hopelessness (Mustanski, 2013). Besides their

peers, these adolescents may receive similar treatment from their families who
disapprove of their decisions. In comparison to LGBTQIA teens who have accepting
families, those who do not are about eight times more likely to attempt suicide (The
Trevor Project, 2015). All of these statistics are a result of the physical and verbal abuse
from the non accepting peers and families of adolescents within the LGBTQIA
community.
Section 2: Previous Solutions
To lessen this issue, organizations and programs have been making it their goal to
help and support those in need. The Trevor Project, founded in 1998, is an organization
created to prevent suicide within the LGBTQIA community by providing online chat
rooms, hotlines and care programs. Having options such as chat rooms and hotlines give
the youth someone to open up and connect with. The Trevor Project has a website called
TrevorSpace which is a social media website for people within the LGBTQIA
community. Teens are given a chance to communicate in an environment that makes them
feel comfortable to share their feelings and problems, which in most cases is easier than
talking to their family members. Especially in cases where adolescents do not have an
accepting family. With a similar objective to The Trevor Project, the It Gets Better Project
cares for those adolescents as well. Created by Dan Savage and his partner, Terry Miller,
this project provides support through video submission. Whom the videos are submitted
from ranges from supportive peers to celebrities and politicians.

Section 3: LGBTQIA School Programs

Besides directly helping those in need, other suicide prevention programs provide
kits with information for families on how to support and understand the LGBTQIA youth.

All of these methods of assistance would work here in Hawaii as well as in the rest of the
country because these programs help and are accessible to adolescents, nation and
worldwide. Revealing to these adolescents that they are neither alone nor going through
these troubles alone is vital; city council member, Joel Burns, an LGBTQIA individual,
was victimized first hand as a thirteen-year old in his hometown of Texas for being gay.
Burns purpose for sharing his painful experience is to prove as an example that there is
so much more to live for. He advises any adolescents experiencing harassment to give
themselves a chance to see how much better life will get, because it will get better. They
will get out of the household that doesnt accept them, they will get out of that high
school and theyll never have to deal with those jerks again if they dont want to (Burns,
2010).
Much like these supportive advocates, making a youth controlled support group
available within schools is a beneficial solution. The LGBTQIA youth are more
susceptible to harassment in a school than at home. According to Mental Health America,
school bullying incidents interfere with the education of the LGBTQIA youth and
because of that, some reported skipping school in order to avoid such a perilous
environment (Mental Health America, 2015). If peers continue to harass others, then not
only will the suicide rate increase but, education and dropout statistics for the LGBTQIA
community can negatively increase as well. Having schools become more aware and
understanding of the problems occurring with these individuals is important, because if
their home is unaccepting then at least they have an alternate comfort zone. LGB youth
who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to have attempted suicide
as LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (The Trevor Project,

2015). School problems will reassure these youth that other than home there is
somewhere to go with people to rely on. In order for students to excel in school, they
need to be in an environment where they are socially, emotionally and physically safe and
supported. LGBT Students who report having a greater number of supportive staff had
higher GPAs (Mental Health America). Being in an environment full of support and
positivity will create a sense of comfortability making it easier for people to learn.
It is highly advantageous and more feasible than organizations and projects such
as The Trevor Project and It Gets Better, because not only is it the most convenient for
students, but it also has the potential to make them feel safer at school. Having support
groups may create a secure environment for LGBTQIA students, since school is part of
their day-to-day routine. In a national study conducted on middle and high school
students results showed that LGBT students were about 61 percent more likely than their
non-LGBT peers to feel unsafe or uncomfortable as a result of their sexual orientation
(LGBT, 2014).
Currently students do not feel protected at school, because they are unaware that
they are not alone when it comes to facing bullies. At the same time, the LGBTQIA
students would receive the support they need and their families may highly appreciate the
effort, however, if their families are apart of the problem, their peers can create a feeling
of acceptance and confidence for them. If these support-groups were to be run during the
same hours as other extra curricular activities within the schools vicinity, there would
really be no additional costs. However, the support group would need some sort of
advisor, perhaps a teacher or administrator that supports the LGBTQIA community.
Section 4: Possible Objections

For every solution, there are those who choose to object against it. People who do
not believe in anything the LGBTQIA community stands for may not agree with the idea
of LGBTQIA support groups in schools. Most of the time, people have these opinions
due to religious or personal beliefs. The most commonly used argument by opposing
religious groups is that, marriage should only be between a male and female. They
believe that God only accepts this one type of arrangement, and any other is considered a
sin. Many believe that being a member of the LGBTQIA community is choice; however,
this was proven to be a myth, sexual orientation emerges in most people in the early teen
years without any sexual experience. We do get to act on our feelings, but psychologists
do not consider sexual orientation to be a conscious choice (LGBTQ, 2015). In fact,
there are 20 European countries that encourage the medical extraction of reproductive
organs before a person can classify themselves as another gender, showing that they are
not accepting towards those whose biological sex and gender do not correlate (Baird,
2015).
Section 5: Call to Action
The idiom to each his own does take place in a situation like this, however,
people need to consider the fact that LGBTQIA individuals are just as human as everyone
else. People may not agree with their choice of lifestyle, but that does not give them the
right to oppress them. Ridiculing people because of who they are, takes away from their
individuality and shatters their identity causing them to be unsure of themselves. What
these people in opposition need to also realize is that providing these students support at
school does not infringe on the beliefs of students who oppose. These support groups are

held outside of instructional time and will not be apparent to anyone who is not apart of
it.
Those who care about the wellbeing of their loved ones truly benefit from and
appreciate the support that people give them. Decreasing the rate of suicide caused by
harm and discrimination, will prove that communities possess a sense of compassion
towards others regardless of their differences. If measures arent taken to show these
adolescents that they are not alone, then the rate of suicide will continue to increase and
fewer will come out from fear of the hatred they will receive otherwise. Although our
differences divide us, simultaneously, gaining a sense of humanity will hold us together.