To what extent does harassment affect young homosexuals psychologically?” In the beginning of this paper I will be explaining what homosexuality is and what sexual orientation is. I will then mention the types of harassment that young homosexuals face and how the effects it has on them. Mentioning the different opinions through the different studies and surveys that have been studied and taken. This paper will show the mental effects that harassment has on young homosexuals and also the physical effects it has.
The conclusion of this essay shows that harrassment plays a big part on the lives of young homosexuals. Suggestions will be given in the end of this paper, on how to fix this problem in schools and different environments were we tend to see this harrassment, and how people from the LGBT community should respond to the different harassments they face in a way that will benefit them and not have any harm on others.
Introduction
Homosexuality is interest and attraction to members of the same sex. In different periods of times, homosexual behaviour has been accepted as tolerated, punished, and banned due to different cultures and religion. About a year ago, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that same sex couples were given the right to get married throughout the country. According to Pew Research Center’s March poll, fifty five percent of Americans say that they favor allowing homosexual marriage, while the remaining thirty four percent remain opposed. About a decade ago, these opinions were reversed fifty five percent of Americans were opposed, and thirty four percent favored homosexual marriage. Views toward homosexualls usually vary by age, education, and religious affiliation. A survey that was done in March also shows that people that are younger than 30 are the most supportive ( seventy three percent ), followed by people aged from 30 to 49 ( sixty one percent ), followed by people aged from 50 t0 64 ( forty seven percent ), and finally those who are 65 and older ( thirty eight percent ). This survey shows that the younger people of the society support homosexualls more than the elderly ones. Fewer people say that homosexuallity shouldnt be accepted, but as time goes by people start accepting it more.
Acceptance of homosexuallity is proven to be accepted more in countries where religion isn't a big role in people's lives. In Africa, and most Muslim countries homosexuallity is rarely accepted, and it is really looked down upon. This is due to the different religion perspectives they have, and how religion plays a big role in the muslim countries. According to Pew Research Center, ninety eight percent of people in Nigeria, ninety six percent of people in Senegal, ninety six percent of people in Ghana, ninety six percent of people in Uganda, and ninety percent of people in Kenya all believe that homosexuallity should not be accepted by society. That pretty much shows that if religion plays a big role in the country then they most likely do not accept homosexuallity or a small amount would accept it. However some countries are low on religious yet they still don't accept homosexuality. For example Russia, Russia is low on religious yet only sixteen percent of the people accept homosexuallity. In 2002, Gallup asked Americans to estimate the percentage of homosexual men and women, it came out to say that twenty one percent of men are homosexuals and twenty one percent of women are homosexuals ( Robison, 2002 ). Even though there is an increasing amount of homosexuals coming out these days, it still doesn’t change people’s opinions, and religions facts.
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is a person’s identity based on the gender of people they are attracted to, people who are bisexual are attracted to both men and women, homosexuals are attracted to the same gender as them, hetrosexuals are people who are attracted to the oppopsite gender. Sexual orientation is discussed as if it was a characteristic of an individual, like gender, age, or biological sex. Most gay men and lesbians call themselves hetrosexuals when they where younger, and when they got older they noticed their homosexual orientation. “Coming out” is a phrase used to refer to homoesexuals telling others that they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc. Many people hesitate before coming out due to the risks that they will face from family or society. Some of them end of deciding to keep it a secret, and some decide to come out in public depending on the circumstances. Since coming out is an important psychological step for homosexuals, studies show that feeling positive about their own sexual orientation will result in better mental- health and a greater well- being. Being able to talk about sexual orientation to others helps in the increase of social support, which also results in better mental – health and a greater well being.
Most adolescents are the ones who do well they tend to be socially competent, have good problem- solving skills, and they have a sense of purpose for looking forward to the future. Adolescence is a period where people seperate from their parents and begin to develop autonomy, it can be called a period of experimentation since they still question their sexual feelings and they later start to become aware of sexual feelings. It isn’t encouraged to separate from families and develop alone, usually the family support is what helps homosexualls get through day to day problems. Most of the times seperating from the families causes more confusion to the homosexual, and affects the mental – health since the closest people aren’t in support of the person being homosexual.
Psychology in Homosexuality
Scientists don’t know the main cause of homosexuality, however they theorize that it may be due to genetic influences, hormonal influences, and environmental influences. However, Sexual orientation isn’t viewed as one’s choice. Researchers from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm suggest that genetics and environmental factors are important determinants of homosexual behaviour.
A recent study has identified genes that may have an influence on how sexual orientation develops in boys and men. A team from the North shore University, discovered these genes by comparing DNA from 1077 gay and 1231 straight men. One of the genes discovered was active in a part of the brain called diencephalon. This part of the brain also contains the hypothalamus, Simon LeVay discovered that the size of the hypothalamus differs in straight men and gay men. The other gene TSHR, is located on chromosome 14 it is mainly active in the thyroid. It makes a type of receptor protein, this way it plays an important role in controlling the function of the thyroid. Graves disease causes the thyroid gland to become overactive, this leads to weight loss. Some researchers suggest that graves disease is more common in gay men, and some suggest that gay men are skinnier which may be a result of thyroid overdrive.
Many researches have suggested that genetics have a big influence on sexual orientation. Twins share the same genetics and they also share the same environment before they are born. Studies conducted by Myers on different twin sets of homosexual brothers show that among the identical twins, fifty two percent of them shared the same orientation, and the twenty two percent didn’t. However, genetics is not the base of homosexuality but it does have an influence on homosexuality.
According to Anthony Bogaert, gay men tend to have older brothers. Some study show that the more biological older brothers a man has, the more likely he will be gay. Research also suggests that homosexuality is related to the structure of the brain, it is found that it is associated with the degree of symmetry of the left and right hemispheres, also the number of nerves connected to the amygdala. The amygdala is a brain structure that plays a major role in the processing of emotional information. The different studies and investigations allow us to pinpoint the main cause of homosexualtiy and sexual orientation. Pinpointing this out can help us stop the discrimination towards homosexuals.
The harassment of Homosexuals
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender ( LGBT) people are often targets of bullying, harassment, and aggression. A survey had a sample of 489 lesbian gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adults. The results of this survey found that fifty seven percent of them experienced slurs, and fifty three percent of them experienced offensive comments. Some also reported that they or a family member or friend has experienced violence or has been sexually harassed. The 2016 Federal Bureau of Investigation hate crime statistics, report that 6,121 hate crime incidents have occured. 1,076 from crimes were based on sexual orientation bias and 124 were based on gender identity bias. Hate crimes were defined as “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity” by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The punishment for these hate crimes has become much harsher, but it is still affecting many young homosexuals.
The Boston Globe reported that police data shows that in 2016 members of the LGBT community were the most reported targets of hateful acts in Boston. They experienced more harassment, assaults, and threats than any other group. It is becoming a trend that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Results from the 2017 Youth Risk Behaviour Survey show that 33% of youth from the LGBT community have been bullied on school campus, and 27.1% of them have been cyberbullied. The study also shows that 10% are reported not going to school because they don’t feel safe and to avoid getting harassed or bullied. In some cases, teachers themselves mocked the LGBT community, when a student sees that a teacher has laughed or mocked the LGBT community they get even more traumatized.
Violence can be both physical and verbal, both have a big effect on the person targeted. Harassment, threats, physical assault, and intimidation are all considered to be forms of violence. There are many different things that can indicate if this crime was motivated by anti- LGBT bias. Verbal or written slurs, and the location of the incident help indicate if it was a anti- LGBT bias crime. In schools, discrimination against LGBT students took various forms, like restricting bathroom and locker room access, and participating in different school events. LGBT students also described ongoing patterns of isolation, and exclusion which made them feel like they where unwelcomed on school grounds. Students have been shoved into lockers and some have been laughed at for the way they dress or the way they talk.