Talking Points #3

Dennis Carlson - Gayness, Multiculturalism and Community

This article is about..

-Gays, Homosexuals, Lesbians

-Teaching methods

-Courage

-Individualism

-Acceptance

-Laws

Carlson argues that homosexuals have to indoor a lot more everyday stress and decisions compared to a straight person. He also talks about the demands that are expected from certain people and how some laws are even made to carry out those demands.

1. "Law of Minnesota bill that makes it illegal to discriminate against lesbians and gay men in employment and housing." However, he also stated the fact that within this bill it prohibits teaching about homosexuality in the public schools meaning that even though they are allowed to teach they also have to have their personal lives remain a mystery including not even mentioning it at all. To me, this is discrimination so even though the law gave them a little extra freedom it still holds them back almost just as much as before.

2. "Estimated that up to one-third of all adolescent suicide victims are gay. approximately one-quarter of all homeless youth in the united states are gay, and dropout and drug abuse rates among gay youth are likewise high." When this is revealed it brings up a whole new set of points. It shows that having the audacity to actually accept who you really are differs from how people will view you. It changes your daily lifestyle and even goes so far as to putting a threat on their lives itself.

3. ""Being yourself" celebrates individualism and the autonomy of individuals to construct their own lives according to their own values and achieve goals they set for themselves." The statement "being yourself" it very valuable in relation towards gays. They shouldn't have to hide their personality's and pretend to be someone that thy are not. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to be acknowledge the fact that your allowed to be different in a society that accepts everyone to be the same.

This article had a lot of information to take in at once. It was long but possessed a lot of potential. I liked the way that Carlson did not pick sides and explained things from different points of view. He spoke about the laws that were changed to accommodate gays but also the catch that they had which still made everything for them a little harder. He discussed the struggle they have to overcome by just having the bravery to get out of bed every morning. I'm not sure how to make life less awkward for gays nor do i have any suggestions towards it. By teaching children to approve of them at a young age might be to much for them to grasp and it might be better to wait until they have a better understanding of the situation. However, prolonging it might cause even more of a dilemma. Even though various students grow more mature as the years go on some of them lack communication skills causing other children to get immediately bullied because students refused to take the matter seriously. I think that as hard as it is to go against the wishes and expectations of society you should always be proud of who you are and refuse to change the person you were born to be. The golden rule states "Treat others the way you want to be treated" and i strongly believe these are words to follow. No one ever said life was easy but theirs no excuse for causing extra pressure to those who already have enough of their minds. Being gay doesn't make anyone any less human.