“Why is it that, as a culture, we are
more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" Ernest
Gaines
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines homophobia as,
“irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or
homosexuals.”
I haven’t had much of an online presence lately. My job has
kept me pretty busy and in my free time I’ve been working hard on my current
work in progress or spending time with family and friends. But today I’m taking
the time to come out of my writer’s cave to show my support for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia or IDAHO.
May 17th was chosen because it was on this day in
1990 that the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from their
list of mental disorders.
Canadian and US societies have come a long
way since 1990, but not far enough. Other countries haven't made any progress at all. I have GLBT friends that have been
hurt emotionally, career-wise and in some cases physically by homophobic comments and
actions. I won’t go into detail. These are not my stories to tell, but I ask
readers of this blog to spend a couple of minutes thinking about what you can
do to help eliminate homophobia.
I’d like to offer some suggestions:
educate yourself about the issues GLBT individuals face
examine your own attitudes
don’t assume everyone you meet is heterosexual or
cisgendered and
don’t accept intolerance from others.
Let’s all celebrate the strides we’ve made as a society and
continue to work to wipe out homophobia.
0 comments:
Post a Comment