Research Log #5

Source:

Clinton, Hillary. Gay Rights are Human Rights. United Nations. Geneva, Switzerland. December 6, 2011. 

Summary:

In late 2011, Hillary Clinton addressed a speech stating that LGBT right are human rights. She brings up important issues to reach a global consensus that recognizes the human rights of LGBT citizens everywhere.

The first issue goes to the heart of the matter. Some have suggested that gay rights and human rights are separate and distinct; but, in fact, they are one and the same. Now, of course, 60 years ago, the governments that drafted and passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were not thinking about how it applied to the LGBT community. The second issue is a question of whether homosexuality arises from a particular part of the world. The third, and probably the most challenging issue arises when people cite religious or cultural values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens.

The fourth issue is what history teaches us about how we make progress towards rights for all. A fifth and final question is how we do our part to bring the world to embrace human rights for all people including LGBT people. Hillary Clinton states that the lives of LGBT people are not only shaped by the laws in our society but also by the way they are treated and appoints other people that it is our responsibility to support human rights for everyone. The morning of the speech, President Obama had placed the first U.S. Government strategy dedicated to fighting human right abuses against LGBT people abroad.

Hillary Clinton also announced that day that they will be launching a Global Equality Fund that supports the work of civil society organizations working on similar issues around the world.  Clinton calls all of us to be on the right side of history because the work and actions we do today, will affect our people, our nations and the future generations to come.

Response:

I enjoyed listening to Hillary Clinton’s speech because it was not only a political perspective but a positive perspective in hope of grasping more support for the LGBT community.  She brought forth the common issues associated with trying to gain equality for LGBT people but also challenged other people to step forward and join her to be on the “right side of history” and act to bring justice for those who are viewed as minorities in this nation because of their sexuality. I loved her approach to the topic and conclusion. I think she left quite an impact on those who were present to hear her speech.

Research Log #4

Source:

Mulvihill, Geoff, and David Crary. "Jamey Rodemeyer's Suicide Leads To Bullying Spotlight, Caution." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/29/jamey-rodemeyers-suicide-_n_987054.html>.

Summary:

In this article, it talks about a young 14 year old boy, Jamey Rodemeyer, who committed suicide on September 18, 2011 due to constant bullying from his peers at school because of his sexual orientation. In the article, it is said that Jamey’s parents would monitor his face book account but they did not know that he also had a youtube channel where he would talk about all of the obstacles he had to overcome involving his peers that would ridicule and victimize him on a daily basis for being openly gay. Many times in his videos he would refer to Lady Gaga and her lyrics to help other s who were going through the same things. Rodemeyer was not only a part of the LGBT community but he was also involved in the ‘It Gets Better’ project which was created to give hope to LGBT youth facing harassment.

Jamey Rodemeyer was victimized since grade school simply because he hung out with girls but he told his parents that things were beginning to get easier once he entered high school. It was then where he began his youtube channel and spoke about how things were really going for him among his peers. On September 18, 2011, Jamey Rodemeyer hung himself and was found by his sister, Alyssa Rodemeyer. Shortly before he took his own life, he tweeted to Lady Gaga, “Bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever.” Jamey Rodemeyer’s suicide caught quite a bit of attention from activists, journalists and Lady Gaga, herself.

Unfortunately, there were still minor issues that peers had with Jamey. At his school’s homecoming dance, one of Lady Gaga’s songs began to play the day of Jamey’s wake and his sister, along with some of her friends, began to chant “Jamey.” While this was happening, there were still some schoolmates expressing that they were glad that Jamey was dead.  Jamey’s father told school officials about this incident and was told that this event would be under investigation.

Jamey’s parents have spoken to his schoolmates and expressing how horrifying the experience has been and how it has taken a toll on them in hope to try to save anyone else from going through any similar situation.

Response:

This article helped me by being a modern day issue and how it has not ceased to exist and shows that there still needs to be action taken upon this matter. Jamey did his best to fight through this not only for himself but to give hope to others by sharing his experiences and strength with others through his YouTube channel. Jamey was only 14 and no one, especially young teens should stoop down this low and cut their lives short due to the disrespect of uncaring human beings when they have a long life ahead of them.

Next Steps:

After reading this article, I hope to find something a bit more political to gain a different perspective of how politicians or the government views this issue. Too many people fail to change themselves until they see the issue from a global perspective and see that it is diminishing our society’s low acceptance level.

Research Log #3

Source: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPsuK6hsBC0&context=C476d6eeADvjVQa1PpcFMb6aDKGiTXg3nAnTGOtzqGlZ03QcmhiGA=

BTWFoundation. “Born This Way Foundation Launch Event.” YouTube. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

Summary:

          In this video Lady Gaga is interviewed on February 29, 2012 by Oprah and then a number of panelists to explain the reason behind her foundation and what her goal is for it. Gaga explains that the foundation began through a dialogue between her and her fans and that her fans reached out to Gaga through social networking and letters explaining that they want to be brave have more acceptance. Gaga created the three pillars, Safety, Skills and Opportunity. Safety, she wants everyone to feel safe in their community, home and school. Skills, one of her goals is to help others develop the skills to be a loving person to help others have a more positive outlook. Opportunity, once you feel safe and acquire the skills to be a loving person, the opportunities for you are endless to become a great functioning human in society. Oprah stated during the interview that she feels that Gaga is not only starting a foundation, but a movement and a shift in the way people think about bullying.

          A point that Gaga clearly stated throughout the interview is that this is not an anti-bullying foundation but a youth empowerment foundation. It’s about changing the climate of the school environment and no longer putting the power in the hands of the teachers and the government. She believes that they don’t have the answers, but the youth do. Lady Gaga now has a bus that follows her as she goes around on tour called the “Born Brave Bus” where people can gather to talk about love, acceptance and exchange stories or obstacles they have overcame. Gaga thanks her mother for inspiring her and always teaching her to give back. Her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, is the Co-Founder and President of the foundation.

          After the interview with Oprah, Gaga is questioned by panelists from different work forces such as a professor, a psychologist, and a scholar. Lady Gaga is asked by Deepak Chopra, a spiritual leader, if she thinks that it is possible to move in the direction of a peaceful and just world and if so, what would it take? Gaga responded with, “Yes, I do believe it’s possible and I think it takes very little. I believe that if each of us just transformed one small bit of ourselves to be a bit more loving or tolerant, it would be quite easy, the only problem is that there’s so damn many of us.”

          After the segment with the panelists, Gaga is asked 3 questions from the audience. One of the questions was, “What is the best way to teach students the tools to intervene when someone is being bullied or put down?” Gaga asked the psychologist to respond to the answer and she replied with, “I think we need to start with parents and teacher training so adults in our system can support youth. We have to be role models.” But Gaga shortly after, intervened. Gaga inferred, “I don’t think that works. I don’t even think that teachers give a sh*t. It’s not that I don’t believe that parents or teachers aren’t capable, it’s just that we’ve been talking about this for so long that it’s not working.”

          At the end of the interview, Gaga was asked one final question, “Where does it go from here? What do you want us to do this day?” To this, Gaga replied, “Tell somebody in your life, someone important to you or someone you don’t know. Let them know that opportunity is at their fingertips. Call upon yourself to know that you are great, to know that it is not just going to be the experts that are going to change things. I hope everyone walks away with a sense of happiness or bravery or a better outlook on life. The very little things you can do on a daily basis is to make a more loving impact on the people in your life. I’m going to do everything I can to call all of the greatest people I can know that can reach out to the universe and say ‘I am loving, I am accepting, I am tolerant and I am here to spread that message’.”

Response:

      

          After watching this interview, I gained new insight and discovered new perspectives on the situation. Although Gaga clearly states that it is not an anti-bullying foundation, she is focused on empowering youth to be more positive and make a positive change. One thing that really stood out to me that Lady Gaga said was that the victim and the bully are on the same playing field and that they are both going through mental turmoil and need to be saved. I believe in everything that Lady Gaga is trying to do but I think that what she hopes to happen is going to take a lot more work than she explains. Another thing that gaga states regarding the course of time this process will take is, “This is a cultural change and movement that’s meant to be transformative and take place over time. It could be 50 years from now but if I’m dead, I don’t give a shit. I just hope it happens.”

          Overall, I enjoyed watching the interview and I feel a lot more informed when it comes to what steps are being taken in society to help youth feel empowered within themselves and empowered to intervene when they see someone being disrespected. Something that surprised me was that nothing was really mentioned about LGBTexcept for the fact that she related her song, “Born This Way” to the foundation where her lyrics state things regarding being gay, bisexual or lesbian. I feel that she doesn’t want people to think that this is strictly for LGBT youth but all youth.

Next Steps:

          After watching this interview, the next source I will begin to lean towards is a personal story whether it is about overcoming obstacles for being a part of the LGBT community or someone who is currently going through something.

Research Log #2

Source:

Laurel B. Watson, et al. "Content-Specific Strategies To Advocate For Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Youth: An Exploratory Study." School Psychology Review 38.4 (2009): 570-584. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Mar. 2012

Summary:

          The main focus of this article is to find ways to help ease the discrimination against those that are associated with LGBT group and to make their environment and community a safer place for them. In the beginning of the article, it is stated that there are five common strategies that are recommended for advocacy for LGBT in school. The first strategy is that schools should include LGBT issues in the curriculum to help others view the matter from a more positive perspective.  The second strategy is to provide staff development related LGBT issues. Third, any advocate should support the gay-straight alliance or provide a safe place for LGBT students and heterosexual students who are supportive of LGBT. Fourth, a student’s sexual orientation should be included into the school’s policy of anti-discrimination. The final strategy is to show a display of support for the LGBT community by putting up posters or fliers around the school.

          Laurel Watson states that there are numerous school staff members who are aware of existing issues with LGBT members but they have  lack of knowledge of the matter and aren’t very willing to confront these issues in their schools due to the uncertainty of how students and their parents would react. The study that was recorded in this article consisted of information about advocacy tools that school personnel have used or are currently using to spread a positive message to their student body about LGBT.  The people who were used for this study were school personnel who were employed at a high school and served a role as a GSA Adviser (Gay-Straight Alliance). They were asked a series of questions based on what they have witnessed within LGBT youth as well as personal experiences.

          After analyzing all the data and combining all the research, it is suggested that any advocate for LGBT students should have a variety of strategies to implement to the school.  It is also suggested to individually do research and educate yourself on the issue in case you are presented with a situation regarding the LGBT community or someone involved or associated with it to pass on their knowledge.

Response:

          What I gained from this article is that there is action being taken in schools to help LGBT youth feel more comfortable in their own community and among their peers with the help and support of school personnel and staff. I strongly agree with the article stating that we should each do our own research on the topic so we can gain a stable perspective and understanding of what is exactly going on. Something that surprised me in the article is when it states that there are some staff members who are unwilling to confront this issue to the students.  To me, I feel that if you are going to obtain a job where you deal with young teens, you should be well aware that there are a numerous amount of matters that need to be brought to attention. Especially if there are negative outcomes because of it.

What’s Next:

          I chose this source because it not only mentioned the issue of discrimination of sexual orientation, but it discusses how to lessen the problem just by being informed about this situation.  After reading this article, it makes me wonder what are some other effective ways that schools have used to help advocate for LGBT students and how informed are other schools when it comes to helping their LGBT students feel safe in their own community.

Research Log #1

Source:
Deborah Azrael, et al. "Emotional Distress Among LGBT Youth: The Influence Of Perceived Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation." Journal Of Youth & Adolescence 38.7 (2009): 1001-1014. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.

Summary:

In this article, Deborah Azrael discusses how Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and/or transgendered youth  deal with more emotional distress, discrimination, and are more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth due to the fact that they are attracted to someone of their same sex. The article mentions many recent statistics and and studies involving LGBT youth but also mentions the different obstacles that LGBT females encounter versus LGBT males.  The article also states the different types of discrimination that females of the LGBT community deal with versus the discrimination that LGBT males must overcome.

In the text, there was a study done involving 18 high schools in Boston.  Their sexual orientation was assessed along with their ethnicity, age, sex and race.  They generated ratios dealing with discrimination and self-harm and suicidal ideation. Through their research, they discovered that LGBT males are bound to have higher levels of depressive symptomatology. But although heterosexual and non-transgendered students can still be victims of bullying, LGBT youth have a higher chance of being victims.  One of the main statistics that stood out to me was that 31% of youth with a minority sexual orientation reported to have been bullied throughout the past year, compared to 17% of heterosexual youth (District of Columbia Public Schools 2007).  Also, 20% of youth with a minority sexual orientation are more likely to skip school because of being bullied or feeling unsafe at school while 6% of heterosexual students skip school for the same reasons.

This study that was done in Boston, Massachusetts clearly shows us that LGBT youth have a significant higher level of emotional distress than heterosexual and non-transgendered youth and the cause of this is being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.  This study also shows us that there is a lack of safety in schools for LGBT victims of bullying and more action should be taken to lessen the negative statistics.

Response:

After reading the article, it brought out the details in the fabric when it comes to this issue. Some of the statistics shocked me when it claimed that 20% of students with a minority sexual orientation will skip school because they don’t feel safe at school. Although, the conclusion of the study regarding LGBT youth having to deal with more emotional distress doesn’t surprise me at all because average students deal with their own matters in their own lives and for students with a minority sexual orientation, it’s just another aspect of their lives that others feel they can pick on them for.

Next Steps:

One of the main reasons why I chose this source was because of the title. The keywords that stood out to me in the title were “Emotional Distress Among LGBT Youth”. Everyone knows that those among LGBT are discriminated against but many people fail to see how they are discriminated against and how it affects them. But now after reading this article, I would like to read an article or text that focuses on someone who has personally experienced discrimination due to their sexual orientation. I think it would be more in-depth and can hopefully reach out to people on a personal level.