How Social Media Effects the Gay Fight for Equality
The homophobic and transphobic ideologies are often spread through social media, such as Twitter and Facebook; other times, it is spread through news media, such as newspapers and television stations. Whether it stems from religious beliefs or "tradition," these media outlets allow for these homophobes to groups together, forming hate groups that can plan attacks against the community both physically and emotionally.
Besides radical hate groups such as twitter handle @againstgayzz [1], who do nothing more than tweet general discriminatory messages, there are others who take the attack to another level - personal attacks towards openly trans or homosexual peoples. Most personal attacks take form in bullying, usually starting online over social media, then escalating to attacks in real life. According to LGBT Bullying Statistics,
82% of LGBT+ students have experienced various problems with bullying due to their sexual orientation or gender identification; 44% have experienced physical harassment and 22% experienced even stronger violence. Of those who experienced the harassment and violence, only around 61% will report the attacks, and of the few who do, about 31% claim that the school made little to no effort to do anything about it [2]. Unfortunately, it's this type of attack that results in suicide. A study by Yale University shows that bullying victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than a non-victim [3], while a national survey states that the most likely group of students to be bullied are students who are gay or thought to be gay [4]. Not only are these students bullied more than others, and are therefore more likely to commit suicide, but the presence of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) in public schools nationwide have been less widespread than previous years, leaving the LGBT+ students to cling to one another and hope they can find someone to help and support them with their problems.
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Although many public schools don't have a GSA group, many more are working towards making their own. When asked if he had ever felt discriminated against, GSA leader Elliott Hobaugh said that "while [he] was in Chicago because [he] went to an amazing high school...[he wasn't bullied much]... but when [he] moved to Montana for college [he] started getting discriminated against for the first time." In response to this, Mr. Elliot Hobaugh now trains allies within his group, allowing them to understand the LGBT+ community better and hopefully protecting them from future attempts at attacks on the community. [5]
How Media Outlets Effect the Gay Fight for Equality
Before Internet social media, the LGBT+ community has been discriminated against on television and radio stations, and before then, in newspapers. Whether spreading propaganda, political agendas, or even just false rumors, these media outlets affect the community just as much, if not more than social media.
Even before modernized television or radio, the community could be greatly affected by what was published in a newspaper. For instance, once STDs such as AIDs were discovered, the entire disease was blamed on homosexuals, claiming that it was spread through sexual relationships between two men or two women. This was believed because the disease was found most commonly in homosexual people; gay and bisexual males, more specifically [6]. From around that point forward, the LGBT+ community went from being described as "unnatural" to "unholy," "disgusting," and even "pedophiles." Terms such as these sprang to light after things such as AIDs were blamed on homosexuals, as many religious people believed it was a "sign from God" meant to warn others against homosexuality, whereas others began to associate the community with danger to children - similarly to how freed slaves were associated with raping white women or how German Jewish people were accused of murdering Christian babies in ritualistic sacrifice [7]. The association between homosexuals putting children in danger eventually led to a commonly used argument that states that "If love between two men is acceptable, then so should love between a 40-year-old man and a 12-year-old child. After all, love is love, right?" These types of accusations spread like wild fire throughout media outlets could often ruin a homosexual person's reputation, while it caused others to despise themselves (as homosexuals) and others in the community, sparking violent attacks, and on rare occasion, resulting in suicide.
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In the special case of a homosexual official such as a mayor or representative, their influence could produce an advancement towards equality, or it could result in revolts. In the instance of George Moscone, a homosexual candidate running for San Francisco Mayor, he won the election, making him both the mayor and a target. Soon after his election, Mayor Moscone was assassinated by a former police officer and supervisor, Dan Milk, who had just resigned from his job 18 days before the assassination in 1978, after Moscone refused to give him his position back. The light sentencing of a mere seven years, with the chance of parole after only 5 years, was backed by a jury of mostly Roman-Catholic, working-class, heterosexual, and white - the addition of the $100,000 raised by the SFPD and the SFFD to help defend White angered the LGBT+ community, resulting in the White Night Riots. These riots could be taken as either a progressive ideology, or as a bad influence - it could be seen as progressive as it is a negative reaction to a violent act against the LGBT+ community, inspiring others to stand up against discriminatory violence, or it could be seen as a bad example, since a majority of the public already viewed the community in a biased, discriminatory way, meaning the violent demonstration could be used as evidence to support their views. Either way, this example stands to show how public figures with power and media outlets can affect the LGBT+ community.
“ Today, Dan White was essentially patted on the back. He was convicted of manslaughter—what you get for hit and run. We all know this violence has touched all of us. It was not manslaughter. I was there that day at City Hall. I saw what the violence did. It was not manslaughter, it was murder. ” ~Cleve Jones |
Section by: Samantha Mannzullo
Sources
[1] Gays, Against. "Against Gays (@againstgayzz)." Twitter. January 07, 2015. Accessed June 7, 2017. https://twitter.com/againstgayzz?lang=en.
[2] "LGBT Bullying Statistics." LGBT Bullying Statistics. November 07, 2016. Accessed June 7, 2017. https://nobullying.com/lgbt-bullying-statistics/.
[3] "Bullying and Suicide." Bullying Statistics. July 07, 2015. Accessed June 10, 2017. http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-and-suicide.html.
[4] Riese, Jane. "Bullying & Sexual Orientation | Violence Prevention Works." Violence Prevention Works from Hazelden Publishing. Accessed June 10, 2017. http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/bullying_sexual_orientation.page.
[5] Hobaugh, Elliot. E-mail interview by Samantha Manzzullo. June 12, 2017.
[6] "HIV/AIDS." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. April 25, 2017. Accessed June 13, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/msm/index.html.
[7] "Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation." Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation. Accessed June 14, 2017. http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html.
[2] "LGBT Bullying Statistics." LGBT Bullying Statistics. November 07, 2016. Accessed June 7, 2017. https://nobullying.com/lgbt-bullying-statistics/.
[3] "Bullying and Suicide." Bullying Statistics. July 07, 2015. Accessed June 10, 2017. http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-and-suicide.html.
[4] Riese, Jane. "Bullying & Sexual Orientation | Violence Prevention Works." Violence Prevention Works from Hazelden Publishing. Accessed June 10, 2017. http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/bullying_sexual_orientation.page.
[5] Hobaugh, Elliot. E-mail interview by Samantha Manzzullo. June 12, 2017.
[6] "HIV/AIDS." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. April 25, 2017. Accessed June 13, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/msm/index.html.
[7] "Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation." Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation. Accessed June 14, 2017. http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html.