Reflection 19

Homosexuality is something that I learned at a very young age. I had never even heard of the word gay until one day in elementary school, a friend of mine told me in secrecy that he was gay. I had no idea what that meant so he proceeded to explain to me. I didn’t go home and tell my parents because I didn’t know how they would react hearing what I told them I heard in school and I promised my friend I wouldn’t say anything. A couple years later I joined a dance team and there was a male in the team. He later told his friends that he was gay. I didn’t even give it a second thought. It seemed to me like being gay was not a big deal because I had so many male friends who were gay. It wasn’t until later when I was at work one day and one of the older students who is gay came to my job with a band aid on his forehead. When I had asked him what happened he told me that he was gay bashed in school. He was walking down the hall way and students started throwing rocks at him and one of them cut him in the forehead. I felt terrible. I hadn’t really realized that until then how differently homosexuals are treated by some people. There have been opinions on how a person turns gay. Some say that it is a choice they make when they start to realize their sexual desires. Some say that they are born that way and that they are gay from the minute they are born. I have asked many of my gay friends when did they realize they were gay. I had one friend who told me he knew ever since he was a little boy. He always played with his sisters barbies and he would wear makeup. However, I had another friend who told me he didn’t know until after he had been in a relationship with a woman. Whatever the case may be, we need to respect them and their choices. They are just like us, average people who shouldn’t be shunned just because of their sexual preference. There are laws against homosexual marriage and giving their partner rights. I don’t find that fair and I believe that should be changed. My closest male friends are gay and I wouldn’t change that at all. I respect those people who have certain opinions about homosexuality however, those people shouldn’t act upon their opinions or feel uncomfortable if they are near a gay person. Gays are just like us and should have every single right that we have.