Amarillo College Ranger

Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Religion & Politics

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Homophobia - the fear of or contempt for homosexuals - is ridiculous. I can understand being uncomfortable if a homosexual is coming on to someone who's heterosexual, but I don't understand being afraid or angry about it.

Chances are, if the straight person tells the gay person he or she is in fact straight, the gay person will accept that and move on. There really isn't any sense in being afraid of another person based on their sexual orientation.

It's reasonable to fear a person who carries a weapon, has an enormous body mass or is trained in some form of martial arts, because those people actually could do someone bodily harm. But unless a homosexual is carrying a weapon, has an enormous body mass or is trained in some form of martial arts, there's really no reason to fear that person.

Homophobia creates a devastatingly negative atmosphere, especially in schools. According to the National Organization for Women (www.now.org), "Students who describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered are five times more likely to miss school because of feeling unsafe," and of those students, 28 percent feel forced to drop out.

It's a pity that because of sexual prejudice, students who may have the potential for success in their lives are pressured to skip class and eventually leave school altogether.

Don't those students have just as much right to a comfortable, safe learning environment?

And it doesn't end there. The same study states that "lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are at a four times higher risk for suicide than their straight peers."

It's tragic to think that anyone would be met with treatment so harsh that they felt death would be a better alternative to living. Growing up in today's schools is hard enough. Children are blunt and often cruel to one another. We all remember "faking sick" to avoid our taunting peers, and it only gets worse after puberty hits and the pressure to impress peers mounts.

The older generation should set an example and encourage youth to be accepting of people's differences. Generally, college graduates tend to have broader opinions and are more readily open to change. I think the college-age population of Amarillo should be an addition to that statistic. A study conducted by the University of California-Davis concluded that homophobia occurs more often in the rural South.

Continued...

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