On Screen Romance For Off Screen Education

With the rise of gay stories transmitted into mainstream media such as GBF, Hunting Season and the highly anticipated series Looking (just to name a few) that create non-conformist ideas of what the gay community is, there is a rise of gay tolerance and acceptance towards young people.

So what does this mean towards hate and bigotry? That according to PEW research center stats, gay tolerance is something that is moving forward. Between the years of 2003 and 2013, there was a 19% jump in support of gay marriage. Which means millennial generations can learn about non-conformist gay individuals which is featured so predominately on television and films today.

We’re all different people. There is no “one size fits all” for the gay community. I think what I want for people to take away from this is that we are all different. We as a community and the millennial generation need to not only stop the taunting because of someone’s sexuality choices, but to also teach the older generation about who and what the importance of the gay community is and the financial benefits of this community. Also, in a study posted to the Daily Mail, straight woman benefit from having a GBF or Gay Best Friend. So there are even benefits of befriending a gay person.

These mainstream stories have had an affect on the amount of people ‘coming out’, which calls for more acceptance and tolerance because everybody in the gay community worldwide knows how hard it is to struggle with the secret about the one you love.

In conclusion, I want to bring tolerance and respect towards the gay community. People should be allowed to be happy and not feared to be prosecuted because of their significant other being either gender. It’s scary that in some places such as Russia, Uganda and India, to be gay is considered to be unlawful and you may be fined and/or worse be prosecuted.

There needs to be respect taught and we are the generation to teach it! We have the internet. Go and search and learn about the years of hardship and instability that the LGBT community faced in places like New York and the amount of hardship that coming out was back in the 90’s.

I know some of you reading this might be so objected as to be against gays and to be honest, that’s okay; that’s your right as a free thinking human on this earth. But it’s all about being respectful. If you’re in a school, don’t make remarks about gays, because all you know the person next to you might be a closeted homosexual who might want to come out soon. As a result, he or she may have just found it harder because of things that you just said.

My message to the gay kids out there is that if you’re getting bullied, always look for gay characters on these shows or movies that you can identity with and find people in your community that identity with who you are. There are groups out there who will accept and help you to be the person you were meant to be.

I want to end by saying, “Inspire and Change the world for the better, because someone else might thank you for it.”