by Bryan Taico
Helen C. Peirce School of
International Studies
Every day students in Chicago deal with sexual orientation discrimination. Children as young as 5 to 16 years old deal with this problem. Many people don't think it's a big deal, but it is—children who deal with this problem have major self esteem issues. Children and adults in Chicago should work to put a stop to homophobia.
In my experience, I go to school, and it's 'gay' this or 'fag' that. All my life I have been physically attacked and called names just because I act like myself. I've been in therapy for years now to deal with these acts of prejudice. When I tell adults about my experiences, they just tell me to ignore those people who bother me. It's difficult to ignore these insults because hearing these words every day makes you angry and kills your self esteem. I get so sick and upset that people use the word gay in every day vocabulary without realizing they are being discriminatory or realizing the harm that they are causing. That's why we should educate people about homophobia awareness because homophobia is a hateful form of discrimination.
I think a solution is to have a mass assembly/performance where local students who have been discriminated against talk about what this language really means to people of a different sexual orientation like gays, lesbians and bisexuals. It would be called Chicago's Homophobia Awareness Session Extravaganza ( CHASE ) and we would have local Chicago poets, singers, artists and actors. We could have it in Grant Park. The poets would have a poetry slam; the singers would sing songs about being discriminated against; the artists would show local gay art; and the actors would perform skits about discrimination of sexual orientation experienced by local students. The theme would be 'There is beauty inside all of us, including homosexuals.' I would hope this would help people accept the fact that everybody is human, and we all should be treated the same way.
I hope my idea comes to life not just for me, but for all people in Chicago who have been silenced by discrimination and prejudice.