Shared Differences Examines LGBT Students of Color Experiences in School

I decided to write this week about this article http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/2374.html?state=research&type=research. What this article explains is that LGBT students of color are much more likely to feel unsafe in their schools than those LGBT students who were in the racial/ethnic majority. This article was short; however, it provided many statistics about LGBT students of color. I chose to write on this piece because I feel that it’s extremely relevant to what we have been discussing in class about the culture of power.  The statistics show that the biggest reason for students of color to feel unsafe in school is because of their sexual orientation or gender expression. Over half of LGBT students of color have reported harassment during school because of their ethnicity/race. Many of the students of color miss school regularly, and are much more likely to miss school because of safety issues. In so many ways these students are suffering, mentally, physically, emotionally, and academically. Because they are LGBT students, they already experience the sting of bullying, but the issue becomes even worse because now their ethnicity, race, religion, etc. gets thrown into it. This is a quote from the article; it is being said by a LGBT student of color. "You could very well on any day hear someone yelling across the hall, 'fag,' etc," said a 10th grade Latino male student in the report. "I've heard it before. ... It’s hurtful because it's just not something that you say. And it's just generally hurtful. And I know that I'll just be walking in a hallway, and someone will just say under their breath with a group of friends, "fag" ... and hearing things like that in my school - it kind of brings me down almost. It kind of negates any hope that I have for our school to be a better place." After reading all of these statistics and even just looking into the website I started to feel annoyed with what I was seeing. When you get to hear the voice of someone who is a victim of harassment it just makes it that much more relatable.  These kids are being harassed for just being who they are, being gay isn’t a choice, just like color isn’t a choice; however, sexual orientation and race are two things that harassment is linked to. Harassment comes from nothing more than ignorance and prejudice, and this article, and the GLSEN website is really eye opening to the realities of harassment.