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Seeing an end to
homophobia
As a ninth-grade student at my high school, I was assigned to write an essay that might persuade people to take an action. Here is an edited version of what I wrote
"Fag." "Lesbo." "That's gay." All I hear are those hateful words. Those words make homophobia. But what is homophobia? I've thought about that question ever since I became a member of the gay-straight alliance at my middle school. Homo is the Latin root for the word same, and phobia is the fear of something. So it means having fear of the same. But it's not just having fear of the same sex; it's saying homophobic slurs, or harassing a person because that person is gay. You get the picture. Homophobia is bad. It makes you feel scared. You can't go out of your house without remembering that you could be harassed for telling someone about your sexual orientation. Homophobia is horrible. Some people don't even know how discriminatory they are. A few weeks ago I heard a college kid say "That's gay." Then a 12-year-old kid copied the guy by saying the same thing. The kid looks up to the college guy. That's how homophobia grows. There's nothing wrong with being gay. It's just like being straight. Gay people don't hurt anybody. When I think about how annoying it is to hear these cruel slurs and how homophobia is becoming bigger, I want to prevent it. I want to prevent homophobic harassment. I bet that one day, if someone is homophobic, she or he will be an outcast. Homophobia will disappear once people start realizing that the words "fag," "lesbo," and "that's gay" are completely ridiculous.
