Young, Gay and Murdered

Young, Gay and Murdered

Larry King Opinion Essay
Do schools have what is required to support differences in sexual preferences and, furthermore should they be required to as well? Schools are not fully ready to support an individual’s sexual lifestyle choice however public schools should be required to be accommodating to students from all different types of sex orientation.
In more recent years, the murder of 15 year old, Lawerence King shocked a small town. It is riveted the nation into paying closer attention to gay rights. So much so that Ellen DeGeneres, a self-identified lesbian celebrity, commented from a personal perspective about the crime, “It’s so horrible to be gay, you can be killed for it… Larry is not a second class citizen, I am not a second class citizen, it’s okay to be gay.” (YouTube, World Wide Web) She is right in saying that laughing and joking about alternative sexual orientations, escalates the problem of misunderstanding in today’s society. That misunderstanding about homosexuality is partially to blame for the tragic loss of this young life.
The situation unfolding at schools is multifaceted and thus there needs to be an examination of the environment surrounding gay adolescents. Presently, adolescents are coming out as being gay at younger and younger ages (Setoodeh World Wide Web). However, the society around them has not progressed as fast. Thus there exists a widening gap in the understanding of this certain social group, especially at such a young age. Another issue is that students during the middle school years are experiencing puberty and personality development. A comment was posted on YouTube, “It’s not easy being gay at 14, it’s really hard.” Bullying and teasing is particularly rampant at this stage of growth, moreover, an adolescent’s identity of being homosexual will further target him to endure such treatment. Schools are definitely ill-prepared to address such concerns.
Currently, schools are allowing programs like Gay-Straight...

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