“You’re contagious.”
“Your life style is a disease.”
“You’re a dyke.”
“You should go transgender so people think it’s OK for you to love a girl.”
“Faggot.”
I remember getting teased and I remember getting made fun of. I remember the words and the names and the people. I remember everything. It’s permanently scarred into my brain. If all the words I was called were inked into my skin, I would no longer be liked. No longer loved.
But as time passed, I’ve grown stronger. I’ve allowed myself to flourish and not let words and others hurt me. Time can heal, as long as you let it. I entered high school and learned that I had a safe space. I had it in my friends, some LGBTQ youth like me, and they understood what I was going through. They accepted me. They take care of and I take care of them. We all love each other. We keep each other safe. I am a much happier person today than I was a year ago.
The thing is, I’m not the only LGBTQ youth person that has to go through this.
So, for this project, I decided to choose a topic very close to me. The LGBTQ community means the world to me, for I have friends and family apart of it, including myself. In this world people are all different. Since this topic is very controversial among many, it was a bit hard to decide if I should actually choose this topic or not. But I gave it some thought and realized that I should, since this project is all about getting personal and having thought behind it, even if people won’t always agree with the topic.
“Race, gender, religion, sexuality, we are all people and that’s it. We’re all people. We’re all equal.”
For this assignment, I am doing a musical piece. The musical piece is entitled “Truce” by Twenty One Pilots. The purpose of this song is staying alive. No matter what you are going through, there are people that can help you, and may even be going through or have experienced what is happening to you. Find something that makes you happy, and even if you feel you have lost all hope, there is something for you. You have a purpose. So staying alive, even though it may seem hard, is your best option.
Many people in the LGBTQ community have a hard time fitting in. People find the need to bully them or pick on them or hurt them, for loving someone of the same sex or having a different gender identity than their biological one. Over the years, teen suicide rates have scaled the charts due to youth in the LGBTQ community giving up because they feel that nobody cares about them or supports them or loves them. So performing a musical piece in honor of people finding their purpose and staying alive, can impact a person more than you’d think. Some of the surprising statistics below were found were found on TheTrevorProject.org
- The rate of suicide attempts is 4 times greater for LGBTQ youth and 2 times greater for questioning youth than that of straight youth
- Suicide attempts by LGBTQ youth and questioning youth are 4 to 6 times more likely to result in injury, poisoning, or overdose that requires treatment from a doctor or nurse, compared to their straight peers
- Nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives, and one quarter report having made a suicide attempt
This assignment has given me such an opportunity to talk about something I’m passionate about and to inform others that whether or not you accept a person in the LGBTQ community, people’s lives matter. No matter who they are. This shows people that they are not alone, and that others care about them and that as long as you stay strong and find a safe space, whether it be in another person, the internet, or even somewhere close to you, you will make it.
Sharing Our Voice 