I came across an article published this morning in the Jamaican Observer entitled
"Schools must be safe for everyone — even gays" and of course it caught my attention. Homosexuality is a huge social folkway and also more in Jamaica, so it was surprising to me to see someone brave enough to show public support of Gays.
This boy openly talks of his preference for wanting to be a girl and to do girly things (to the disgust of others), uses bathrooms for females, and tries to walk like a girl. He tells me that he doesn't talk about his feelings to his mother as she goes crazy when he attempts to do so
It's the last sentence that triggered my thoughts. Being gay is so much of a taboo that parents dread the thought of having a child who is homosexual, especially in a society that is so religiously structured and content. Generally homophobia is a part of the Jamaican culture and is therefore hard to escape. So you can imagine how a gay person feels knowing that he has committed a sin, an illegal act and an outcast in the society.
Now to get the point i'm trying to make. Edwin Lemert is an Interactionalist who spoke about deviance and crime. In his theory, he says that Society's negative reaction to deviance produces deviance. So activities that has a strong stigma attached to it are activities that will be abundant and if these stigmas and rules are freed then the activities will be rarely "practiced". This reminds me of the HIV/AIDS campaign. The stigma scares people and so they don't get tested, thus spreading the disease.
But how does this relate to homosexuality? As mentioned before Homosexuality comes with a big stigma, you are basically an outcast and is hated in the society and from the excerpt we can conclude that even parents are disgusted by the idea of having a child who is. During their teenage years many individual experience hormonal changes which comes with sexuality frustration as this website confirms.
So girls and guys go through a phase where they are attracted to the same sex. But with the norms and values of the society so preciously guarded, who do these confused teens go to to get advice? There's no one available....except, gay MEN and WOMEN, who then take advantage of the vulnerability of these poor adolescents leading them "astray". So persons who could be living a heterosexual lifestyle but because of hormonal confusion and no one to talk to (except for horny men and women who have no conscience) they become gay. In even more devastating circumstances, are molested, raped or even killed. But if these stigmas are removed and homophobia extinct then teens will be more willing to express their feelings.
Read the complete Observer article here
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