Gender Identity and sexual orientation are viewed as integral for the wellbeing of members of the society. However, there has been ongoing discrimination and inequality when it comes to gay rights. The debate on the ethical approach to gay students in the society has lingered for a long time. The issue on gay rights is of concern even to governments as it is the role of constitutions and leaders to protect all people despite their sexual orientation. Gay rights are upheld in countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany Switzerland, United Kingdom, Netherlands among others. In 2020, July 15 the United States supreme court explained that the Civil Rights Act created in 1964 includes the protection of students against discrimination due to their gender identity or sexual orientation. This announcement shows that there are many gay people who are not protected by the law (Cruikshank, 2015, p.649). Many countries are yet to recognize the community of LGBT and thus do not have laws to protect them in the society. Most gay students hide their personal lives and cover their authentic selves to avoid discrimination especially if there are in countries that do not protect their rights. Research from Fortune 500 shows that only 0.3% of the directors openly show their sexual orientation as gay. This only confirms that gay rights are yet to be fully implemented as many of gay students prefer to hide their identity. Aspects of religion and cultural beliefs have also contributed in the ridicule or embracing of LGBT rights. Gay student’s rights ought to be protected as long as they do no infringe on or harm other members of the society in exercising their rights.
Students welfare is essential to their success in life, this is why different countries protect children against bulling or facing discrimination in schools. Teachers are advised to deal with cases of gay rights in the same way they would deal with any indiscipline case. Children who are gay have a right to education, love and respect and hence they ought to be protected. In the United States the constitution is clear against harassment of the LGBT students in public schools ("Gay rights," n.d.). The constitution demands immediate response to any form of harassment on gay students. A student should report to the principal or counselor and they should make sure they take action in order to prevent such future occurrences. The schools are held accountable for the welfare of gay students since their sexual orientation should not affect their personal lives negatively.
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The opposers of same sex marriages have conveyed their ideas, beliefs and reasons as to why it is unacceptable especially due to raising children. A major argument is based on the idea that traditions and culture have instituted marriage as purposeful through procreation. Therefore, gay marriage is an absolute diversion of the essence of family. However, these families still have children through adoption or surrogating processes. The fact that their children are not primarily brought up and born by both parents causes the conflict on the purpose of marriage. One week after Justice Barret was sworn in, the supreme court had a case that advocated for LGBT rights. The Case of Fulton vs Philadelphia was supposed to give clarity between equality and conscience. This case entailed the refusal of the Roman Catholic adoption agency to foster kids from gay couples. This violated the Philadelphia city law that prohibits the discrimination due to judgement of sexual orientation basis (Dwyer, 2020, p. 2). This case showed that the government or court in particular ought to clear the differences between beliefs and equality. The beliefs that lead to discrimination and inequality should be identified and banned. Children in gay marriages do not chose to be in them and thus should not suffer as a result of their family positions in the society. In the same way gay students are rarely allowed in this adoption agencies. This is because they go against the religious beliefs. Gay rights should clearly state that at every point, gay families should be accorded the respect and dignity equally to any other person. Students raised by gay couples also deserve the respect each and every child is accorded regardless of the kind of family they are brought up in.
Science based arguments explore that children require to be brought up by their biological parents in order to grow and develop normally. This research explores that the attachment of children to their biological parents plays a vital role in their growth and development. Having children raised away from either their fathers, mothers or both their biological parents leads to questions from the children about their backgrounds. Disputing claims in regard to the same issue are explored by the American Association for Marriage and Family therapy. The association studies explain that an approximate of 114,000 gay couples are raising children in the United States between 2015 and 2016. This research continues to explain that children raised in same sex marriages are similar to those raised in heterosexual families (Clarke & Demetriou, 2016, p. 3). The comprehensive study implies that children raised by gay parents have similar emotions, sexual orientation and overall behavior like any other child. These children experience the same thoughts on gender identity and roles as well as their ability to learn. Therefore, gay rights on child custody ought to not be an issue of concern. Despite all these researches supporting the right of gay parents to raise children, other scientists still argue that it is necessary to raise children in a mother and father family setting.
Religious beliefs highly contribute to the deprivation of gay rights. In 2018, the case between Masterpiece Cake shop ltd. vs., Colorado Rights commission clearly showed the clash that result between religion and gay rights. In this case, the Supreme Court supported Jack Phillips for refusing to bake cakes for gay marriages. The argument that Philip explored was that baking a cake for gay ceremonies would deprive him his freedom and right to play his religion practices. Religion has over the years-maintained discrimination against gays (Koppelman, 2020, p.3). This is because believers perceive it to be wrong, sex is religiously attributed to the creation of life and since gay sex does not result to this it is then not acceptable. Moreover, religion believes that gay sex is unnatural ("Appendix of laws," 2018, p.6). These religious beliefs should not apply in school settings because gay students should be perceived equal to all the other students. Equality measures in schools are not weighed in relation to religious practices. Schools should protect students who are gay and shield them from religious ideologies even though students could face this discrimination outside school grounds. Students should be happy and spread humanity regardless of their gender, sexuality or any type of differences.
Another aspect in regard to gay rights is the protection of gay families. Most families even the heterogeneous ones are protected against violence. The rights to protect gay children against domestic violence ought to be under the rights of members of gay families as gay relationships also experience violence in the society. Various studies have shown the vulnerability of gay students. A certain study showed a high number of homeless youths due to their sexual orientation. Some ran away from their homes since they were afraid to speak out due to discrimination from the society. The World Health Organization identifies that in a population of 1.6million youths, forty percent are youths who are from the LGBT community. For this reason, it is important for schools to embrace gay students and help them in situations when their families cannot accommodate them. In cases of family rejection gay students can be directed to homes where they can live and continue with their studies. School in these contexts plays a fundamental role in the safety of gay students.
Gay students have a right to freedom of speech. Even though the law does not clearly outline how to help transitioning students embrace their identity, gay students are allowed to use their voice to explain themselves. Some institutions advise gay students to have a low profile and not show who they really are. However, schools should allow students to wear clothes that have gay themes while their colleagues wear political or cultural themed shirts. The only time that the constitution denies the freedom of speech to students is when they result to high levels of disruption among members of a class. Schools should bend their rules and regulations to accommodate the gay students. Recently, the dress code in schools seem to be taking a different turn to accommodate members of the LGBTQ which is commendable. There are students in various schools who chose to cross-dress since that is what they feel is their sexual orientation. These students should not be discriminated against. It is quite difficult for boys to wear girls’ clothes though some of them wear wigs and hair that is perceived to belong to girls but still they should not be discriminated. Schools should allow gay students to express themselves but not to an extent of stirring too much attention and attracting negative attention.
Gender roles have for a long-time defined relationship. The roles of men and women are distinct to every party and relevant in any relationship. Gay rights face opposition as they would deconstruct the existing social and cultural norms in the society. This is because gay marriages deconstruct the behaviors in marriage. For example, a man raising a child will both take responsibility on how to care for the child. This is why some countries are yet to embrace gay rights. Members of the society still wonder on the way gay marriages would thrive and how gender roles would be applied. The fact that gay rights lead to de-gendering marriage have led to controversies around the world (Family Research Council, n.d.). As a result of the deconstruction of gender roles, the issue of paternal commitment is of concern. Gay marriage upholds the idea that children do not need both parents to be raised. This has a great effect in the society as men or women who do not want to take responsibility of their children can defend themselves using these ideas. However, the foundations that support gay marriages emphasize that the experience of raising children in heterogenous families is similar to those in gay marriages. The parenting roles, maintaining the family economically and all aspects of running a family is done in the same way. This argument shows that whether raised from gay parents or one is gay the level of being normal is equal to that of everyone else. Students who are gay should thus not fear achieving their dreams and standing out since their lives can be normal like that of any other person regardless of the kind of family, they are brought in.
Gay students are vulnerable to falling into mental health problems and this calls for schools to take a proactive role in protecting their wellbeing. If a student lacks support from family and experiences bullying due to their sexual orientation, they have self-esteem issues and could even lead to suicidal thoughts (Blais et al., 2019, p. 3). In Japan a student whose name was concealed committed suicide after he was outed in the year 2015. The graduate student could not handle the struggles that he felt after being exposed against his will. This shows that in many parts of the world people are insensitive in regard to this topic. This is why the government ought to protect students in the society at even at tertiary levels. According to statistics, suicide is a leading cause of death for teens who are gay since they are more likely to commit suicide and thus the need to protect their rights. Schools should be at the fore front to ensure the welfare of gay students in order to ensure their mental well being which would in turn enable them to concentrate on their studies.
In summary, the issue of gay rights remains an emotive issue with some people supporting the establishment of gay rights while others vehemently opposing such a move. Students who are gays usually have a hard time because of the stigma that is associated with being gay. This makes it hard for the students to concentrate in class and might also lead to mental illness which might lead to suicide due to self-esteem issues. Gay students need to be accorded freedom of speech, protected from domestic violence and treated equal to other students as long as they don’t abuse the freedom. In countries that allow the presence of gay and transgender relationships there are laws that protect them from discrimination. Other countries should follow suit to ensure that students are not discriminated because of their sexual orientation. Awareness on gay rights should be enhanced through organizations like Outright Action International that aim to protect human rights despite of their sexual orientation. However, the journey to acceptance and ending discrimination of gayism is yet to be achieved. However, with cooperation from all the relevant stakeholders, this issue should be addressed once and for all so that people can live a life without limits because of the fear of discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
References
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Family Research Council. (n.d.). Ten arguments from social science against same-sex marriage. FRC . https://www.frc.org/issuebrief/ten-arguments-from-social-science-against-same-sex-marriage
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