Presenting a journal editorial team with a proposal for an article is usually the first crucial step to eventually getting published. The editorial team will review the topic, establish its relevance, and determine whether it is viable for a scholarly article. The purpose of this assignment is to develop a proposal for a manuscript for publication as a journal article using specific editorial requirements.
Context of the Topic
Jamaica is one of the countries in the world that is quite intolerant to members of the LGBTQ community. Individuals who identify themselves as belonging to the unconventional sexual groups are often persecuted and discriminated against. The Jamaican constitution criminalizes homosexuality, and as such, homosexuals and other queer groups are skeptical of openly announcing their sexual orientations. Individuals who have tried to disclose their statuses have been compelled to escape from the country to avoid prosecution and harassment. As a result, young people’s education outcomes have been affected negatively in Jamaica for identifying with the LGBTQ community.
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How I Narrowed the Topic
Firstly, I wanted to write about discrimination of the global LGBTQ community and how they are affected in the general sense. However, I needed to focus at least on one aspect: education. Focusing on education would make the topic more scholarly and specific, other than focusing on many aspects that would lead to obscurity and lack of clarity. I also decided to focus specifically on Jamaica because it ranks top as a country that is intolerant to LGBTQ rights. Jamaica is also my country of birth, and it has not made as great strides as the U.S. in respecting and advocating for the rights of people with different sexual orientations. Narrowing the topic down to Jamaica would be resourceful for other countries to understand how lack of tolerance for LGBTQ people can affect their education outcomes.
What I Have Learnt About This Topic
Students’ performance and attainment of education outcomes majorly relies on a supportive environment, which hinges on support from schools, family, the society, and the government. Discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community usually affects their learning outcomes because of the lack of necessary support. The education outcomes of members of the LGBTQ community can be affected on the following prominent fronts; psychological, economic, and family aspects
Psychological aspect
Discrimination usually creates a sense of being unwanted; this feeling could create a psychological imbalance and mental health issues (Sekoni et al., 2017). It is difficult for LGBTQ students to concentrate in school if they experience homophobic bullying from other students, and are not protected by the school administration. In the Jamaican context, the problem is even bigger considering that a vast section of the society is homophobic. In particular, conservative groups and religious organizations loathe members of the LGBTQ community, and it is this same society that produces teaches and school staff (Smith, 2018). The implication is that some school administrators may openly castigate student who identify themselves as homosexual or queer, and even attacks against such students can be encouraged. Additionally, a significant proportion of schools in Jamaica are mission schools, meaning that they are managed by religious organizations. The religious organizations may ban students identifying with the LGBTQ community from attending these schools on the rationale that allowing them into these schools promotes “immorality.” Discriminated members of the LGBTQ community are likely to be depressed and traumatized and as such students belonging to this group may never concentrate adequately in school (Casey et al., 2019). Students may try to repress their sexual desires, but such actions also present difficulties, as they may frequently question themselves why they are treated differently.
Economic aspect
Jamaican parents often disown their children who identify as LGBTQ. Disowning usually has numerous implications ranging from driving out children from homes, to cutting down on financial support on all fronts (White et al., 2016). Parents refuse to cater for their children education expenses and provision of basic needs. Students either have to drop out of school or find means to meet their own education needs. Children in lower education institutions may not have the ability and capacity to fend for themselves, and therefore, have to abandon their studies if they cannot find well-wishers.
Family relationships
Family relationships often break down when some members identify as LGBTQ; such a status is perceived to be an anomaly and due to the influence from the broader society, individuals fear to associate with homosexuals. Family support is always crucial for students in learning and attaining education outcomes (Poteat et al., 2014). The support does not have to be only financial; on the contrary, emotional and psychological support is crucial. When parents disown their children or distance themselves from them on the basis of their sexual orientations, children cannot share their experiences and seek help. For instance, when students experience homophobic attacks from school and their parents do not provide support, it becomes challenging to cope. Parents mostly offer the last hope for children, but when this hope lacks, they will not have anywhere to turn to. Although the Jamaican government is a signatory to the United Nations provision to protect LGBTQ individuals, it has not implemented these provisions and has instead developed a bystander attitude. The political class is not willing to yield to rights and freedoms of people with diverse sexual orientations. Families, conservative organizations, schools, and the society at large have taken advantage of government inactivity to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals, negatively affecting the education outcomes of students belonging to this group.
What I Want To Know About This Topic
The first thing I want to know about this topic is whether individuals identifying themselves as gay and others as lesbians are affected on the same level. For instance, the study by White et al. (2016) only included men, and, therefore, appeared to be one-sided. It is also important to learn about the experiences of women or bisexual women. In this case, learning about different factors among all genders helps to be aware of the needs of each group. Additionally, it is essential to understand what causes such differences in perceptions and consequently education outcomes. For instance, does the society view lesbians or bisexual women in better light than gays or bisexual men? And, why does the society has such a discriminative view? The second topic I would want to know relates to how the environment in Jamaica relates to other countries and communities. For instance, are there commonalities between the Jamaican society and the communities in the U.S. that discriminate against members of the LGBTG community, and subsequently, how do the education outcomes in both cases compare?
Why this Topic Interests Me
The human rights violations and concerns that the LGBTQ community in Jamaica faces are why the topic captures my interest and imagination. The reluctance by the social and political class to ensure that the right to life is protected is a compelling issue that aroused my interest. The callous and pedestrian manner that the LGBTQ community issues have been approached in Jamaica to warrant global ranking as the most hostile and intolerant nation regarding sexual inclination created an interest to focus my study as a scholar and queer Jamaican. Additionally, I have been personally affected by the environment in Jamaica because I was forced to flee for identifying with queer sexual desires. I can consider myself lucky because at least I fled to country that supports people with vast sexual orientations. If I did not have the ability to travel to the U.S., I believe I would have abandoned my studies, and I would have probably been arrested and convicted. People with diverse sexual orientation that do not conform to the norm have been arrested, and the hostile environment in Jamaica has forced many of them to drop out of school. Therefore, this topic interests me because I would like to understand the education implications of societies and communities that are intolerant to sexual diversity.
Why This Topic Is Worth Exploring
According to Casey et al. (2019), solving the problem of discrimination against LGBTQ individuals is firstly a crucial step in addressing mental health issues, and secondly, promoting equality. Individuals need to have equal access to various resources and development aspects regardless of their sexual orientation. Communities in the U.S. still discriminating against LGBTQ individuals need to learn about the effects in the Jamaican context to understand the full implications of their actions. To the education community, the topic is important because various relevant stakeholders will understand the pertinent issues affecting members of the LGBTQ community, and particularly students, and as a result, create measures to foster the learning of each and every student irrespective of their sexual identities.
References
Casey, L. S., Reisner, S. L., Findling, M. G., Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., Sayde, J. M., & Miller, C. (2019). Discrimination in the United States: Experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans. Health Services Research , 54 , 1454-1466. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13229
Poteat, V. P., Scheer, J. R., & Mereish, E. H. (2014). Factors affecting academic achievement among sexual minority and gender-variant youth. In Advances in child development and behavior , 47 , 261-300. Doi: 10.1016/bs.acdb.2014.04.005
Sekoni, A. O., Gale, N. K., Manga-Atangana, B., Bhadhuri, A., & Jolly, K. (2017). The effects of educational curricula and training on LGBT-specific health issues for healthcare students and professionals: a mixed-method systematic review. Journal of the International AIDS Society , 20 (1), 21624. https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.20.1.21624
Smith, D. E. (2018). Homophobic and transphobic violence against youth: The Jamaican context. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth , 23 (2), 250-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2017.1336106
White, Y., Sandfort, T., Morgan, K., Carpenter, K., & Pierre, R. (2016). Family relationships and sexual orientation disclosure to family by gay and bisexual men in Jamaica. International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health , 28 (4), 306–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2016.1227015
