Civic Issues All Around The World

Most people have heard of homophobia in this day and age, but what exactly is biphobia? Well, first let’s define the term it refers to: bisexual. It can be easy to think of bisexuality as just “attraction to men and women” but that’s limiting.

It’s more accurate to call it the ability to be attracted to more than one gender and even that might be an oversimplification. Attraction is complex and it’s ultimately up to an individual to define something as personal as sexuality. 

Returning to the topic of biphobia, it refers to unfair prejudice against or outright hatred directed towards people who identify as bisexual. 

From the outside looking in, it can be easy to assume that the LGBTQ+ community is tightly banded together with everyone under the rainbow having each other’s backs, but this isn’t the case. Bisexuals often face the most unfair judgement from other LGBT people. 

It’s common for bisexuality to be thought of as a waypoint between hetero and homo that gay people need to cross over to fully accept themselves. Either that, or a front for straight people to invade a community space that isn’t theirs. 

Bisexuals are called selfish. Some think of them as cheaters who are incapable of commitment. More believe they’re inherently promiscuous. Others are upset that they can “pass” as straight to avoid homophobia. 

On top of that, there’s also the issue of bisexual erasure. 

Bisexual erasure is what happens when we embrace a purely binary view of sexual orientation. If people are really only ever either gay or straight, the problems of anyone outside that bubble just don’t exist. This outright ignores the struggles bisexuals face and therefore makes them seem irrelevant whenever they’re brought up.

From my perspective, bisexuals are so demonized because their very existence calls the complexity of attraction into question. It makes straight and gay people have to consider whether they could see themselves liking anything about genders they previously deemed unappealing to them. 

That said, I understand why the notion of sexuality outside the binary is so scary, at least for gay people. Our community has been fighting for equal rights for so long that suddenly saying there aren’t actually any divisors between straight and gay might feel like a slap in the face. 

I myself hadn’t stopped to consider problems faced by bi people until videos covering the subject just so happened to get recommended to me. I’m going to link those videos below and encourage anyone curious to research the topic themselves instead of just taking my or anyone else’s word for it. 

Why We Hate Bi Women & Why We Hate Bi Men

On Monday March 28th, Florida’s senate passed HB 1557: a bill that is part of the “parental rights in education” initiative. With its passing, teachers in the state of Florida are now prohibited from “discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in ways not age appropriate”. Parents are also allowed to sue schools that refuse to abide by this law. 

This bill was irrefutably directed at the LGBTQ+ community with the intention of limiting children’s awareness of sexualities and genders that aren’t hetero or cis. Children raised in Florida who fall anywhere outside the accepted spectrum will now have an education that does nothing to help them come to terms with their identities. 

People and parents in favor of this bill often argue that children are easily influenced and could be swayed to do things that are gay or trans because of a narrative that forces these things onto them. If you think about this sentiment for more than a single second, it falls apart at the seams. 

Were things as internal as orientation this easily influenced by exposure to media/education, everyone (in American society at least) would be straight and cisgender; an overwhelming amount of the content people are exposed to portrays heterosexuality as the norm and outright ignores the existence of transgender and non-binary people. 

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill—as it’s often dubbed—is going to do far more harm than good. So many people who currently identify as LGBTQ+ developed depression or even suicidal thoughts/tendencies because they grew up in environments where they were made to feel abnormal. This exact issue is now going to be inflicted on a new generation of youth. 

—People in the LGBTQ+ community are likely to develop mental illnesses like depression. 

Of course, parents can still raise their children with a diverse understanding of identity at home, but even well-meaning parents often don’t even discuss anything related to heterosexual sex due to awkwardness. Asking about what/who their kids are attracted to may also invoke that same sense of awkwardness and the topic is likely to be avoided. 

On that note, the reason why gay relationships are often deemed “developmentally inappropriate” is due to the misconception that they’re inherently more sexual than straight relationships. The stereotype of the “flamboyantly promiscuous gay man who flirts with any man who moves” is well-known by now. In the media, anything even remotely romantic between two women is typically fetishized by and for the titillation of male viewers.  

All in all, this is a massive step back for LGBTQ+ people in America. 

This post will be a deviation from the discrimination centric posts I’ve made up to this point, but it’s a topic I feel the need to address.

—In this post, I aim to discuss the effects of overexposing kids to technology. 

In the era of modern technology, a lot of things are far more convenient than ever. Want to remind a friend about an upcoming event? Just text them. Did you forget the name of a childhood movie? Google it. Are you too busy to actually monitor what your children are doing despite having made the decision to have kids? Give them the keys to online enjoyment and hope for the best. 

Maybe you think that last point was a bit harsh—parents are busy people after all; they have to worry about their jobs, financial security, and relationships on top of taking care of their kids. With that in mind, is there any real harm in moms, dads, and guardians giving themselves a break by handing over iPads every now and then? 

I think, with limitations placed on screen time and strict monitoring/parental controls, some content available on apps or the internet can be child-friendly entertainment—not the extensive caveats. The problem comes when children are allowed unchecked amounts of screen time. 

You may think someone who doesn’t have children “isn’t allowed” to criticize anyone’s parenting, but I’d argue that anyone is allowed to criticize anything if they can provide evidence to support their argument. 

With that in mind I’ll be making the point that too much time behind screens is an active detriment to for kids. 

“Early data from a landmark National Institutes of Health (NIH) study that began in 2018 indicates that children who spent more than two hours a day on screen-time activities scored lower on language and thinking tests…” Dr. Jennifer F. Cross, attending pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Children’s Health, interprets this data as potentially meaning that screens inhibit childhood development by narrowing focus of interest. 

This is a sensible interpretation since the instant gratification available from technology has made people more impatient than we otherwise would be (think of how many seconds of loading it takes to make you give up on accessing a webpage altogether). 

Development is occurring at a rapid rate for those under the age of three and children learn better when they are actively engaged and played with. 

The benefits of social media and research don’t even apply to young children: no elementary or even middle schooler needs Instagram to stay in touch with friends and they don’t need extensive hours online to complete full-fledged research papers yet. 

Being overexposed to the online world may not only narrow focus in children, but can also lead to an outright inability to concentrate. 

“Increased screen time in pre-school is associated with worse inattention problems.” In this case, the study links “inattention problems” to symptoms of ADHD.

—Although correlation doesn’t always equal causation, it’s interesting to note the percentage increase in kids being diagnosed with ADHD in the internet age. 

To be frank, being an iPad parent is willingly setting your kid up for future failure. 

In case you’re wondering what inspired this particular post, I heard of a bill being proposed called the Kids Online Safety Act in February and couldn’t help thinking, “why aren’t parents just using parental controls and monitoring what their children do online? Why do government restrictions that will affect the internet for everyone have to be introduced?”

My interpretation of the aims of this bill could be off, and I’d be happy to have any such misinterpretations pointed out to me in the comments. 

The legalization of gay marriage in the United States has left many concluding that LGBTQ+ people no longer face major discrimination, but this is entirely inaccurate. 

Due to the overwhelming presence of heteronormativity in society, LGBT youth are more likely to be bullied by peers and face backlash from their families. Bullying takes a severe toll on mental health and can lead to the development of low self-esteem, anxiety, and/or depression.

—Bullying has an incredibly negative impact on how a person views and treats themselves; LGBT youth are more likely to be on the receiving end. 

Meanwhile, some families choose to disown their children over a non-straight or trans identity: LGBT youths are more likely to become homeless or end up in foster care. 

Bullying and familial abandonment contribute to suicide attempts among the LGBTQ+ community. 

One major source of disparity is the way LGBT individuals are treated by the healthcare system. There have been several instances of doctors refusing patients treatment on the basis of religious or moral beliefs. When treatment is given, doctors are more likely to be harsh or abusive when dealing with non-straight, trans, or non-gender conforming patients (When Health Care Isn’t Caring, p. 10, para. 2). 

LGBT patients are also often blamed for their own health problems, especially if they’re an individual living with AIDS or HIV. 

Due to being a minority group, LGBTQ+ people are more subject to wealth inequality than their peers.

—LGBT people aren’t always protected by non discriminatory laws. The gov’t often doesn’t consider their circumstances and they are less likely to be employed. 

Over the past decades, lesbian bars have been closing their doors all across the United States. Many have speculated about the potential causes with some going as far as to blame transgender women for encroaching on women’s spaces. 

A much more likely explanation is that wages have stagnated while the wage gap has grown as the privileged and wealthy continue to attain more wealth. The ones running lesbian bars are gay/bisexual women: members of two minorities who are, therefore, going to face more financial challenges when running a business. 

The opposition didn’t end after gay marriage was legalized: there are many other ways for majority groups to continue enforcing their power over minorities. 

Land redistribution is a firm part of America’s past and it’s present. This country was, after all, founded on the mistreatment of Native Americans; in the mid-1900s, over 100 native tribes lost their recognition by the federal government and were made subject to state jurisdiction—they were encouraged to move to urban centers, which didn’t make life any easier.

They, and many other minorities, were and are subject to poverty and housing discrimination.

The Fair Housing Act defines what housing inequality by stating what acts of related discrimination it defends against.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fair Housing Act prohibits the denial of renting/buying a home, getting assistance for housing, etc. because of disability, color, race, national origin, sex, gender, and/or religion.

You’d think that this being set in stone would stop people from discriminating for fear of being taken to court, but a law being in place has never and will never stop people from breaking it.

And when minorities are able to secure housing, they’re likely to be ignored when reporting issues with their homes. A paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research reported that residents with white names received a response from their landlords 60% of the time, where black or latino names garnered a 54%-57% response rate.

This, in turn, makes minority residents more likely to move out and less likely to move in. And whiter neighborhoods are more valued—more resources are put into keeping the neighborhood looking nice and keeping the residents satisfied.

Racism in cases like this is structural: something put in place to divide the haves from the have-nots and keep “less desirable” people squarely in the latter category. People often pin the problems associated with “slum” areas on the people living there, but the truth is much more systemic.

The ongoing global pandemic—a physically and emotionally taxing ordeal—has had negative impacts on everyone around the world. However, a distinct level of resentment has been reserved for people of Asian descent. 

Some people have taken it upon themselves to scapegoat Asians since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. One article from Today News estimates that hate crimes against them have increased by 150%.

According to Asian advocacy director John Sifton (Covid-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide), this discrimination has escalated into such widespread violence that it’s become a necessity for governments to begin enacting policies to prevent it. 

Several public service announcements have been released to educate bystanders about how to intervene in attempts at Asian discrimination and/or violence. 

This has also drawn attention to the fact that prejudice against Asian often just isn’t considered: Asian Americans have been given the title “model minority”. Such a title has stereotyped an entire group of people as high-earning and immensely successful. 

Not only does this paint other minorities as simply not “working hard enough” to achieve success, but also depicts any Asians who don’t abide by the stereotype as outliers who aren’t the norm of their race. 

In reality, the Asian community is incredibly diverse and composed of people from different ethnic backgrounds, different incomes, and varying levels of education.

Part of what left Asians so vulnerable to shameless acts of violent crime was the lack of understanding that they aren’t a “special” or “untouchable” class of humans that know no struggle. 

The term minority doesn’t refer to how large a particular group is: it’s used for groups that have less social and political power than the ruling “majority” and Asian Americans absolutely fall under this category. 

There is no “model minority” and there’s no excuse for bigotry. 

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