Ted Talk- Youth LGBT Movements

I think this may be easier to understand once we discuss it more in class, but I think that for my Ted talk I would like to focus on youth movements within the LGBT, as well as what schools and legislatures are doing for LGBT youth. As youth ourselves, I think that this is the most important part of my paper, as it is something that we can relate to and may have seen at our high schools or even here at Penn State. When hearing that 70% of homosexual youth don’t feel safe at their schools, I was astounded! That’s an incredible number. It’s not fair that just because of sexual orientation, someone is scared to be in an environment that most of us are completely happy (well maybe not happy necessarily, but safe) with. Why do many students feel that someone’s different sexual preference makes them “less” or worthy of bullying? All over the United States, we hear of teen suicide rates increasing, and often these teens are gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, etc. There are movements across the nation to decrease the suicide rate as well as just to make homosexuality more acceptable, and to put an end to the bullying that occurs. I know in my high school, like many others, had a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) to encourage improved relationships between both heterosexual and homosexual students. There are movements on social media websites, and even internet petitions to help put an end to poor relations between people of different sexual orientations. In recent years, schools and legislatures have enforced anti-discrimination acts and created other programs and laws to support homosexual students. We, as youth, have the ability to make a huge difference in the world, and are the future of our country. Acceptance of homosexuality and support of gay marriage are an important part of the future.