Monday, March 29, 2010

From school Disrimination to Transgender

Boonchan Khamda:
This week in class we discussed the issues with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgenders. This sparked my interest because I had read an article about a girl who brought her girlfriend to prom and the school decided to cancel prom due to the issue she wanted to wear a tuxedo and bring a girl. After the school canceled prom she filed a law suit against them saying they violated her first amendment. Now she is being made out to be the poster child for gay and lesbian teens that stand for their rights and way of life. She is receiving numerous supports from famous people and others of the same sexual orientation. This article is showing how some schools don’t support the gay and lesbian choice. The controversy behind this is that she made the effort to go to the school for permission first and instead of giving her an answer they decided to cancel the entire prom altogether. This caused some backlash against her because it ruined prom for everyone else.
This relates to a speaker we had come in and talk to the class. The speaker was a transgender person who faced discrimination against him because of his sexual preference. He shared with us his story about how he had lost his job because of his identity. He had also shared the hardship he had with his family. Growing up he explained that when his father would introduce his partner to their friends his father would say that it is just his friend. He shared with us ways to talk to people who are transgenders and gay or lesbian. He said to be honest with them and ask straight forward about their sexual orientation. This would make it easier for the both of you to understand each other. A few definitions I found interesting about his speech was when he said that gay and lesbian is a sexual orientation, and transgender is how you identify yourself.
I think it’s unfair for the student to be punished because of their sexual preference. I also think it’s very unfair to cancel the prom because someone wanted to bring someone of the same sex. This kind of discrimination is happening too often. If anything her case brought awareness to the discrimination we all still see in the world. Having our speaker come in and share his experiences with the class really broadened my mind on gay, lesbian, and transgender people. This really shows what we are learning in class, how we deal with discrimination and how we can raise awareness.

Reference:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/26/constance.mcmillen.tension/?hpt=C2
Please copy and paste link, the hyperlink doesn't work.

4 comments:

  1. Boonchan, I strongly agree with you on the blog post that you did. I believe that just because that girl wanted to bring the same sex to go to prom should be able to go to prom and not have prom be cancelled because of that issue. I am just glad to know that a lot of people brought this up and are aware of the situation. I hope that all goes well for the girls.

    Pang Khang

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  2. Boonchan, I am so surprised that the school decided to cancel prom. So, just because one girl is following her heart and her true beliefs the whole school suffers. She did not choose to be this way i believe, she was born with these feelings. Im sure she has already gotten enough discrimination from other students, and now she has the school coming down on her. It is a very unfair decision, and i am not sure weather or not the school had the right to do it. In any case it happened and the school in my opinion needs to be more understanding and do a better job to maker her feel more comfortable instead of add to the dicrimination and the problem.

    Thomas Orbison

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  3. Hi Boonchan,
    Over break I heard about the story of the prom being canceled because of the girl bringing another girl to her prom and when Alex came to visit our class that was the first thing to pop into my mind as well. I think that it is very sad that a school that is supposed to be supportive and welcoming is turning kids away because of their sexaul orentation. I think that schools turning students away because of their sexual orientation shows how hard it is for people to be true to their idenities. I do however, think that it is inspiring to know that she is fighting back and that so many people are supporting her fight! Thank you for writing on this issue I think that its important to keep talking about this issue!
    Thanks Again, Brianna

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  4. It's interesting how the school, as an institution is continuing the so called "societal norms" by perpetuating it.
    Maikou

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