Madeleine+G’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016

__A More Colorful Future__

Hi everyone. My name is Madeleine, I’m seventeen years old, a Pisces, and a lesbian. What I have just done is known as “coming out”, which is when someone decides that they’re going to disclose their sexuality or gender identity to those from which they had previously kept it hidden. This decision requires immense bravery on the part of the closeted individual because they have no way of predicting how those they choose to tell will react. After all, those who are closeted, which is to keep one’s sexuality or gender identity hidden from others, usually are for a good reason.

Even with the Supreme Court ruling to legalize gay marriage nationwide, there are still over 29 states that do not provide protection to LGBT individuals in matters such as jobs and housing. For example, as stated by a member of the Human Rights Campaign, Adam Talbot, a vast majority of LGB people live in states where they “can get married at 10[AM], post those photos on Facebook, their boss can fire them at noon on the basis of their sexual orientation, and at 2 PM, their landlord can evict them.”

The situation is even worse for transgender people. From the recent bathroom laws in North Carolina requiring that the sex on someone’s birth certificate matches the sex of the restroom they use, to being four times as likely to live in poverty, the “T” in the famous acronym is arguably the most endangered letter - according to the National Center for Transgender Equality, “More than one in four trans people has faced a bias-driven assault, and rates are higher for trans women and trans people of color”. Transwoman Ahya Simone agrees, saying in response to the death of fellow transgender woman Amber Monroe “our lives are treated as disposable”. This bias has continued into this year, when as of May 29th, 13 transgender individuals were victims of hate crimes. All of them were murdered, almost all of them were people of color, and eight out of the 13 victims were transgender women. This continuous violence against the transgender community has resulted in a maximum life expectancy of 30-32 years for the average trans individual.

Blatant discrimination and violence against queer individuals is still prevalent in our society today because those who “fear” us, really don’t understand us. Homophobia and transphobia aren’t actual fears, they’re just the product of an astounding lack of information about non-heteronormative individuals. This absence of knowledge has affected how LGBT people have been viewed for generations, and it has remained unaltered because queer people aren’t being represented in the environment where the accurate depiction and open discussion of non-heterosexual cisgender identities is crucial: sexual education classes.

Incompetent sex education is the reason for the continued misunderstanding and violence surrounding the LGBT community. The reason this program is inadequate is because, according to John Oliver, “there is no [government] required standard for sex ed in this country”, which leaves the decision of how to teach sex education classes up to the states. However, this has lead to some serious problems, because, as Oliver explains, “only 22 states mandate that kids receive [sex education], and only 13 require that the information presented be medically accurate”. This is outrageous because in every other subject, presenting inaccurate information and passing it off as the truth would be considered unacceptable, but in sex education it’s almost the norm. For example, in a large number of states, kids are regularly being exposed to sex education that preaches abstinence as the best and only way to serve your community. Now I don’t think that being abstinent is wrong; I think it’s perfectly fine for someone to choose to abstain from sex for any reason. What bothers me is that in the states where it’s taught, it’s taught as the only acceptable option that students have, and sometimes, it’s not even taught as an option. And when female sexuality is brought into the discussion, women are often blatantly shamed and devalued for having non-monogamous sex, or sex with more than one partner, by being portrayed as chewed-up pieces of gum, used toothbrushes, and even dirty shoes. This, of course, is medically inaccurate because they’re assuming that an organ that has the strength to push out a six pound infant for two to 22 hours can only stand six partners’ worth of penetrative sex before it begins to “wear out”.

And when it comes to the discussion of sexuality and gender identity, some classrooms just aren’t having them. There are eight states that have placed considerable limitations on what teachers can say on homosexuality, and some of those states, most famously Mississippi, are teaching kids that homosexuality isn’t just heinous, but illegal. This kind of teaching is extremely detrimental to young queer kids trying to determine and accept their sexuality, because it’s teaching them that anything outside of heterosexuality isn’t an option, and that being who they are is wrong, which is something you should never tell a child. Something else about the sex ed system that needs to be changed is how sex is talked about in regards to the general population - that every human wants it, and that wanting sex is part of what makes us human. This kind of teaching completely phases out a group of individuals in the queer community known as asexuals, those who do not experience any form of sexual attraction, when in fact they need that representation the most. Because our society views sex as the end-all, most important, top priority of every relationships, asexuals are often left feeling broken and undesirable because of something they can’t control.

All of this misinformation has culminated in the still vast presence of homophobia and transphobia throughout this country, even in this modern time; and it’s an incredibly depressing fact to know that people still hate us just because we’re proud to express who we are. Despite everything that I’ve said, I’m not about to pledge to the complete eradication of all homophobic individuals in this country, partly because I know it’s an unrealistic goal, and partly because, in my opinion, it wouldn’t really solve anything. People are never going to see eye to eye on everything, and I’ve come to accept that there will always be someone out there that will find my attraction to women disturbing. But although such comments don’t really bother me like they used to, I know for a fact that they bother a hell of a lot of people, emotionally, mentally, and physically. And it in turn hurts me greatly to see so many of my kin crippled by the stress of staying true to themselves in a world that views them as “disgusting” or “unnatural”. I’m not asking for a revolution. I’m simply asking for acceptance. The America I’d like to grow old in I hope would be more openminded and attentive to its queer brethren so that the youngest members of our community can express themselves unapologetically, without having to live in fear of the consequences. We have a long road ahead of us, but one day I hope that revealing your sexuality or gender identity is met with the same response as revealing your star sign. Thank you.

Shavin, Naomi. Gay Couples Can Marry Now, But They Can Still Be Fired for Being Gay. New Republic. N.p., 06 June 2015. Web. 04 June 2016. Steinmetz, Katy. Why Transgender Americans Are Being Murdered. //Time.// Time, 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 04 June 2016. List of Unlawfully Killed Transgender People. //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2016. Web. 05 June 2016. Stafford, Katrease and Damron, Gina. Transgender Slaying Outrage: 'Our Lives are Disposable'. //Detroit Free Press.// USA Today, 10 Aug. 2015. Web. 05 June 2016 No More 'Lying': Law Bolsters Transgender Argentinians. //NPR.// NPR, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 05 June 2016. Cohn, Jonathan. Mississippi's Sex-Ed Classes Teach Kids that Homosexuality Is Illegal, Even Though It Isn't. //New Republic.// N.p., 07 Apr. 2014. Web. 06 June 2016. LastWeekTonight. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Sex Education (HBO). //Youtube.// Youtube, 09 Aug. 2015. Web. 05 June 2016. LastWeekTonight. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Transgender Rights (HBO). //Youtube.// Youtube, 28 June 2015. Web. 05 June 2016. Workplace Discrimination. //Huffington Post.// Huffington Post, n.d. Web. 03 June 2016. Kellaway, Mitch. REPORT:Trans Americans Four Times More Likely to Live in Poverty. //Gay News, LGBT Rights, Politics, Entertainment.// The Advocate, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 07 June 2016.
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