Homophobia Lgbtq+ Community in Our Society

The following essay regards the presence of the LGBTQ+ community in our society, and the oppression and discrimination of  the LGBTQ+ community.

LGBTQ+ is an acronym and an umbrella term for a wide range of sexual and romantic orientations and gender identities. The term stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer. The plus recognizes the various other identities and orientations that are not represented by the letters including (but not limited to), asexual, aromantics and many others.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a social construct is defined as “an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society”. A very relevant and present social construct in our society is heteronormativity. The Urban Dictionary describes heteronormative as;

“A viewpoint that expresses heterosexuality as a given instead of being one of many possibilities. Often expressed subtly, heterosexuality is widely "accepted" as the default sexuality by both print and electronic media, education, law makers, and a range of attitudes expressed by society in general.”

In today’s society, heteronormativity is constantly present. We see it in the media, with the lack of LGBT+ representation. We see it in books, in magazines, in ads. We see it in everyday life: it is assumed that someone is straight (heterosexual) unless they prove otherwise. Heteronormativity shows up in all our lives, and in many ways.

Societal attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ groups have changed and whilst the stigma against the community has lessened over time, the group has still been left vulnerable to recurring prejudice, oppression and discrimination.  

Globally, there are still around 70 countries with laws against sexual relations between people of the same sex. [Paul Crossley, Colin Gourlay and Ben Spraggon. “Pride, prejudice and punishment: Gay rights around the world.” ABC News, 24 Sept. 2017, www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-04/gay-lesbian-mardi-gras-rights-around-the-world/8126828.]

Out of the 70 plus countries that illegalize it, around 11 have a death penalty in place for same-sex sexual acts.

According to the 2017 ILGA State Sponsored Homophobia Report from ILGA[“STATE-SPONSORED HOMOPHOBIA A WORLD SURVEY OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION LAWS: CRIMINALISATION, PROTECTION AND RECOGNITIO.” ILGA, May 2017, ilga.org/downloads/2017/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2017_WEB.pdf. ](the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association), it lists 72 countries classified as criminalizing states with 45 of these states (24 in Africa, 13 in Asia, 6 in the Americas and 2 in Oceania) with a law that is applied to both women and men.