The LGBTQ+ community has been a hot-button topic in recent years around the world. The vastly different viewpoints, emotions, and beliefs drive people’s actions and these actions can often lead to violence. These violent acts against the community force safe spaces to create extensive protection plans to keep people safe and instill copious amounts of fear in individuals who just want to feel like they can be themselves. These constant violent attacks against the community are unforgivable and unjustifiable in any light and those participating in these actions need to be held accountable. The public also needs to be well-informed about the communities around them to help stop these heinous acts against the group.
Politicians, religiously affiliated groups, state legislature, and strict right-winged affiliates all create significant impacts on the LGBTQ+ community. Florida recently passed a bill that barred the topic of sexuality from being talked about or taught about, and North Carolina introduced a bill that required a person to utilize the bathroom that corresponded with the sex they legally had at birth. “I just don’t want it forced onto me,” said High School Student Wyatt Strohl. In one SIRS article that recorded answers from a traditional ruler and High Court judge in Ghana, it is also claimed that both the Quran and the Bible state that marriage is only correct when it’s between a man and a woman and that they would not accept any marriage opposing that.
For students in the queer community, facing hate and violence is nearly an everyday occurrence. “At school, I feel like I can only be out to my close friends. If I give any hints at being queer, I’m afraid of what some students might do,” says Jamie Keogh, a student at Pennridge High School. “They could try to hurt me because they disagree.” Senior at Pennridge High School, Silas Nathan, also agrees, claiming that the hallways in the school are the most dangerous to be in as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Violence doesn’t just happen in America, either. On a bus in London in 2019, two women were brutally attacked by a group of teenage boys because they were holding hands. The group asked them to kiss and made multiple inappropriate remarks, and when they didn’t get their desired reaction from the girls, the boys decided to jump them. The deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history targeted against the queer community was when shooter Omar Mateen entered the Pulse nightclub, a very infamous queer safe space, and began firing into the crowd. This event ended with 49 people dead and 53 people injured. Similarly, in 2022, Club Q was also under attack, leaving five people dead and over two dozen injured.
In our society, we have the freedom to have our own opinions; however, violence should never be accepted, no matter what viewpoint one has. To obtain a better understanding and curb the violence against the LGBTQ+ community, we as a whole need to be educated about these subjects. Keeping up with laws in the state you reside in, political nominees and their stances, and separating feelings and facts are all ways to educate yourself and will better communities, making them feel safer to all.
Sources:
https://wnd.infobase.com/reutersarticle/874226?searchterm=the+pulse+nightclub&oper=1
https://wnd.infobase.com/reutersarticle/285563?searchterm=the+pulse+nightclub&oper=1
https://wnd.infobase.com/reutersarticle/318436?searchterm=violence+against+queer&oper=1
https://wnd.infobase.com/reutersarticle/867217?searchterm=violence+against+queer&oper=1
