Survey Update

I sent out my survey last Wednesday and so far, I have gotten 31 responses. my final questions consisted of, if they were a male or female, went to public or catholic school, knew someone in their school who was gay, on a scale of 1-5 how comfortable they felt about having a gay kid in their class, if they agree or disagree with the idea of having a gay-friendly high school, on a scale of 1-5 how comfortable they were about having a teacher or coach who was gay, and lastly who they felt most comfortable around, someone who was gay of the same sex or opposite or if it did not matter. I have been very impressed with the results I have gotten back so far. Out of 31 kids, only 1 agrees with the fact that gay people should have the option of going to a gay-friendly high school. There was not much of a difference between males or females with their answers or if they went to public school or catholic school. In one case though, the Males of both catholic and public high schools have a higher uncomfortable level of having a teacher or a coach who is gay rather then girls were most of them clicked between 1-3. Mostly everyone said they felt more comfortable around a gay person of the opposite sex, but a few said they did not have a preference and 1-2 said they do not feel comfortable around either. I was expecting these results because our generation is a lot more open with the idea unlike previous generations. We see it on TV and hear it in songs and have it all around us so we are more open to the idea. I think if I were to do this survey with my grandmother's generation, I would have gotten totally different results. 

Final Statement

I have officially finalized my research on surveying kids on the topic of  homosexuality. I have yet to write up my final survey questions but, they will be written up tomorrow and reviewed by Mrs. Wren on Monday. I plan to being my research on Wednesday, December 4th  I am going to create a google doc on monday with my questions and send it out on Wednesday through a Facebook inbox. As I said before, there will be 52 people in total. 26 boys and 26 girls. 13 of the boys will be from Catholic high school and 13 will be from a Public high school. Same goes for the girls. 13 from a Catholic high school and 13 from a public high school. On Friday, December 6th  I will report back with the results I have received so far. I cannot wait to see how my results turn out! My guess is that the ones who go to public school will be more comfortable and okay with the idea that they are in class with a homosexual where in Catholic school, maybe we are a little more uncomfortable because of our beliefs and morals that we are taught. I can't wait to report back!

Surveying Homosexuality with Highschool Students

So  I have come to the conclusion on what I am going to do for my research about Homosexuality. I am going to interview 52 people in total. 26 boys and 26 girls. 13 of the boys will be from a Catholic high school and 13 will be from a Public high school. Same for girls. 13 girls from a Catholic high school and 13 from a Public high school. I am going to ask them how they feel about homosexuality and if they would feel comfortable if there was a homosexual in their classes. I plan on asking the kids if they feel more comfortable with a homosexual male or female in the classroom and I will also give them the option to say it doesn't matter at all or both matters. I am going to use a google doc and send it through facebook, so it can be completed anonymously and truthfully. I am doing this survey because I want to see how much times has changed in this generation and how people react to the generations new found acceptance of same sex relationships. It was only in the 1920s when people started to accept this. I am going to get my answers by what the majority says. I am very interested to find out how people really feel about this topic. Especially when they know they can tell how they really feel without anyone knowing it was them who said it. 

Surveying Homosexuality

During the second semester, I chose to do a written survey on people's opinions on Homosexuality. I am deciding between two different surveys. I am thinking about surveying 50 kids, 25 that go to public school and 25 that go to catholic school on how they feel about homosexuals in their school. Whether it is their teacher or a classmate, and ask their opinion on if homosexuals should be separated from straight people, just like my blog post regarding the gay-friendly high school. I am also curious to see how they feel if they are on a team with someone who they think is gay or is gay. Do they treat them the same? or maybe a little differently? Another idea that I have deals with adults opinions. It has only been recent where gay couples are openly shown in the media and in a way, more accepted. Doing a survey between two different generations of adults will show me how the older generations feels about this topic when they grew up with such strong beliefs of going along with the social norm, and the newer generation who has been exposed to same sex relationships as being a normal and accepted. I will ask them how they feel about the boy scout situation and if they feel its appropriate that gay people should not be allowed to volunteer or lead a boy scout group. I will ask about their co workers and if any of them are gay, if so, are they treated differently? and Lastly, I would ask if they have or have ever seen a homosexual hold a high up position in a job whether it is CEO or manager or boss and if they can accept and work with people who hold such a different belief. I think that with either survey I do, I will get very interesting results which will further my research in this topic. I think that since I am interviewing two totally different people in all aspects I will find out many different beliefs that people have on all different aspects of homosexuality.I think that being I am a student, I will most likely survey other students and their opinions because I can relate and use questions that are on the same level as myself.  I am very eager to find out the results. 

What is it like to be gay in the world's most homophobic country?

Did you know that Uganda is the world's most homophobic country? A resident of  Central Uganda David Kato was pronounced dead in a street close to his home because of his sexuality. His suffered a long life of discrimination, violence and attacks in which all was approved by the media and government in fact it was even encouraged! In 2009 a Anti Homosexuality Bill was passed stating that the death penalty would be given to any homosexual. Last year the bill was postponed but it still has yet to be vetoed in full. David's friend who was also gay was questioned by his mother if he was possessed by the devil because they have never seen anything of "his kind". Anything he did, the people would report back to his parents and he would be punished. She wanted to go out and make a difference, she teamed up with other homosexuals start a campaign called The fight for LGBT rights. She says that if it was not for the support of the allies of the international community, they would not have gotten this far. David Kato inspired many and has encouraged them to fight for their rights and go against the Ugandan government and defend their rights.

I find this story to be very upsetting. David had no reason to suffer in life and for sure did not deserve to be murdered. I think it is very important for the people of Uganda to speak up and go against their government and defend their rights because no one deserves to suffer the way the homosexuals are in their country. They live everyday in fear and shame and secret and that is not ok. How do you feel about this situation? What do you think they should do to try and gain more access to their rights?

To find out more about this article click here!

Boyscouts and Homosexuality

For many years, the Boy scouts of America has been working hard to make sure that pedophiles are kept out of Scouting. These people were put into "perversion files." It has been a longtime goal not to have scoutmasters and volunteers as people who could be potentially dangerous to the welfare of the children. Deron Smith who is the Director of Communciations for the Boy Scouts said that keeping these "perversion files" records has helped keep the organization's policy of excluding gay people from being allowed to be a part of scouting. Even though this policy is very controversial, the Boy Scouts have no intentions in ending it anytime soon. A special committee that consists of scout leaders believes it is the best policy for the organization. 

I have mixed feelings about this policy. I believe it is very important to keep pedophiles out of jobs that involve younger children because it is important to keep the children safe. But, I do not agree with the fact that they do not allow gays to be scoutmasters or volunteers also. Just because someone is gay does not mean they are a pedophile. For example, if a child wants to be a boy scout and his parents are gay then does that mean they are not allowed to get involved with their child's activity? I definitely think that the policy should stay intact, but be changed a bit in order to let innocent homosexuals be a part of an organziation that they feel strongly about and or enjoy participating in. 

Click here to find out more about the perversion files!

Homophobic? Maybe your gay...

Ever think that extreme homophobic people could actually be gay? New studies have shown that gay people say they are homophobic in order to cover up the shame and fear that they have for their sexuality. Sigmund Freud called the process a "reaction formation." A reaction formation is a battle against the symbol of feelings that are being kept inside.  Ted Haggard, an evangelical leader preached that homosexuality was a sin, but ironically resigned after a scandal with a male prostitute. He agrees with Freud in when he apologized about his scandal and his anti-gay act saying that he believes he did it because secretly he was fighting his own war against it.  Scientists have been working on this research at the University of Rochester for the past 15 years. They said that evidence of homosexual urges is seen by subtle verbal cues. The researches started by asking college kids, most of who were women to rate their sexual orientation on a scale from 1 to 10. 10 being completely gay, 5 being bisexual and 1 being totally straight.  They were also required to show how much they agreed with statements like " I would feel uncomfortable having a gay roommate." Or, "Gay people make me nervous." After they were put into different levels based onto their level of gayness and homophobia, they were shown pictures on a computer screen. Some of the pictures were, two women or two men and afterwards a subliminal cue came up onto the screen. On the screen, the words ME or OTHERS would pop up and ME would shorten a student's reaction time for gay imagery. This test is a sign of her homosexuality on a subconscious level. The idea of this research is that it takes people less time to make connections between words or images when the connections conform to prior beliefs. 
Click here for more info about this article and the research they have conducted!

After reading this article, I have found myself to agree with Freud and the research that the University of Rochester has conducted. I find it very weird for people to have an actual fear of homosexuals, I believe that the main fear is becoming a homosexual yourself. I think it is understandable for someone who is straight to find themselves maybe uncomfortable at times when around homosexuals or maybe react differently to comments that a homosexual could make to a straight person, but that is different than calling yourself homophobic. People think that publicly announcing it and making it clear to people that you are "afraid of gays"  will cover up the fact that they are actually gay, but it will not fool me. I found this to be very interesting and I am curious to see end results of the study! 

SUPER- kiss

In the past, there has been a few debates regarding commercials that are appropriate for CBS to play during the Superbowl. In 2007, Snickers released a commercial where two men "Super-kissed" and immediately after freaked out and acted as if it was very bad and gross. This angered many gay watchers. Now the executives of CBS rate kisses and casts on an acceptability meter by unidentified standards. The President of the American Family Association, Tim Wildmon has a very interesting view on this situation. He states, " CBS should not put parents in the position of answering embarrassing and awkward questions from their children while they're just trying to enjoy a football game."  When Tim made this comment, I wonder if he was considering all of the children who have same sex parents or thought of the kids who are personally going through a time where they are questioning their own sexuality. After this big ordeal, CBS then denied a gay dating ad for the Superbowl but approved a pro-life Christian ad. CBS rejected a gay theme ad from GoDaddy.com but allowed Focus on the Family ad which had Christian pro-life football player Tim Tebow as the spokesperson. Going into it, this was not the impression that CBS wanted to make, but they have made it clear that they are more comfortable with conservative Christians rather than Homosexuality. How do you feel about this debate. How would you react if there was a homosexual commercial on a game that is watched all around the world? Do you think CBS should accept all types of ads? Let me know what you think! 

 Click Here for more information on this topic of discussion! 

Below is the Snickers 2007 Superbowl Commercial.

Gay-Friendly Highschool

Recently, in Chicago there has been talk about opening a Gay- Friendly high school. But there has been lots of questioning about it. With opening this school, it brings up the idea of having gays segregated  from teens who are straight. I am not sure if this is the totally right way to stop all the problems that teens who are gay are facing today. For example, bullying, suicide, dropping out of high school, and living in fear everyday are just some of the many different kinds.Personally, I do not think that putting them into a separate school will put an end to all of these problems, I just think it is a way to avoid them for sometime. It also puts a label on them and creates them different from others when our goal should be not to have labels on anyone and be accepting of everyone. But this debate can also go both ways. Some people could be all for it. It can be considered a safe and accepting place to either send themselves or a child where they know they can be themselves and not have to live in fear or worry for at least six hours of their day five days a week.But, once it is time for college then are they all going to be able to handle going back to that so called "normal school" and deal with people who are different than them? It is important to be faced with obstacles in life and gain the strength to overcome them, not to run away and avoid them. It is also important to accept yourself for who you are before anyone else can and be proud of it. In this video below is a news segment on the gay-friendly school where you can find out more information about it and peoples opinions. Feel free to share your opinion as well! 

Homosexuality and the Military

Ever wonder about how Americans deal with having homosexuals fighting for our Country? It has been a long going debate. Recently President Obama announced that he was going to repeal the law that denies gay Americans to serve for the United States. Out of all the Americans in the world, only 69% of Americans support the idea of having gays and lesbians fight for our Country. As of now, there are about 66,000 Gays and Lesbians fighting for our Country. Imagine if they were not allowed to? That would be 66,000 less people in the armed forces strictly because of who they love. Should that really matter when in reality we are all there for the same reason, to keep our freedom and to keep our Country the way it is today. In Ancient times, gays in the Army were not that big of a deal, until after the Crusades. The Knights Templar was persecuted and many of their members were burned strictly because of same-sex affairs. The US Army prohibited homosexuality during World War I but did not strictly enforce it until World War II. There were procedures set up that searched men and women for characteristics, dress and mannerisms that could conclude them into being homosexual. Now is that really humane? 4,000 out of 12 million men were rejected into the war because they were found to be gay. It 1992 a law was passed when Clinton was president that if you were not openly gay then you were allowed to participate in war, but if you were openly gay then you were still rejected. They used the phrase "Don't ask Don't tell." We have come a long way since 1992. Since then 25 Countries allow gays to openly serve for their countries. If we are all there for the same reason and willing to risk our life at war for our country, should a person's sexuality really matter? What is your opinion on this on going problem that has been an issue for decades. 

Read this Article here from Time Magazine to find out more info!

Mike and Ike the Candy break up.... could it really be?

Recently in the media, the candy that has been around since the 1940s has made a drastic change in the public eye. The well known Mike and Ike has broken up. Mike has decided to follow his passion with music and Ike decided to go peruse art. There has been very mixed emotions regarding this topic about both divorce and Mike and Ike being under the impression of a same sex marriage. The president of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins had a lot to say about their split. Tony believes that it was never acceptable that Mike and Ike were a gay couple to begin with and that Just Go should not be 'sexualizing' candy.  He also believes that adding divorce into the picture really diminishes the value of marriage. The goal of this break up was to create more attention in publicity and to reach out to a younger age group. Publicizing a gay divorce the way the company Just Go has,can be viewed in both a positive and negative way. Homosexual relationships have been a lot more accepted in the recent years than past centuries but there are still some grey areas. I think that publicizing a gay divorce does not make the company attract fans in a positive way and could have possibly caused more grey area for gays and getting married. The company is working on having the couple possibly work their differences out and come back together. I do not think this sends out the right  message to younger children and other teens and makes it seem very easy to just get married and then break up when things get tough. When making a commitment to marry someone whether is it same or different sex, a promise is made to make sacrifices for each other and stay together through think and through thin. Hopefully things will work out for Mike and Ike. Is a gay divorce really the proper way to advertise a product to a young crowed? Are people upset about this because it is violating the social norm? How will Just Go turn Mike and Ikes differences into a positive outcome and into a positive outlook towards their candy product? Watch the video below to see how different celebrities are reacting to this upsetting breakup of one of America's favorite candies. 

Click Here to find out more about this topic!

Why Homosexuality?

Homosexuality is the sexual attraction to or sexual relations with members of the same sex.

 I chose this topic because I find it very interesting. I have a lot of questions that I would like to have answered about homosexuality. The acceptance of homosexuals has come a long way since many generations ago. Today, there are still many rules regarding same sex marriage and what is acceptable and what is not. Media today, for the most part puts homosexuality into a positive light, showing that it is not a bad thing. In many children movies there are same sex parents and also in family TV shows. I am curious to find out what is still holding some states back from allowing same sex marriage, and I am also interested to see if homosexuality only occurs because of genes or if over time and being educated about it, one can just change their mind. Also having a best friend who has recently become gay has inspired me to learn more about it just so I am able to understand it better and support him the best way that I can.