Homophobia does not only affect gay youth, but also the straight friends of the others.
Here are some reasons why homophobia in fact IS a problem!
I was walking through the university campus and onto the street when I was suddenly
surrounded by people older than me. Boy and girls had me in the middle of a circle and
were shouting things like "Dyke!", "Freak!", and one person even called me "My Parent's
Disgrace!". I was scared so I quickly hit the ground and waited for them to finish with me.
Luckily, a few kicks in the side, and a slap in the head was all that they dared to
physically harm me but nothing more serious than that. But the screaming crowd was more
than enough...I was horrifed! I laid on the ground, quivering and crying, for about ten
minutes after they ran away because I couldn't move.
- Female (lesbian), 18, Bathurst High School
I was harressed for being gay before I even knew I was. All thruogh middle school I was
called "gay", "fag", "homo" and no teacher would stop them. A teacher would only intervene
when they became disruptive to the class. I was harrassed in middle school just for
hanging around gay people. Most teachers will say something, but not because
of what is being said.
- Male (gay) 14, Oromocto High School
In my media studies class, a young man who is vocal about disliking homosexuals
said in a fairly loud voice, "I'm scared to sit next to that lesbian." This comment
was directed at me and was hurtful.
- Female (lesbian), 16, Oromocto High School
Between the grades for 10 and 12 my friends and I use to sit in a stairwell at lunchtime. On a daily basis there were 2 guys turning the lights off everyday at lunchtime and everytime we turned them back on they went and turned them off again. This was continuous. We had food and other objects, thrown over the stairwell at us on a pretty regular basis. One day at lunch time my friends and I found that someone had written " Vagitarian Zone" in black marker over the doorway to the stairwell that we sat in. One of my straight friends (my best friend) was called a Lesbian everyday because she hung out with us. One day when I was walking out of the school going to my bus, I saw 2 guys shaking a pop bottle and they threw it at me, and was called a "Dyke" in a hateful voice. It broke open and went everywhere. The only thing that it didn't do was hit me.
- Female (lesbian), 18, 2003 graduate of Kennebecasis Valley High School
If you're gay at my school it can be a great thing to some people, but a horrible thing to others. On a daily basis I get called a fag, queer, homo, gay etc… but that doesn't even come close to the most hurtful thing that has ever happened to me. I came out of the closet in the middle of grade eight and mostly everyone quickly got used to it. But near the end of the year when I was finally beginning to be the person that I felt comfortable being, people that I knew and were my friends started to become distant and just stopped talking to me.
- Male (gay), 16, Oromocto High School
People throw things at me. One time at a school dance, as I was sitting with my boyfriend, a half-full pop bottle was thrown at me and hit me in the back of the head. No one got in trouble because no one knew who did it. Some avoid me in the halls because I'm gay and some of my friends barely talk to me in public because I'm openly gay.
- male (gay), 17, Oromocto High School
I came out at the beginning of last year and have since been harassed many times. I've had objects thrown at me, I've been spit on and I am harassed verbally on a pretty regular basis. I've also had some pretty vile rumours spread around the school about me. I was on the cheerleading squad last year and in one incident, I showed affection to another female whom I was seeing. When I went to cheerleading practice the next day, I was outcast and had to spend the practice trying to ignore the whispers and stares. The harassment has died down a bit but I get called names a lot and some people have some pretty warped misconceptions about me.
- Female (lesbian), 16, Oromocto High School
People make fun of me and say things like, "it runs in the family", "it runs in the genes", "are you like your sister or something?" I feel insulted and pissed off because it's none of their business whether someone is gay or not. People are always watching and judging my sexual orientation because of my sister's sexual orientation.
- Female (straight), 14, Kennebecasis Valley High School
I've had a lot of problems with people in my classes making fun of my friends and I because some of my friends are gay or bi. I have absolutely no problem with gay people! They're human just like everyone else.
- Male (straight), 16, Oromocto High School
I get teased a lot for having gay friends. People say that I will turn either bi or lez because I hang out with people who are. On the bus one guy is always saying things that are offensive to gay people and then he'll say, "oh sorry, there is a gay lover here."
- Female (straight), 16, Oromocto High School
I was walking on the sidewalks of Moncton from a party with my close friend Peter (who is no longer with us) and we were not in any hurry to get home. Now, something that you have to realize is that Peter was a stereotypical guy (and I mean that he wore the shortest shorts, tight hot pink t-shirts that said "I Can't Even Think Straight" and baby blue flip flops!) And I, as always, dressed ... uncaringly (baggy basketball shorts to my knees, a baggy T-shirt, a backwards baseball hat, and my skateboarder sneakers.)
So that night we noticed right away that there was a group of guys behind us- really close behind us! And of course we started walking a little bit faster- and a little faster- and faster from those guys (who were about twenty years old or so) but it didn't seem to help. No matter how fast we were walking, they just kept up with us and soon they were able to step on our heels, which they were doing, along with shouting some extremist statements (e.g. "Faster Fag!", "Don't Make Me Beat Your Head In, Fag!", "Oh, You're Asking For It Now, Fag!") ...
Now, out of the corner of my eye I could see my dear friend, little Peter, shaking and the tears beginning to well up in his eyes (he was terrified) so I yelled at him to run away. I yelled at him to run as fast as he could until he reached a safe place, while I turned around and nailed the guy directly behind me and then his buddies jumped on my body. That's about all I remember until a few hours later!
It was a group of my friends that I woke up to: some crying, some panicking, some just standing there, still, in complete shock. I was breathing very heavy and very quick and my whole body just seemed to be burning.
They brought me to the hospital emergency room, where I needed surgery to repair the damage caused from broken/ fractured ribs; to get multiple stitches for the lacerations I held from head to toe; to pop my dislocated shoulder back into place; and for medical attention for severe head trauma. The next morning when I woke up, I was every shade of black, brown, blue, purple and red! Let's just say, I didn't look too pretty!
- Female (lesbian), 17, Bathurst High School
On Friday night, March 19th 2004, I myself was beaten up because I am a lesbian. I was walking alone up Oak Street in Moncton to one of my friends' house when 2 guys and a girl jumped me. They pushed me down to the ground and beat me. They kicked me in the stomach numerous times, and punched me, my neck was bruised pretty badly from one of them missing my shoulder and hitting my neck. At one point 2 of them held me down and with something sharp scratched/carved "Die Dyke" into my right arm. Then they laughed at me, made a few more hits, and ran away. I could not see their faces very well because it was dark. All I remember is how scared I was, and thinking they could have killed me right there if they had wanted to. After they were gone I laid there on the ground for about fifteen minutes, motionless, not knowing what to think or what to do. As I picked myself up off of the ground, one of my friends came by and helped me get to my aunt's house. I was totally unbalanced from hitting my head countless times on the ground. The next day my body was bruised in every place imaginable. I had bruised ribs, arms, legs, neck, back, and had a concussion. Luckily the cuts they made on my arm didn't get infected, but it will leave a scar and always remind me of what happen that night.
- Female (lesbian), 14, Bathurst High School
I have never been directly hurt by any extreme physical or verbal harassment, yet I am directly related to someone who is a homosexual. You see, sometimes it is those small comments that hurt the most. I don't think that I could even count how many times people have called me a lesbian, saying that "it runs in the family." Even though many people are "only joking" it still gets to a person. It also hurts to watch someone who I care about get harassed. Most of the time when I am effected by harassment it is through my sister. Many people don't realize that the comments that they make do not only affect the individual that it was directed towards, it also affects the people who care about them. It hurts me when I hear something said about my sister. It is so difficult seeing someone you love being hurt over who they are, over something that they can't control. It hurts to see my sister avoid going to certain places in fear that something may happen to her due to lack of social acceptance. Many times I find myself correcting my friends when they refer to someone as "gay" using more vulgar or inappropriate terms. I find that these words are used more as insults than as terms of sexual orientation. Anyone who is affected by this harassment should help speak out and help stop harassment towards homosexuality.
- Female (straight), 18, Kennebecasis Valley High School
I had a friend… well I thought she was my friend, and I thought I could tell her anything, so I told her that my mom was with another woman. She was like, "yea I understand, it's not a big deal." So I thought, "Great… I made the right decision by telling someone."
But the next day when I got to school everyone was asking me about it, and I thought the right thing to do was to say "no". At that point I didn't think much of it, I just thought people would leave me alone after a day or so… but as the months went on it got worse.
The next year this problem started to increase. A few people asked me about it here and there. The thing that really bugged me though was when people assumed things.
It wasn't until grade eight when the harassment started to get really out of hand. In November, there were two people (also in the same grade as me) who started spreading nasty rumours. They were telling other fellow classmates things about me and my mom that were not true. I got really mad at the fact that they would do that so I went to the principal. I called my mom to come in and talk to the principal and she did! The principal talked to those people and their parents were notified of their behaviour.
When I first found out that these people were going to be punished, I was a little scared that when their punishment was over that they were going to tease me even more… but it taught them a lesson and they didn't bug me again. Yes there are still times when people come and ask me questions about my mom… I don't deny it anymore; I have two mothers that are partners and I'm proud of them both!!!
- Female (straight), 13, Quispamsis Middle School