Wednesday, May 8, 2002
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Wednesday, May 8, 2002 |
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Statistics reveal depth of bias against homosexuals This is in response to the letter published by Keith Turner on May 1. He gave many statistics on how unhealthy it is to be a homosexual. I would like to present some other scary statistics, which describes the horrible way that the gay community can be treated. Although you might not agree with a gay lifestyle, everyone deserves to be treated with compassion and equality. Life is too precious to be filled with hate. Students who describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered are five times more likely to miss school because of feeling unsafe; 28 percent are forced to drop out. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, "Anti-Gay/Lesbian Victimization," New York, 1984. The vast majority of victims of anti-lesbian/gay violence possibly more than 80 percent never report the incident, often due to fear of being "outed." New York Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project Annual Report, 1996. Due to sexual orientation discrimination, lesbians earn up to 14 percent less than their heterosexual female peers with similar jobs, education, age and residence, according to a study by the University of Maryland. Badgett, M.V. Lee, "The Wage Effects of Sexual Orientation Discrimination," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, July 1995. Seventy-five percent of people committing hate crimes are under age 30 one in three are under 18 and some of the most pervasive anti-gay violence occurs in schools. New York Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Report, 1996. A survey of 191 employers revealed that 18 percent would fire, 27 percent would refuse to hire and 26 percent would refuse to promote a person they perceived to be lesbian, gay or bisexual. Schatz and O'Hanlan, "Anti-Gay Discrimination in Medicine: Results of a National Survey of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Physicians," San Francisco, 1994. As a heterosexual female, I cannot claim to fully understand or even comprehend the discrimination that many homosexuals go through. What I do know is that homosexuals are just as human as everyone else and they deserve to be treated as such. I hope that society can learn to treat each other humanely, no matter what their sexual orientation, race or religion might be. Even more importantly, I hope we teach our children [to do] the same. Elizabeth Beyer Fayetteville
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