LGBTQ Under Representation

                     What is Civic Engagement?

1. Civic engagement involves “working to make a difference in the civic life of one's community and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference.

2. An individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. Civic engagement can take many forms, from individual voluntarism to organizational involvement to electoral participation. 

 Personal Definition: Civic Engagement means that people are participating in social issues that affect their community and lively hood. People making and striving to effect change for the better for their entire community.

             LGBTQ Under Representation

              By Anabel Castro

The Issue: An issue plaguing the world is the under representation of the LGBTQ community with characters and actors in movies, shows and other media productions. Hollywood treats LGBTQ characters as secondary people and usually ends up with writers writing or killing off their characters. According to the CDC, "LGBTQ youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth." The LGBTQ youth of the nation are in need role models because "LGBTQ youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to have attempted suicide." The Lack of representation plays a crucial role in these statistics. Hollywood and celebrities can truly make a difference with their voice, and their social status.

Why it matters to me? This issue matters to me because I identify as part of the LGBTQ community. Growing up in an old fashioned thinking family we never talked sex, much less about homosexuality. I chose this issue because growing up I never learned about any history, or important leaders to the community. The grade school system i attended refused to acknowledge any LGBTQ historical significance or offer any sex education beyond heterosexual. I felt isolated, misinformed and undervalued as a student. Growing up I never had lead characters on tv, or movies I could connect with.  Now as an adult i have seen more LGBTQ characters, actors and celebrities to admire but i wish I had them sooner to prevent many anxiety, depressive, lonely moments in my childhood.  I am lucky that my mom has gotten more progressive and accepted me no matter what. So many young people are not so fortunate to have accepting family members. That is why Hollywood has a chance to be better at connecting to all people regardless of sexual orientation and stop treating LGBTQ people as secondary citizens in shows, movie and media.

Solution: A solution would be to teach a more inclusive history class by teaching about the significance of the LGBTQ community in history and institute sex education class for all not just heterosexual individuals. As for the media/hollywood, they need to have more accurate representations of LGBTQ characters.  Having more shows and movies with the lead actors that are part of the LGBTQ community.                                                                         

                    Sources

 Civic Engagement. (n.d.). Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/civic-engagement-and-volunteering

Civic Engagement. (2009). Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/civic-engagement

Setoodeh, R. (2019, June 19). How Hollywood Is (and Isn't) Getting Better at LGBTQ Inclusion. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://variety.com/2019/biz/features/lgbt-inclusion-hollywood-entertainment-industry-1203246534/

 CDC. (2016). Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Family Acceptance Project™. (2009). Family rejection as a predictor of negative health outcomes in white and Latino lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults. Pediatrics. 123(1), 346-52.