Historically Under-Represented Group Investigation

The LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (Giwa, & Greensmith, 2012). This community understands and welcomes people of all sexual orientations with open arms.  Close to 42% of its members feel unwelcome in society.  The community they created is a soft place to land for those struggling with their differences, while also promoting equal rights for these individuals.  “Throughout 150 years of homosexual social movements, leaders and organizers struggled to address the very different concerns and identity issues of gay men, women identifying as lesbians, and others identifying as gender variant or nonbinary,” (Morris, 2019, p. 5).  This community has made strides to be treated equally, and as of June 2015, the United States permitted gay marriage. However, cultural acceptance has been a challenge. This paper seeks to experience and analyze the beauty of the LGBTQ community at the Hotter Than July Sunday Brunch on July 28, 2019, in Detroit, MI.

Reflection of Experience

The brunch had a successful turnout. It was a phenomenal learning experience.  There were people of every race and ethnicity encompassing diversity.  The feelings of love, care, and comfortability were apparent on this day; it was a welcoming environment free from judgment.  There was so much delight in struggling for equal rights. Those present expressed gratitude for feeling comfortable in their own skin, celebrating themselves.  Discrimination is a real problem for people of the LGBTQ community.  Accepting people for who they are and how they portray themselves is so very important.  Enhancing diversity allows an individual to treat others equally despite the differences between them.  My own experiences with sexual diversity are pretty slim.  One thing that I recognized is that while I was at the LGBTQ brunch, I didn’t feel uncomfortable or unwelcome.  Even though I am not a member of their community, I felt comfortable mingling with these people. This is because I accepted diversity and champion equal treatment for everyone.  I now understand just how passionate members of the LGBTQ community are with being accepted as normal people.  They are a part of a social movement to create better lives for themselves, which is fascinating.  Social acceptance for this community is a constant struggle. It hurts imagining how these people are often stigmatized in the community.

Applying the Experience

One thing that is needed for change and improvement for the LGBTQ community is acceptance by the community.  To improve the social acceptance of the LGBTQ community, some actions need to be taken. Speaking openly about the apparent issue of discrimination against the LGBTQ community would facilitate acceptance by society.  Showing concern for these people could make a big difference.  Discrimination is a problem almost everywhere in the modern world.  In places such as the workplace, employers must promote equal treatment for all, especially those of the LGBTQ community.  For example, “90% of Fortune 500 companies provide explicit non-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and 67% offer same-sex partner benefits” (Newman, 2017, p. 230).  What I experienced at the brunch was truly moving.  The experience at the brunch touched me so much and entirely influenced my perception. When society views and accepts these people, individuals shall be able to outshine discrimination and accept diversity.  A person’s sexuality has very little to do with the type of person they are.

In the United States, transgender and members of the LGBTQ communities are less likely to get employed. They are also more likely to be poor s compared to other members of the community. One gets to wonder why this would happen. A recent study conducted in the United States described that discrimination due to sexual orientation is high. Many people tend to judge people by their sexual orientation. Whenever a person identifies as to belong to the LGBTQ community, people start developing biased opinions regarding him/her. This is the sole leading reason why individuals in this community often get employed.

However, the United States Supreme Court is set to give out a ruling regarding the protection of transgender and LGBTQ members who are protected by federal law. These people are just like normal citizens.  Unfortunately, it is not always the case. It is very devastating, especially for transgender members. They do not fit anywhere in the social constructs of male and female. These people did not choose to be transgender. These things do happen either naturally or are caused by biological situations. Therefore, discriminating against them or mistreating them should be treated as an offense. However, little is known about transgender and members of the LGBTQ community.

Over the last 25 years, there have been a growing number of group of researchers based on transgender and LGBTQ. They have been working daily in the United States, collecting valuable information. They are concerned with developing research and produce results that shall help determine the future of the LGBTQ community. They carry out surveys and recommend solutions in matters as those of legal issues regarding transgender and such as individuals. These groups are wholly determined in creating awareness in helping reduce discrimination amongst people o different sexual orientations. Such kind of enlighten is very valuable and crucial to the community. It is helpful in shedding light on the issues these people are facing daily. These campaigns need to be backed by the state government, in a bid to reduce discrimination amongst people of different sexual orientation.

Overly, sexual discrimination based on orientation is high everywhere in the world. The community gets to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation. Unfortunately, the same community has rules and regulations which do not encourage diversity. We live in a drastically changing environment, and everything is changing. The community we are living in needs to be told about the importance of accepting diversity and stop discrimination based on sexual orientation. One of the best ways is through creating massive awareness of the community. People need to be given a reason to appreciate and acknowledge those others with different sexual orientations. Therefore, the groups formed in the United States for advocating for the transgender, and people with different sexual orientation are very helpful. Despite helping the community appreciate diversity in terms of sexual orientation, they also help in fighting for the rights if such people.