[CHAT] The ABCs of LGBT
There are so many ways in which people have realized their LGBT identity. Maybe you’ve known your whole life. Maybe you didn’t realise it was a thing until you found out about that identity. Or maybe it was a celebrity or character in your favourite movie/TV show who gave you those special feelings. Either way, LGBT identity is as diverse as the many ways in which people come out.
And yet, why can it be such a struggle to know who you are? It only takes one bite to figure out whether you’re a fan of coriander, or a few classes to figure out which school subjects you naturally excel at. So why can it take years, decades even, to figure out where on the LGBT spectrum you sit?
Figuring out your LGBT identity isn’t always as simple as deciding on your favourite flavours or school subjects. For one, not everyone has the most straightforward journey. Plenty of people may identify with different labels before settling on one permanently, and some might not want to label themselves altogether. Others might spend most of their lives not realizing until they have that mental breakthrough.
However sure (or unsure) you might be in your sexual or gender identity, having a community or a space to talk about it can be so helpful, and not just for figuring out where you sit on the LGBT spectrum! Considering that LGBT young people have some of the worst rates of mental health among their peers, helping the LGBT community feel safe and accepted is something we all should work towards, regardless of how we identify.
That’s why we’re opening up a GR session on gender and sexual identity! Regardless of whether you’re 100% sure or 5% sure in your sexual identity, come and join us at 8pm AEST on Monday the 25th of July to talk about the ins and outs of being LGBT
Wowow tonight was such a great session! Thanks to everyone who came out tonight, and shoutout to @Chessca_H and @Ben-RO for this amazing discussion!!
Goodnight everyone!!
Avatar Korra and Asami Sato. @safari93 yes to Avatar!!!!! 😄
Great stuff guys! Now time to summarise what we've chatted about tonight:
- So first of all we asked you whether you think sexuality and gender can be fluid or whether they stay the same. Overall we seemed to agree that it’s different for everyone, so while someone might stick to one identity others may shift and change with time. Some of the things that you guys said might influence a change in identity were age, life experience and knowing about different identities.
- Next we talked about why the experience of coming out can be so different for different people. A few of the reasons you guy brought up were differences in emotional development, how much stigma a person faces and what kind of environment a person grows up in.
- After that we tackled what we can do to reduce the stigma around being LGBT+. Education, providing support services for LGBT+ people, improving LGBT+ awareness in mental health/general health services, normalizing the idea of being LGBT+, calling about stigmatizing ideas and behaviours, and improving LGBT+ representation were a could of the great ideas that you came up with.
- Then we discussed the topic of mental health for young LGBT+ people and how we can improve it. A big part of improving mental health that was brought up was tackling stigma, as well as challenging gender roles and heteronormativity, finding ways to find LGBT+ friendly mental health professionals and again improving presentation (especially in sexual education).
- Next, we chatted about the people in our lives that support and respect our gender and sexuality identities. Some of the types of people who came up were parents, friends, family and mental health professionals.
- Then we touched on some of the lesser-known LGBT+ identities and what we can do to promote better visibility for them. Some of the identities that were brought up were those on the asexuality spectrum, pansexuality, non-binary people and trans identities. In terms of what can be done to help visibility, giving proper representation came up again as a theme, particularly in the media.
- We also talked about what straight, cisgender people can do to be good allies to the LGBT+ community. Validating identities, elevating the voices of LGBT+ people rather than speaking from them, listening to and believing LGBT+ experiences, calling out anti-LGBT+ behaviour in the people around them and avoiding stereotyping and stigmatizing LGBT+ people were a few of the pieces of advice you gave.
- After that, we gave some advice to people who are questioning their sexuality or gender. Some advice you had was taking your time with it, that only you can decide who you are, that your gender/sexuality doesn’t determine your worth, that it’s okay to be different, that there are people out there who will support and respect your identity and to talk to someone who you trust about it.
- To round things off, we named a few of our favourite examples of LGBT+ representation in the media. Modern Family, Sailor Moon and Legend of Korra were some of the examples that came up.
All that's all folks! Thanks so much for chatting with us and big ups to @safari93 and @Ben-RO for running an awesome GR session 🙂
Thank you @safari93 and @Chessca_H for running the show! And thanks to everyone else who shared their views, helped write question or just watched the show. What an informed bunch of folk we have here!
Night everyone!
Thanks for an awesome discussion everyone! And to @Chessca_H @safari93 and @Ben-RO for running it 🙂
LGBT+ representation in the media has become a pretty popular topic of conversation as of late and while there is definitely a way to go there are some great examples out there. Can you share with us one of your favourite examples of LGBT+ presentation in the media?
I'm still not over Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune (Sailor Moon) being a couple and also badass sailor senshi!!! Also Korra and Asami from Legend of Korra
And now to round off!!!
LGBT+ representation in the media has become a pretty popular topic of conversation as of late and while there is definitely a way to go there are some great examples out there. Can you share with us one of your favourite examples of LGBT+ presentation in the media?
LGBT+ representation in the media has become a pretty popular topic of conversation as of late and while there is definitely a way to go there are some great examples out there. Can you share with us one of your favourite examples of LGBT+ presentation in the media?
I love Cam and Mitchell from Modern Family. This scene always makes me crack up 😄
Only you can decide who you are.
My one piece of advice, would be to speak to a trusted friend and if you are not sure if they would be comfortable talking about this, then there is always Q Life on 1800 184 527 or chat online https://qlife.org.au/ from 3pm to 12am daily.
What’s one piece of advice that you would give to a person questioning their sexuality or gender?
It's okay to take your time and to not know immediately - you don't owe anyone an explanation of your sexuality or gender right away
@stonepixie Yes, yes, yes. Don't assume someone's identity is anything other than what they've told you.
@N1ghtW1ng like making themselves the centre of the issue when it isn't about them? I think I see where you're coming from, since when you're an ally you're contributing to a cause which doesn't actually affect you, so making it about yourself technically takes away from the cause rather than helping it
So now we've touched on some advice for allies, lets get to some advice for people in the LGBT+ community:
What’s one piece of advice that you would give to a person questioning their sexuality or gender?
What’s one piece of advice that you would give to a person questioning their sexuality or gender?
It's hard to think of something without sounding stupidly cliche, but basically:
Your sexual/gender identity doesn’t determine your self worth. And it's okay to be different. There are people out there who will accept and celebrate you for who you are – it might take a little while to find them but keep holding on and you'll find them eventually
The same as @lokifish, plus don't stigmatise or stereotype! This is hard to explain. Okay, I'm taking a crack at these thoughts. Please bear with me. Sometimes, it can feel like you are being made redundant(not quite the right word) as allies take over and make it more about them being supportive to the community that the community themselves. Like, taking over their stories.
Good point @N1ghtW1ng. It sounds obvious but it's really important when having these discussions to ensure that the actual voices of the community aren't drowned out or overlooked 🙂
This stuff can be complicated enough when you’re experiencing it yourself, but for many straight, cisgender people even learning about the basics can be new and overwhelming. What do you feel is the most important thing for people who want to be allies to the LGBT+ community to know?
I think straight people should really try to elevate the voices of anyone they know from the LGBT community (with consent of course) and allow LGBT people to decide for themselves about who they are and what they want, without putting pressure on them. It's not easy figuring it out and it's also not easy living with that identity, so allies should focus on trying to make things easier for the community, on a personal level and maybe even a social level
@stonepixie as a bi person, I've definitely heard 'So are you straight/gay now?' when I'm dating someone. Definitely drives home how most people view sexuality (basically as a descriptor for your sex/dating life)
I agree that sexual identities are shaped somewhat by how we view them in relation to each other (as in the labels themselves and how we see identity, if that makes any sense lolol). I don't even know how I would imagine it, since a line seems too limited of a visual
