TAYABAS WESTERN ACADEMY

Founded 1928
Recognized by the Government
Candelaria, Quezon

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

GEC 1: PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

FIRST SEMESTER A.Y. 2022-2023
PRECIOUS FEI P. DEL ROSARIO ARLENE C. LAGUARTILLA
BSOA-1 Professor/Instructor

Abbreviation about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ)

LGBT, an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender is known as a minor sexual
orientation group. LGBT can also be used as an umbrella term for referring to a certain gender and
sexual identity topics. At first, this minor group was called homosexual in the 1960s. However, it was
replaced with the term ‘gay’ because homosexuality only belongs to certain group and is not accurate
to represent all of the queer gender and sexual identity. In the past, LGBT already existed, but people
were very strict to LGBT. There have been many issues and cases about the acceptance of LGBT
issues in society, such as hate speech, discrimination, and negative attitudes towards LGBT
individuals. The negative treatment makes the minor individuals hard to express themselves in
society and causes them to experience mental health problems and difficulties in accepting
themselves as they are. LGBT is an acronym used to refer to people who select those sexual or
gender identity labels as personally meaningful for them, and sexual and gender identities are
complex and historically situated (Diamond 2003, Rosario et al. 1996, Russell et al. 2009).
Throughout this article, we use the acronym LGBT unless in reference to studies of subpopulations.
Most of the knowledge base has focused on sexual identities (and historically mostly on gay and
lesbian identities), with much less empirical study of mental health among transgender or gender-
nonconforming youth. Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender people (LGBTs) all have distinct
and separate identities and experiences in the world. Each has a multiple identity linked not only to
her/ his diversity as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person, but also to the broad variety of
experiences associated with her/his gender, ethnicity, class, age, abilities, and so forth. In that sense,
the LGBT community is not an homogenous group and some can experience cumulative
disadvantage. For instance, a lesbian who comes from the Travelling Community can experience
discrimination on three different fronts - as a lesbian, as a woman and as a Traveller.

Although the GLEN/Nexus report and most earlier studies do not explicitly include transgender
people, it is generally recognised nowadays that the patterns of discrimination and abuse facing
transgender men and women are similar and closely connected to those experienced by LGB people.
Indeed, much of the literature reports that transgender people experience an even higher degree of
exclusion than lesbians, gays or bisexuals. Anti-LGBT beliefs are embedded internally in individual
attitudes and behaviours and are reflected externally in the policies and practices of public institutions
– in families, in schools, in social organisations, and in state bodies. Heterosexism is the term used to
describe “the belief and practice that heterosexuality is the only natural form of sexuality” . This
assumption underlines most individual and institutional approaches to sexual orientation and gender
identity. Heterosexism contributes to invisibility, denial and discrimination for LGBT people.
Homophobia is a commonly used term to define the hatred and fear of LGBT people that is prevalent
in society. It contributes to widespread hostility towards, and harassment and assault of, LGBT
people. The Shout Report states that “studies indicate that homophobic harassment and assault is
common and homicides are typically very brutal and involve much more violence than is required
simply to kill the victim” . Furthermore, an LGBT person can internalise homophobia as a result of
being exposed to it from an early age and one study found that 10% of the young men interviewed felt
that realising they were gay was the first negative thing they could remember. It is important to
reiterate that, while the LGBT community is a diverse grouping, all lesbians, gays, bisexuals and
transgender people may experience discrimination, rejection and victimisation as LGBT people and
can express higher rates of anxiety, depression, self-harming and suicidal behaviour as a result.
VISIBILITY ISSUES
“It is oppression through invisibility that best encapsulates the educational experiences of gay,
lesbian or bisexual students, and indeed teachers, in Ireland” . Throughout the country young people
spend much of their time sitting in classrooms and attending youth services but LGBT sexual identity
remains largely unrecognised by teachers or youth workers. This invisibility primarily arises from the
prevailing heterosexist assumption that everyone conforms to gender norms. It is reinforced by the
relative powerlessness of young people in educational settings and occurs across every level -
heterosexuality (of both students and staff) is assumed when school policies are being revised; when
’at risk’ youth are being identified in youth services; when programmes or curricula are being
developed and taught and when personal interactions occur within or without the classroom.
Research recently published by the Centre for Educational Evaluation at Dublin City University (DCU)
shows that almost one-third (31%) of teachers reported that their school had no policy on
Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE), and of those schools who had an RSE policy, only
37% included any reference to lesbian or gay issues. Another Irish study found that only 2% of
respondents reported that information on LGBT life such as books and posters was available in their
school, while a major review of the education system concluded that lesbian and gay students are
amongst the most invisible people in Irish schools. An examination of the websites of the main
national youth organisations in the Republic of Ireland shows scant recognition of the existence of
LGBT young people on their pages. The fact that so many young LGBT people are reluctant to
disclose their LGBT sexual orientation/ gender identity to others compounds their invisibility in
educational settings. As a result many educational organisations conclude that LGBT issues are not
pertinent to their work with young people. The recent DCU study highlighted for instance, that only
half of teachers surveyed (51%) said that they were aware that lesbian or gay pupils ever attended
their school and this proportion drops to just over a third (37%) for girls’ single-sex school. Becoming
visible as LGBT also has consequences for the young person. At worst, s/he may become the focus
of ridicule or other forms of homophobic harassment and assault. The disturbance of heterosexist
assumptions may lead to more subtle forms of discrimination too. For instance, young transgender
people often experience difficulty in using bathrooms assigned to the gender that they do not identify
with. Multi-occupancy changing facilities and bathrooms do not allow for the experience of a young
transgender person in this regard. A further example is where a school may have a stated policy on
the recognition of LGBT young people, but it may still be viewed as unacceptable for a student to
bring a same-sex partner to the school graduation dance, since this might be considered to be
‘flaunting’ it publicly. In contrast to the invisibility of LGBTs that such a situation fosters, when a young
LGBT person does ‘come out’ or is ‘outed’, she or he is often viewed henceforth only in terms of her
or his sexual orientation. S/he becomes “the gay” and is only viewed in that context.

There have been extraordinary changes in public understanding and acceptance of LGBT
people and issues, and significant advances have been made in scientific understanding of LGBT
youth mental health. At the same time, critical gaps in knowledge continue to prevent the most
effective policies, programs, and clinical care from addressing mental health for LGBT young people.
We have outlined strategies at multiple levels for which there is encouraging evidence and which
provide the basis for action. As scholars and clinicians continue work to identify strategies at multiple
levels to address LGBT youth mental health—from policy to clinical practice—the existing research
already provides a basis for action: Across fields and professions, everyone can be advocates for the
legal, policy, program, and clinical changes that promise to improve mental health for LGBT youth.
REFERENCE:
* https://repository.unair.ac.id/101959/4/4.%20CHAPTER%20I%20-%20INTRODUCTION.pdf

* Russell ST, Fish JN. Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Youth. Annu Rev Clin Psychol.
2016;12:465-87. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093153. Epub 2016 Jan 14. PMID: 26772206; PMCID: PMC4887282.

* https://www.ilga-europe.org/sites/default/files/more_than_a_phase.pdf