GenQ - For the not so straight individual

An associate (who I shall refer to as ?M?) of mine recently told me of his surprise to find out a close work friend is homosexual. M has lived with the same beliefs and lack of knowledge that many people world wide live with on a daily basis. These things combined are what create the stigma associated with homosexuality.

When a bunch of people get together who are not as informed as they should be about homosexuality, their ideas tend to meld and create totally new ideas and thoughts most of which are detrimental to the fight for equality.

On too many occasions, we see in the media and our daily lives members of the homosexual community strutting around and being overly open about their sexual preference. Now I am all for openness about homosexuality but if we are to ever make great strides in society, we need to be less ?in their face? and more informative and patient. You need to understand that these people are often shocked to hear that a friend, relative or co-worker is homosexual. Their perception of the world changes and this is when they need information the most.

The fact of the matter is that homosexual rights are not top of the list of priorities and for the foreseeable future never will be. It is up to the homosexual community to take charge and become the leaders in the fight for better understanding and acceptance.

There are many heterosexuals out there who have homosexual relatives, friends etc but don't yet know it. If the homosexual community makes a decision to be more informative and open then society will see that these homosexuals, the people that they care about and respect are really no different to anyone else. They are the same people they were before only we now know a little more about them. They will see that homosexuals are not the ?tiny? minority that everyone thinks they are. People will be more willing to ask questions and make fewer assumptions.

Another key thing to remember is that people often don't react to well to massive information overload. Do things slowly. Don't try and shove it in their face. Be gentle and patient. Don't take offence to their reactions as this is more a reflection of societies response rather than an individual.