Identifying as a LGBTQ is hard; especially within a culture and community that does not accept it. Ignorance is common among communities who are not open-minded about issues that neither their culture nor religion agrees with. In Giselle Ramirez’s recent YouTube video, she speaks out and expresses her hardships of growing up being a Hispanic lesbian (Cuentama, 2011). Throughout this blog post, I will conduct an analysis of Giselle’s video using John D’Emilio and Nan Stein’s ideas about sexuality to prove that Mexican/ American women are not only marginalized for their status as a minority but because their Religion does not accept their sexual orientation.
Harassment among LGBTQ communities is very common, which makes it hard for LGBTQ people to be completely open about their sexuality. Giselle knew from an early age that she was attracted towards girls, and decided to be open about her preference. As a result, however she suffered from bullying and physical violence. Ramirez states how “she was physically assaulted by two girls in a school bus” (An Honest Conversation video, 2011). Yet, the school did not intervene nor defended Giselle; instead they suspended her, even though she did not instigate the fight. Nan Stein argues, that schools have forgotten that students should “go to school that is gender-safe, and free from gender-based harassment and violence” (Stain, 31). School is not meant for students to bullied, it is meant to be a healthy learning environment where teenagers can properly form their young minds while discovering themselves.
Furthermore while battling with societal issues; Giselle was not even presented with any sort of family support. This has to do with that fact that her parents could not think past the religion barrier. Her own father reminded her that, since she was not discrete about being a lesbian, she automatically put herself out there. John D’Emilio agrees with this statement when he mentions that homosexuality creates, “a pervasive hostility, expressed through religion” (D’Emilio, 22). The fact that her family comes from a Catholic background was enough for them to not support their daughter. Giselle also includes how “she was in fear she was going to go to hell for being a lesbian” (An Honest Conversation Video, 2011). Therefore, the heavy Catholic background of a Chicana influenced Giselle’s father opinion, even though, ironically “her parents were not the type of religious people that go to church every weekend” (An Honest Conversation Video, 2011). In short, her parents may not have been very religious, however they did not approve of their daughter’s sexual orientation based on strong beliefs that God had intended for humans to be straight.
People cannot change their sexual preference, but we can at least strive to change one's awareness of how marginalizing it would be for Mexican/ American women who are already a minority, to be further marginalized for belonging to the LGBTQ community. As shown in the context, Giselle has gone through various forms of violence and abuse due to her homosexuality. From peers attacking her physically, to family attacking her mentally, Giselle has confronted the constraints inherent with her ethnicity and her religion. Tolerance does exist within the world, though not completely. Therefore, people like Giselle will continue to experience hardships due to the ignorance of other people’s fears and strong religious beliefs.
D’Emilio, John. “Homosexuality and American Society: An Overview” from Sexual
Politics, Sexual, Communities in the United States 1940-1970.
Bullying, Harassment and Violence among students in Radical Teacher, No.
80 “Teaching Beyond Tolerance” Winter 2007. pp 30-35