POST 1:

Hello Class,

I just wanted to start off by saying how grateful I am to be in this class. I added Diversity Awareness to my courseload simply because it was required and not really having an understanding of what the course entailed. I am truly baffled at my ignorance and my naive mindset of life, people, and the world. I firmly believe that this class with make me a better person, employee, and most of all a better mother.

This week was very emotional for me. I was brought to tears several times throughout reading and watching this lessons. Being the mother of an African American gay male, I knew life would be difficult for my son. He came out to me a month before his 13th birthday. I told him I loved him no matter what and always will. I also expressed at that time my concern for his hardship. He replied he knew I would be okay with him being gay.

a.) While none of the items on the list in the reading Examples of Heterosexual Privilege really surprised me because I have heard or read them before, it more so was enlightening because now it directly affects me. What was surprising was the information in the reading The Need for Full LGBT Equality. I was completely unaware of the fact that equal opportunity employment and housing was only in certain states. I thought it applied to all of the United States. While I knew gay marriage was only legal in a few states, I had no idea that establishments can refuse service to the LGBT community. So not only do I have to worry about my son being killed by the police for the color of his skin and body type; at 13 he looks like a grown man without facial hair. I now realize I have to worry about him being restricted to where he can live, work, and go to school based on who he will love and marry. I am very disturbed by this. I am disturbed by all of the items on the list of examples of privilege because as I stated earlier, I knew of them prior, but now that they affect me directly, I view them differently.

b.) I would say I have been awarded heterosexual privilege by the assumption that I am heterosexual because I have children. Also by being referred to as female because I look like a female. My sexual orientation and gender are never questioned.

c.) This information has made me greatly aware of the extensive amount of prejudices against the LBGTQ community and the fact that it is legal in most states in the U.S.

d.) I will use this information to be more aware of discrimination and prejudices to people and situations that do not affect me directly. This has definitely been enlightening in how I may turn a blind eye to things I do not believe to concern me.

References

Adams, M., Bell, L. A., & Griffin, P. (2007). Teaching for diversity and social justice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Homophobia. (2014). In Sociology [ Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported] (pp. 1-3). Retrieved from https://content.umuc.edu/file/8dc67069-5c41-4092-a...

Human Rights Campaign. (2015, July 22). The equality act. Retrieved from http://HRC.ORG/EQUALITYFORWARD