We Judge People

We all witness prejudice every day, we judge people and people judge each other without getting to know them. Prejudice is judgement toward people or a person because of gender, social class, age, disability, sexuality, race/ethnicity, language, nationality or other personal characteristics. I think one of the worst kinds of prejudice is judgment against another's sexuality. Judgement against another's sexuality can be classified as homophobia which is negative feelings or attitudes towards non-heterosexual behavior, identity, relationships and community. I personally think that gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, we are all human, we breath, hope, and love.

When I was little, I lived in Blacksburg, Virginia with my mom, dad and older brother. My mom had a best friend named Mark Croy. He grew up with my mom and they were inseparable all through high school. I looked up to my uncle Mark and i always admired how intelligent he was and his love for politics, even though I never knew what he was really talking about. One day, I asked my Uncle Mark why he lived with another man and he told me the truth even though i was only about 7 years old. He told me all about how he was different from most couples but he was still my uncle and he was still a normal man. My opinions on my uncle never changed but my opinions on society did one day.

I was visiting in Virginia on spring break and my uncle Mark had decided to take me out to lunch with his husband. We went to the mall and my uncle Mark and his husband Jerry, we were getting ice cream after lunch and my uncle Mark gave my uncle Jerry a quick kiss and a tall heavy man behind us called out "go home faggots". My uncle Mark and Jerry shot the man a disgusted look and we got our ice cream and left. When we were all in the car I asked my uncles what a faggot was. They explained to me that it was an offensive term to call a gay man. They also told me that many people don't approve of who they are and how they live their lives and it's hard but they learned to ignore it because they love each other and no one can get in the way of that.

Since then, I have learned that only 48% of Americans live in 21 states (or counties or cities) that recognizes various forms of legal, same-gender relationships: full marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership. Each state has its own position on marriage equality and in Virginia, it is banned by the constitution and the law. I learned about homophobia and how people can be unbelievably cruel against anyone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. I wanted to make a difference so i donated to The Trevor Project which is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.

My uncles helped me learn more about prejudice and judgement and made me more accepting

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