Essay About Coming Out

“Oh you’re gay, you’re going to hell” that is a phrase said to many LGBT individuals daily. In a world where being lesbian, gay, or transgendered is considered an abomination and a misogynistic ideology, sometimes coming out gay is harder than it seems. According to the New York branch of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (commonly known by the acronym PFLAG), nearly 4-10% of the entire population is gay. In a highly populated city such as New York with a population of nearly 1 million students or more, that means nearly 40,000-100,000 students are gay students. With statistics like these, a person would lead to believe that growing up within the LGBT community is easier when a person “comes out”, however that it simply not the case. In the case of most coming out stories, the single handed reason of individuals not embracing their sexuality stems from many factors. If these factors were eliminated, many teens and young adults would embrace their sexuality.

One of the hardest things for many LGBT individuals about coming out is the fear of persecution. In the Lifetime movie Prayers for Bobby, a devote Christian Mary Griffith tries to cure her son Bobby Griffith from being Gay, ultimately leading to Bobby committing suicide (Ganczewski
In recent years, sexual assault among LGBT students and teens has increased as a direct result of hatred and indifference amongst non-LGBT friendly teens, young adults, and adults. According to an article published by the Human Rights Center (or HRC for short), “The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects (NCAVP) estimates that nearly one in ten LGBTQ survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) has experienced sexual assault from those partners. Studies suggest that around half of transgender people and bisexual women will experience sexual violence at some point in their lifetimes.”