Sexuality and development

Sexuality and development
Brandi Frost
BSHS/406
July 13, 2015
Paula Alvarez

Sexuality and development
I am going to do an interview on a LGBT community member and disuses how sexuality effects their development. During the interview I will be asking three main questions to the member of the LGBT community. First question is going to be the LGBT member’s self-identify, and then I will ask about the society’s perception of their community and last will be asking the impact of same-sex marriage has had on the LGBT community. Those three main areas will complete my interview with the LGBT member.

The LGBT member self-identity is a women named Heidi Young who I interviewed for this paper. Heidi is thirty three years old and has been a lesbian her whole life. Heidi says she can remember back even as far as grade school when she remembers she was fascinated in a special way by a particular girl in her class. Heidi says her thoughts were not particularity sexual she was only eleven years old at the time. Heidi can say that she also remembers having thoughts about this girl and weather not if she thought she was cute. Heidi says she remembers when she would look at that girl that she did fell some kid of pleasure by doing so. Heidi said her self-identity was recognized at an early age of knowing she was a lesbian but did not know how to describe or even tell others about herself identity. She also didn’t know how people would feel about her self- identity .It was the seventh grade when Heidi knew that she was not emotional and never had any sexual thoughts about or with any boy’s only girls she had feeling for and strong ones at that and this is when she knew her true identity of being a lesbian. Heidi said about the age of fifteen she did the hardest part of telling her family and close friends about her identity of being a lesbian and there was no doubt in her mind that she was wrong about how she was. Heidi did not know how her family and friends were going to take it but she said she had prepared herself for the worst. After she had told her family and her close friends she was very surprised she said on how everyone took it and how they still expected her for her and they did not care about her self- identity and which sexual preference she has chosen to be. Heidi said after telling her family and friends about her identity of being a lesbian and for them to be understanding and not judging her has made her completely comfortable about her self –identity of being a lesbian it was a Hugh weight lifted off of her shoulders now that they knew.

The second question I asked during the interview with Heidi was how has society’s perception have on their community? Heidi’s answer was this it is not taken as well as it did when she told her family and friends. There are places that she goes that she says she ends up feeling wired and she will end up leaving the place cause of others that are either treating her different or looking at her different. Then there are place where she completely feels at home and feels like she is accepted for whom she is and nothing less. Heidi said not everyone is ok with the LGBT community but it has become to be more expected and more open with others in the community to where she is becoming not afraid and has started being herself in public or anywhere she goes. She did say though even when she is out with her partner and there are little kids around she does not hug up or kiss up on her partner cause she is not trying to give them the wrong impression of things she said if they are like her they will find their own self-identity out sooner or later in life just like she did. Heidi said for the most part their community has their own spot where they hang out or even having jobs where they work of their same community from those who are straight and do not believe in what they are or what they are doing.

The third question during the interview I brought up to Heidi was what she thought about the impact same-sex marriage has had on the LGBT community? Heidi really said she did not know how to answer this question but she will do the best she can. Legalizing gay marriage will help to establish a social norm that includes and respects homosexual lifestyles. Couples as well as individuals in the LGBT community will seem less "different" from heterosexual lifestyle, so straight couples and individuals will be more inclined to accept homosexual couples into their communities. Gay marriage will have no impact whatsoever on heterosexual communities, just as racial integration in the 60's had no negative impact on White (the majority) communities. It simply overturned an ugly, immoral attitude that upheld segregation. The same goes for legalizing gay marriage; it will grant the LGBT community a right that has been immorally denied to them. Heidi says her way of thinking about the whole things is this” I think that everybody should just marry who they want. Marriage is about love not whether it is a sin or not. People who are straight shouldn't care; it doesn't affect them in any type of way.” Heidi has said she is glad that they have finally made same sex marriages legal in the states. It will be nice if she ever gets to that point in her life and wants to get married she will now be able to do it in her own state and not have to go somewhere else to get married. As I was getting ready to end the interview with Heidi she said one last thing she wanted to throw in she wanted to say that she is very comfortable and happy with whom she is and no one can ever take her from that. She believe that in time this will be history and there will be no issues with the LGBT community and that their community will be looked at just the same has the straight people community. This completes my interview with Heidi Young who is a part of the LGBT community. In this interview I have talked about Heidi’s self-identity to the LGBT community, I have covered the society’s perception of their community and also the impact same-sex marriage has had on the LGBT community. As this has been a very interesting interview that I have done personally it has been a experiences in my life to set down and for a LGBT member to be able to feel comfortable to talk to me about a few things has been an awesome thing and really has changed my outlook on the LGBT community and have become more understanding of it.

Reference
Young. H 2015