http://www.upworthy.com/what-if-you-stick-a-gay-person-and-an-anti-gay-straight-person-in-a-room-and-ask-them-to-hug
This video was created by The Gay Women Channel on YouTube in response to the video of complete strangers kissing for the very first time (which I have not yet seen). I was initially a little skeptical about watching this video because I was nervous about the initial meeting between the two parties. The results absolutely shocked me. When I think of homophobia, I honestly think of just hateful people who simply do not educate themselves on the LGBT community, thinking that identifying as gay or trans is a person's "choice."
If anything, this video opened my eyes to so many assumptions that I made myself. A lot of the anti-gay straight individuals were raised to believe that homosexuality is a sin or that it is "disgusting." At the same time, none of these individuals seemed like bad guys whatsoever, just very confused and uneducated about the LGBT community. It actually gave me chills that the one woman made the sign of the cross upon meeting the gay woman. But whenever they did hug, although some hugs were a bit awkward, it was truly beautiful to watch. This video also busted so many myths, with the one girl saying "You're so beautiful. I didn't think lesbians were so pretty" and the one guy saying he was grossed out by gay sex, yet the gay male noted that he was grossed out by heterosexual sex.
This video also made me think about why I am such an activist towards LGBT rights. I think it shows that gay or straight, we are all just people and we deserve to be treated like equal individuals. I always find it appalling that my best friend and I can have literally everything in common, yet I can marry someone I love and I can have a safe and secure job simply because of my sexual orientation, whereas he can only get married in 17 states and risks being denied a job because he identifies as gay.
I strongly encourage you all to watch this video. Although some of the hugs seemed awkward, it was still an incredible video to watch. I truly hope that this video influenced some of the individuals in it for the better, like the elderly woman who said the gay man "reminded her of her husband."
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ReplyDeleteThis video was great I'm really glad you posted it! I think that sometimes I forgot that homophobia doesn't come just from the Fred Phelps of the world but also from people who are just uninformed.
ReplyDeleteThis video really opened my eyes and showed me that it isn't just hatred going around with these issues but sometimes just a misunderstanding or someone being uneducated about the issue. I think this video definitely shows people that you can't judge a book by its cover.
ReplyDeleteI love this! People get these stereotypes in their head, and it's hard to change peoples minds about things, but videos like this are a good way to start.
ReplyDeletethis video was going around Facebook and i watched it and I'm so glad you posted about it! it was so cool and a neat idea that i think was unique and new to try! good post!
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