The Post About Mental Health Among LGBT Youth

The LGBT community accounts for 6.7 percent of the United States population. There are so many people who are a part of this community whether it be through their sexual orientation, gender identity, or both. We see them in our musicals and favorite tv shows. So many of them are work as firefighters, teachers, lawyers, or just stay at home parents. No matter where you may see them, LGBT people contribute to society and they matter to society. However, there LGBT youth who feel that it would be better if they had never been born. With more and more teens questioning their sexuality and gender identity, teens are becoming more in tune with who they are inside instead of who they have been socialized to act like. But that doesn’t mean that there are more people who accept LGBT people or youth. Often times, these people are parents of LGBT youth and that can have a negative impact on their mental health.

Between the ages of 15-18 or maybe even before that, teens spend a lot of time trying to fit in or trying to find their bae. However, not all teens think in the heteronormative way that their parents may have taught them. But many kids are bold and come out to their parents and their peers and that doesn’t really work out like they might imagine. Many young kids listen to music or their parents that might say homophobic things and they think that these messages are okay to repeat. Therefore, when they actually meet a peer of their own who is gay, they will react to that in the way they think is appropriate not realizing the impact of their words. Bullying is one of the many factors that impact young LGBT people’s mental health. Recent US studies in the past year show that 25% of adolescents have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and 10% indicate signs of mood disorders (Kessler et al. 2012). Many LGBT students miss school, don’t go to extracurricular activities, and avoid gender separated spaces because they feel unsafe at school. It can be for the reason of their gender expression or sexual orientation. Social acceptance among peers is an important impact on LGBT youth’s future mental and physical health.

One landmark decision for LGBT rights for young people was when Former President Barack Obama decreed that all US schools must allow transgender or gender nonconforming students to go to bathrooms that are consistent with their gender identity (LaCapria 2016). Of course, Number 45 withdrew federal protections for transgender students because he’s trash. However, it is important to acknowledge LGBT youth because they are 4 times more likely to take their own life or experience suicidal tendencies. Many LGBT students miss school, don’t go to extracurricular activities, and avoid gender separated spaces because they feel unsafe at school. It can be for the reason of their gender expression or sexual orientation. A new study shows that allowing transgender teens to transition shows a significant decrease in anxiety and depression (Lohr 2015). Recent studies show that many transgender youth show higher rates of suicidal tendencies, such as self harm than their peers (Connolly 2016). It is very true that transgender youth experience high rates of mental health challenges, but that is based on how they are treated for being transgender (Ford 2015). It is very important to have a LGBT inclusive curriculum so that students learn about people who are like them. However, this is not pushed in certain school systems because there is a lot of push back from school administrators and unrelenting parents.

Fear of rejection from family members is another factor that can dramatically affect young LGBT people’s future mental health (Maza 2010). Serious negative reactions can keep many LGBT people from coming out to their family members. Studies show that LGBT teens from accepting family members are known to have high self esteem. Many family attitudes are aware of the LGBT experience and how acceptance can positively impact their overall health in the future. However, LGBT teens who struggle with family values and religious beliefs that they have been taught their whole life can lead them to look to substance abuse, depression, and suicidal tendencies in order to feel hope. Many parents think that being gay is a phase or that they should at least wait until they are an adult to be sure. Nonetheless, there is a lot more information that family members can access than there was when they were younger and unaware of the LGBT community. The Family Acceptance Project did a study and found out that the average age people come out as transgender is 16. There are many behaviors that families practice that negatively affect their child, such as physically and verbally abusing, blaming the child when they are discriminated against, pressuring them to act more feminine or masculine, excluding them from family activities, telling them to keep their sexual orientation or gender identity a secret, and other behaviors. It is very important for families with LGBT children to gain access to information to create positive experiences for these children because it truly matters to overall mental wellness.

There is so much more that affects LGBT mental health in adult life as well. Discrimination within the workplace is still legal in many states in the US. There is also laws in place that can take away healthcare from LGBT adults and they can be kicked out of their apartment as well. Many LGBT people who came from religious households have low self esteem and are more likely to be exposed to HIV/AIDS because they did not have access to that information when they were young. Moreover, parents can still subject their LGBT children to conversion therapy or those children can be vulnerable to sexual assault because of their sexual orientation and gender expression. Mental health of LGBT student is something that affects their whole life. But it can be monitored and taken care of. We need to start right now when they are young people. They will face more troubles in their future, but right now, we need to protect them while they are still kids.

The Post About Jemele Hill's Suspension

On September 11, 2017, Jemele Hill tweeted: Donald Trump is a white supremacists who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called Hill’s comment a “fireable offense.” Then Trump himself weighed in on Twitter, calling on ESPN to “apologize for untruth” and claiming the network “is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers.” By the way, ESPN is not losing subscribers because of its politics

In other tweets, she called Trump a bigot who is “unqualified and unfit to be president.” At that time, the network said Hill’s comments were inappropriate and that the network had talked to her. She put out a comment via Twitter apologizing for her comments being seens as a reflection of ESPN, rather than actually apologizing for her comments.

ESPN suspended the SportsCenter host over tweets she posted Sunday discussing the Dallas Cowboy’s and owner Jerry Jones’ vow to punish players who kneel for the National Anthem.

She was suspended for social media behavior while Trump threatens North Korea endangering lives of Americans. ESPN basically suspended her for hurting Trump’s feelings. It’s pretty sad that he is more upset about Jemele Hill than white supremacists. He is more upset about a black woman speaking the goddamn truth about him because he would never get mad at people who believe the same things that the people in his cabinet believe. ESPN refuses to defend Hill, but they don’t need to since plenty of people have voiced their support for Hill on social media. Whether they are attacking Maxine Waters, April Ryan, or Jemele Hill, Trump and his supporters are getting scared of black women who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Jemele Hill said this during the week. “I can’t pretend as if this isn’t a challenging time in our country’s history. As a career journalist, I can’t pretend that I don’t see what’s happening in our world.”

The Post About Mike Ditka

In a radio interview, Mike Ditka, former NFL tight end and coach for the Chicago Bears, gave his thoughts on players kneeling during the anthem. He said that oppression has suddenly “become a big deal.” “Maybe I’m not watching it as carefully as other people.” He also said that oppression ended in 1917, which is an embarrassing lie. The fact that Ditka thinks that oppression ended a long time ago is precisely why the players are kneeling. They are kneeling to make people more aware of the mistreatment that black people go through in America.

Ditka’s opinion on the NFL protestors is sadly a reflection of the ignorance about United States history infecting much of the country. Ditka was 16 when Rosa Parks was arrested. He was 23 years old during the March on Washington in 1963. When Mike Ditka played for Chicago, Martin Luther King was there protesting against housing discrimination. Ditka’s final all-pro season as tight end with the Bears was the same year that the Civil Rights Act was passed. He was 29 when Martin Luther King was assassinated. NFL players protest to bring attention to the injustice of black people in this country that people don’t pay attention to. It is absolutely ridiculous that the Civil Rights Era was happening while Mike Ditka was alive and he didn’t even acknowledge it!

Most people don’t acknowledge the mistreatment of black people in our current times. 1 in 3 black men will spend time in prison at some point in their lives. 1 in every 13 black men aged 30-34 was in prison in 2011, versus 1 in 90 white men in the same age group. Black people are 3 times as likely to be searched than white people during traffic stops and twice as likely to be arrested. Of the population under 18, African Americans made up 17% of the total, 30 % of those arrested, 62% of those tried in adult criminal courts. Being tried as adults leads to longer and more severe sentences.

Despite studies that show black and white people use and deal drugs at equal levels, black people make up 37% of the people arrested for drug offenses. Once they get out of prison, black people are 3 times more likely to be disenfranchised than white people. White men with recent criminal records are far more likely to receive callbacks for job interview than black men with no criminal record at all. In this way, we already treat black people like felons. Black people are twice as likely as white people to be unemployed. This was also the same in 1954. The median wealth of white families is 13 times more than black families. A contributing factor is that white people are almost twice as likely to own a home, one of the country’s best paths to building wealth.

Just because you are unaware of the injustice in this country, doesn’t mean it’s not taking place.

The Post About Reina Gossett

A new Netflix documentary about iconic trans activist Marsha P. Johnson has been getting a lot of praise. Reina Gossett has alleged that filmmaker David France used her work without permission. She is a black trans activist. In an Instagram post, she goes into detail how she is borrowing money to pay rent, but David France took her work and is now making millions of dollars.

Reina researched, archived, digitized content inaccessible for decades. She interviewed Marsha and Sylvia’s peers and she did this without pay. She proposed in a grant application to make this film. France used the work and did not give her any credit. He did not compensate her financially, despite receiving a multimillion dollar deal from Netflix to make the documentary. France said he has a long friendship with Johnson, claimed that he cleared the matter with Gossett before proceeding with the film. He also added that he supported Reina and her partner Sasha’s work

Reina Gossett is a black transgender woman who reintroduced our generation to ourselves by uncovering and recentering transgender women of color revolutionaries. A black trans woman’s work about a black trans woman was used to make a film by a credentialed white cisgender man aided by Netflix’s millions. They erased her contribution to the documentary. A documentary about a black trans woman that is created and directed by a black trans woman is a lot more meaningful than it being directed by a white cisgender man.

The Post About Harvey Weinstein

Recently, the New York Times revealed that Harvey Weinstein engaged in rampant sexual harassment. There are more women coming forward with their stories of how they were assaulted by Weinstein. I will start this article by saying that what Weinstein did was a disgusting abuse of power. Georgina Chapman has left her husband due to these disgusting allegations. The Weinstein Company board of directors announces that Weinstein is terminated, effective immediately. It’s amazing how this company is better at firing people for sexual harassment than the White House is, but I digress. He also sent a desperate email to people who used to work for him to intercede on his behalf.

It doesn’t matter because Donna Karan and Lindsay already are. Donna Karan thinks that women were asking for it. Lindsay Lohan said that everything that is happening to him is unfair, but then again Lohan said we should give Trump a chance. So I ain’t listening to her.

Moreover, a woman’s clothing has nothing to do with whether she is sexually available. Also, saying that clothing carries this intent is not only wrong, it is offensive and unacceptable. These ideas stem from rape culture, which is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. Moreover, I want to add that I have men who say that they think about sexual assault now that they have a daughter. You should hate sexual assault whether have or do not have a mother, sister, daughter, aunt, or any woman in your life. I am tired of men only seeing women as people after having a daughter. That just infantilizes the discussion. If you want things to be better for your daughter then do that by trying to make it better for adult women now.

In addition, we all know that he donated 1.4 million dollars to the Democrats, however that was just a sum total of all of his donations since 1990. He was never that huge of a player in Democratic politics. There are many Democrats who are returning his donations and it’s not like Republicans rebuked Roger Ailes who has given Republican candidate 1 trillion dollars in free ads. Moreover, no one wants to talk about how the NRA donated 30 million dollars to Trump’s campaign.

There have been many men and women of Hollywood who have stepped forward and condemned Weinstein’s allegations. Milo Ventimiglia echoed the need for support for women accusing Weinstein. “Men have a great responsibility in general,” he said. Jeff Bridges said this at the “Only the Brave premiere. “It’s important anywhere, any job place no woman should feel objectified, no woman should feel sexualized. It’s 2017 and we need to get over that shit. It’s not cool.” Kate Winslet calls the accusations appalling and disgraceful, yet she’s starring in a Woody Allen film. Matt Damon has spoken out against Weinstein’s accusations, but I don’t really trust what he says. Ben Affleck said he was appalled by Weinstein’s accusations, but recently Hilarie Burton came forward to say that he did grope her on television. Also, Ben Affleck wasn’t that disgusted when his brother Casey was accused of sexual assault as well.

and

Harvey Weinstein is apparently leaving the country for treatment for sex addiction. But I want my readers to understand that he is not addicted to sex. He is addicted to abusing, humiliating, and violating women. Weinstein is addicted to power and his ability to abuse it to his will. Weinstein did use sexual acts to inflict abuse upon women, but that does not mean that it has anything to do with sex. Sexual assault is about power, which relate to Terry CrewsTerry Crews opening up on Twitter. He opened up about how he was sexual assaulted by a movie exec in front of his wife. This is why sexual assault can happen to a man and a women. If a 6 foot tall and over 200 pound man is scared to come forward, then don’t question why a woman is worried about what will happen to her if she comes forward.

The Post About Kenneka Jenkins

Kenneka, a 19 year old African American woman, was brutally murdered and raped. Her mother Tereasa Martin murder was contacted by her friends saying that they could not account for her whereabouts and that they were looking for her but they couldn’t find her. These accounts, reported by the mother, changed very often and there were often missing pieces to their stories. Martin went to the hotel and next morning and confronted hotel workers asking them to show her video footage of the night and asking them to help her look for her daughter.

They refused help or to lift a finger that did not help her in any way. They told her to report it to the police and file a missing person’s report. Then the police arrived at 3 or 4 p.m., mind you, her mother was at the hotel at 5am . They found her body in the freezer at the hotel. The police reported that she locked herself in the freezer, but it made no sense for her to lock herself in the freezer because the freezer doors were double steel doors. Even if she was drunk it would have been difficult to open those doors. Moreover, the freezer doors have an exit button which would have made it easy for someone to leave the freezer.

The story circling social media currently is that she was really murdered and raped by guys that join the party. There’s also a Facebook video filling around that may hold evidence to what happened that night. Her murder is a sign of how black women are the most disrespected race in America. What happened to her shows how the disappearance of black women and their murder is not met with the same ferocity and urgency that is usually met when it happens to white women.

The injustice that this young girl’s legacy is facing in this moment is reflective on what happens so often with black women. The misogyny that surrounds black women is a result of rape culture that makes men blame women who have been raped. The deeply rooted misogynoir in our society makes them blame your clothing and for being too sexual in Instagram photos. Also, women will turn around and say the same thing as a way to side with the same misogynoir that oppresses them as well. These statements are results of the rape culture prevalent in this society.

Moreover to the fact that many people believe that if she pick the right friends this would not have happened. Honestly, the only people who are at fault are the ones who raped this young girl. She did not deserve to die this way and she does not deserve to be forgotten. Her story must be heard because too many times this happens to young girls and it goes ignored. We must remember her name and her face so that people will never forget what happens to black women. We must teach our men to take care of and to protect black women.

The Post About Ed Skrein

Recently, Ed Skrein was casted as Ben Daimio in the “Hellboy” reboot: “Rise of the Blood Queen.” Many were objecting to the role not going to an Asian-American actor. The character is Japanese-American in Mike Mignola’s “Hellboy” comics. He released a statement on his personal social media that he has stepped down from the role.

The creative directors behind the film adaptation of this film released a statement as well. “Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this. We fully support his unselfish decision. It was not our intent to be insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity, and we will look to recast the part with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material.”

There are too many white washed films being produced in Hollywood and often times there is huge backlash on social media over it. Between Scarlett Johansson in “Ghost in the Shell” and Emma Stone playing a Chinese-Hawaiian character in Aloha, white washing has been a huge problem in Hollywood.

Many times white actors, producers, and directors will make excuses to why they keep the actors casted in those roles.

Someone tell me what is so difficult with casting people of color in film and television, whether the character is make believe or based on a real person.

Scarlet Johanssen says on Good Morning America that her character was “essentially identity-less” and that she would never attempt to play a person of another race. But that’s what the fuck you did girl? That was a poor excuse because she further explained that the role was about feminism, not race. And too many times white women will focus more on things that will benefit themand not other women. There are plenty of talented Asian American women who could have been casted for this role and that would have benefited feminism more than a rich white woman who is constantly being presented with multiple opprotunities. Additionally, white people feel that being white is like being invisible, therefore, if they are casted for a role meant for an Egyptian or someone from an Arab country, they can simply slap on some bronzer and it’s basically the same thing. The generic everyman aspect to whiteness makes it so easy to have a casting room full of white actors and pick the best white guy to play this Hispanic man like Ben Affleck did in Argo or an Native American person like Johnny Depp did in Lone Ranger or like Nat Wolff in the Netflix adaptation of Death Note.

White washing is trend we need to let go. CBS, which can’t even cast diverse actors in their shows, failed to pay Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park the same amount they pay their white counterparts. In earlier times, Hollywood casted white people to play black, Asian, and Native Americans, purely to hightlight harmful stereotypes that still believe in today. Now there are more actors of color on popular TV shows such as Fresh of the Boat, Blackish, Insecure, One Day at A Time, Queen of the South, and so many more. It is important that directors and producers take the time to cast actors, even if they are unknown, that match the ethnicity of the characters that they will play. Many people of color dealt with watching sitcoms and movies that depicted white families, white teens and their struggles, and white people going on adventures. It would be rare to see a Native American on television who was just a personand not a “savage” who was actually a white person with lots of dark foundation on. When you have more shows like East Los High and Dr. Ken, it makes people feel great that they are being represented as a part of society in popular media. It shows that they’re identity is their own and deserves to be shown in a true light.

When you casted a white person in place of a person of color in film, you are saying that their stories don’t matter. You are basically saying that placing them on screen is not worth your time nor your money, so you would rather face the consequences of angry consumers rather than accurately cast your movie characters. It doesn’t matter that Tilda Swinton was friends with Margaret Cho. That didn’t give her a pass to play a Himalayan mystic in Doctor Strange.

Audiences know when a movie is going to be lackluster waste of time. Time and time again, it’s been proven that films with a cast of diverse actors bring in big box office dollars and are critically acclaimed works. Insecure on HBO has been green lit for a third season and has a strong social media following. The Big Sick, which chronicals the real life romance between Kumail Nunjiani and Emily Kazan, is becoming one of the highest-grossing independent films of 2017. Get Out was the first movie to be a contender for an Oscar and went past the 200 million mark at the box office after having a 4.5 movie budget. Atlanta has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as Master of None, Insecure, Jane the Virgin, and so many other great shows.

Ed Skrein shows us that it is not that difficult to reject roles. He will not be devoid of roles in the future. Hopefully, white actors, producers, and directors will stop making excuses and make an effort to cast talented people of color in their new projects. Because I am certainly being tired of having to tweet out my frustrations in a long thread, pleading with Hollywood to acknowledge our voices and our stories. I just want people to see that our stories are worth telling and that you should give undiscovered or even very popular actors of color a chance, you will not be disappointed. The people who are making these decisions should know that they shouldn’t acknowledge that diversity is important after they casted the wrong person in an important role.

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