Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Students at Mission Bay

The LGBT community at Mission Bay High School may be small, but let’s not forget that they do exist. For two years now, the Gay-Straight Alliance Club (GSA) has been well occupied with members of various social backgrounds. Alejandra Huerta, the president of GSA, has been very successful at running the club; with seven members in total, she is representing her club with honor and pride. Though this club needs more members, they are slowly but surely trying to improve their numbers. From interviewing, and having close relations with the LGBT community, I have realized that there’s nothing different or wrong with loving the same sex. My experience of befriending and accepting the LGBT community has opened my mind to the fact that many of them go through harder and more hurtful times than the average person. Therefore, I look up to those who have been brave enough to come out as being gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual. For many, being a teenager is already hard, and being an LGBT youth gives you an even more challenging experience. Moreover, through in-depth discussions with my friends, I have really understood the struggle of being lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

Pauly Carvalho, a senior at Mission Bay is a very outgoing transgendered man; he has brought me into his life of struggles and heartache. At age fourteen, Paula came out as being transgender to his friends and family. Many of his peers had already speculated that Pauly was different at an early age, so his family accepted him for who he was, but it wasn’t always that easy for him. Around the age of five, Pauly began to realize he was different, in his mind he was a boy but on the outside he looked like a girl. Pauly didn’t understand the changes that were happening to him, so when his dad tried to dress him in dresses, he wouldn’t allow it. On the inside, he had already embraced himself as being a boy, though no else did. He cut his hair over and over until his parents finally started sending him to the barber, and began accepting him for what he truly is, which is a boy. Though I wish that his struggles ended there, they didn’t. Around age fifteen, Pauly was at a School of Rock Camp and when he went to the boys bathroom, he was viciously dragged out by a group boys and beaten repeatedly. For the act of just using the restroom, this young, confused boy was beaten; though this act should surprise me, it doesn’t.

Acts such as these aren’t anything new to the people of America; not too long ago, blacks were treated the same the way. To this day, Ku Klux Klan members have their meetings for white supremacy, so we could conclude the struggle of being of the LGBT community will never be accepted fully, but we as people can at least act nobly to those who are of the LGBT community. We can also make their life a whole lot better if we just let them be free to love whomever they want. After looking and comparing gay marriage to interracial marriage maps, the state-by-state pattern of discrimination against interracial marriage is very similar to the nationwide trajectory of same-sex marriage. For example, southern states, as we know, are very close-minded and it took until 1967 for interracial marriage to become legalized, for same-sex marriage it’s a process that’s going to take time, just like interracial marriage did.

Further, Cory Zimmerman, a very proud Mission Bay I.B. student has had a rather smooth experience of coming out as being gay. Cory states, “It’s very culturally accepted now and here at Mission Bay people will protect you if you are gay.” I am very proud of my school members for being so accepting to the LGBT community. Although I do wish they would do more to make it known to students that they shouldn’t be ashamed of being who they are, and their orientation towards whom they want to be with in a relationship. During Cory’s sophomore year at Mission Bay, he felt comfortable enough to come out, and got mostly positive feedback. Speaking as one of his friends, I feel that Cory is an amazing and faithful person. Due to his friends supporting him, Cory didn’t feel ashamed to come out as being gay. Therefore, with accepting the gay community, a person’s life has changed for the better. These stories have captured my heart and I wish lots of luck to the people I have interviewed; I do hope that more people will be more forthcoming with coming out as being gay, transgender, bisexual, or lesbian. With more people coming out, I feel that more people will be encouraged to accept the LGBT community. So let’s get up and help our students to come out of their shells, and to feel free and accepted.