LGBT

Tom Cook has never acknowledged his sexual orientation publicly, until a post on the Bloomberg Business Week website. He has always tried to maintain a basic level of privacy throughout his professional life to keep the attention away from himself and focus much of his attention on his products.

“I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.”

Tom Cook fits into the 20 percent of the world which is estimated to be gay or homosexual by a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2013. This is nearly double of the actual estimated figure of 10 percent that was previously believed to be true. The growing percentage of homosexuals in this day and age has caused many other gays to step up and come out to their families and friends.

Most recently, Tom Cook came out to the rest of the world online. ‘Famous’ people like Cook help provide confidence for the rest of the world to be grateful and proud of who they are. Not only has Cook given a spur of confidence to other young or old gays, but other normal everyday people have too. There are over 14 million results when searching the keywords ‘Coming Out’ on YouTube. Many of these videos are just ordinary people coming out to their families, others tips and tricks for coming out. This is just another piece of evidence of how strong internet connections are and how anybody can make a change in the world.

Troye Sivan, a YouTuber with nearly 2 million subscribers (or viewers), has definitely made a desirable effect on the world at the age of only 19. Not only has he released a music album and have a very high profile online presence, but he is gay. He came out to his viewers on August 7, 2013. His loving, close-knit family have accepted Troye for he is and have supported his YouTube and music career unconditionally.

On the other hand, there are coming out stories that do not end with a ‘happily ever after’ but self harm and suicide instead. According to the Trevor Project, a movement started to support gays who may experience problems during their journey as a homosexual, say that LGBT (lesbians, gays and bisexuals) youths are four times more likely to commit suicide than straight children or teens their age.

Coming out and being homosexual is especially hard on teens, as it is an ‘awkward’ time in terms of body changes and figuring out who you are. This is why projects like The Trevor Project exist- for support that may not be there for teens in their surroundings. They offer a 24-hour hotline and a branch called TrevorSpace. TrevorSpace is social networking site for LGBTQ (lesbian, transgender, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth) aged 13 through 24 to talk to one another and find support in people their age.

Although many people are allies of LGBT community and say they support it, but not much action is taken against discrimination of homosexuals. This is where being an ally comes in. This is where people fully support gays and take action against racial slurs and discrimination against the LGBT(Q) community.

One’s sexual orientation should never change the level of respect for another. Being gay doesn’t change the person in any way- they just have different preferences. Haven’t people always said that love knows no boundaries? Why should it stop at what we assume marriage can only be- between a male and female? There are endless questions towards gays- ranging from reproduction and religion that will probably never end.

The only thing we can do is try to understand their point of view, as much as they understand straight people’s desire for people of the opposite gender. We need to let them know they aren’t alone. 

By Jo Yie