People Accepting People

Sexuality is such a taboo topic for many people. In my culture we never discuss sexuality at all, growing up I only learned about sexuality through the education system. I find this topic to be very interesting considering the fact that it is a way of life. I also have realized that society doesn’t really allow people to be who they are or gain equal rights based off of their sexuality. Growing up in a Muslim household where being gay or lesbian is completely not spoken of I learned that, according to my religion it is wrong and therefor unacceptable. Until I got older and realized that one cannot really change their sexuality I was completely uneducated and ignorant. I have many friends that are gay and I am so happy for them because I see how much society has changed through myself. When I was younger I remember how much negativity was involved with someone being gay, it was an insult and people were constantly being hurt emotionally. In this day and age I see that people have become so much more accepting of people with different sexuality and I am so proud of that because I believe that is something that needed to be changed.  I read the article “Can Jewish Transgender Teen’s Success Coming Out Provide Model for Others?”. I found this article through Huffington Post it lead me to the actual website that it was hosted on which was The Jewish Daily Forward. This article was extremely interesting and it actually made me think that our future generations have a better understanding of one another rather than hatred always being shown. This article is about a young boy who is a transgender teen and how he was accepted by his family and the Jewish community with open arms. This is so important because being transsexual, homosexual or even bisexual can come with a lot of stigma and negative outlooks. I learned that transsexuals are people who feel they are one sex even though biologically they are the other sex Tom Sosnik broke through with those stereotypes stigmas and negativity and proved that one day everyone can be accepted for who they are. Tom was accepted with open arms when he had come out to his family, and also by his friends. He went through this change at such a young age but it was amazing how many people supported him and his struggles. This story really was inspiring because tom was accepted by his religious peers. I believe that this is a huge cultural and religious breakthrough. I strongly believe that years ago tom would not be accepted by his peers at all and would rather be ostracized and made fun of.  This blog really related to the Sexuality and Society chapter and I learned a lot from it. I pray that there are better times like these to come for more people that are struggling with their sexuality and that we as human can be more accepting of people that are struggling with their own identity because it is a huge dilemma for them. 

http://forward.com/articles/217453/can-jewish-transgender-teens-successful-coming-out/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leora-tanenbaum/jewish-and-transgender-follow-hillel_b_1280589.html