When you open up a magazine, you normally look for pictures that you relate to. This can be your same culture, gender, ethnicity, or race; but we enjoy being able to relate to material. I love opening a national magazine and seeing someone that looks just like me. But why does the situation have to be different for LGBTs?
I have never considered myself to be homophobic or someone that wanted to deny LGBTs their equal rights. When the Supreme Court legalized marriage for same sex couples in the United States, I was happy for them, but it did not impact me personally. Their fight was not my fight, but it took being in a room with Houston LGBT leaders to understand what it is like to walk in their shoes.
This past summer, I interned at the Alzheimer’s Association where they wanted to increase their effectiveness in reaching & supporting the LGBT community. During our discussion with LGBT organizations and leaders, the topic of normalization was discussed. The Alzheimer’s Association has a separate brochure for LGBT caregivers' concerns. Before this conversation I thought the separate brochure was the best way to dedicate information relevant to LGBT families. But I was unaware of the impact it had on the person. It makes it seem as if their lifestyle is so abnormal and different that it cannot be included with regular caregiver concerns. It separates them from the rest of society. And if we live in a world where segregation is no longer allowed, then the same philosophy should apply to LGBTs, especially in the healthcare field.
So instead of making a separate brochure, we have to normalize LGBT pictures with the rest of the information. And for those brochures, include LGBT couples with African American, Latino, and interracial pictures. Because a gay partner cares about his loved one the same way a husband cares about his wife with Alzheimer’s. Gays and lesbians feel the same type of fear when their spouse or partner is diagnosed with the disease. So as a society, why do we treat their lifestyles as this one determining characteristic that isolates their emotions and experiences from the rest of society?
Therefore, I hope in the immediate future, there will not be outrage when a commercial airs on TV with a gay couple, that such images are seen as a normal thing and no longer abnormal. I hope we see more options for identity on demographic sections. I hope we begin to recognize that it is ironic to want equality, respect, and dignity for minorities without doing the same thing for LGBTs. Because at the end of the day, we all want to feel like we had to the opportunity to identify ourselves fully and see ourselves portrayed and published in equal representation.
