Discrimination is the past, equality is the future

Everyone is prejudice in some way or another. People are taught at a very young age to discriminate against others. Whether it is because of race, religion, sexuality, gender, age, personality or way of life, everyone pre-judges. Experiencing uprising discrimination lately are homosexuals.

Anti gay/lesbian discrimination tends to be particularly brutal and nasty. Homosexuals are victims of prejudice for multiple reasons. Homosexuality contradicts some religious beliefs, traditional family, and out of the norm behavior.

They run into problems with getting married, getting jobs, getting and giving education, adoption and much more. Gays getting married does not harm heterosexual marriage. Homosexuals are simply people who happen to love the same sex. It has not been proven whether homosexuality is biological or environmental, but what would it matter.

They are people just like the rest of us, no worse or better.

Taylor Mangan, a local transgender resident had said that his first encounter with discrimination was after he graduated from high school after he had announced his sexuality to the public.

“I ignored it because I don’t care what they say or think,” said Mangan.

Mangan believes that most people who discriminate against homosexuality, mostly for the reason that they are afraid  of what they don’t know or don’t understand.

Here on campus the college takes pride in having equality, and no discrimination in any form. The reality of it is, you can not always control people the way you want. Opinions are opinions and there is nothing that can change that.

It would be wonderful to have everyone follow the “comprehensive statement of non-discrimination” that every faculty and staff member on campus hands out to the students on campus, but some people just ignore it and do what they want.

Unfortunately there are still some people on campus who discriminate against people who are comfortable and open about their sexuality. In all honesty it is not hurting anyone or causing any problems.

“I don't see why someone's sexual orientation is anyone's business,” said Angie Erikson, an attending student at LBCC. “You can like whoever you want. It’s not their business.”

They are happy with what they do and who they are, everyone is on campus to go to college and get an education, this is not petty high school. There needs to be more respect for others.

Michael Redick, a Salem resident, said his first time of being discriminated against was in grade school.

Now if an 8^th grader is discriminated against, how else would they know how to handle it. Some might never go to school again. And who knows what their potential could have been.

“The only reason being gay is harmful to anyone is because of what some one who discriminates will do to them,” said Kim Willaman. “When my daughter came out as a freshman in high school, the only fear I had for her was what others might do to her for being [out].”

Discrimination is something that can impact someone in the worst ways. Some people encounter discrimination at a young age and the effect is to ignore it or even run away from it.

Being homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual is not everything that someone should judge about a person. It is one of many factors that make up a person, and no one should be judged based on that only fact.

LBCC prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, ethnicity or use of native language, sex, sexual orientation or disablitity. If anyone believe that they or someone they has been been discriminated againsted please visit the following website for further informatin on appropriate help:

http://po.linnbenton.edu/?BP1015-NondiscriminationandNonharassmentPolicy.pdf