In
our world today being heterosexual is considered the “norm”, or the dominant
culture. Non-dominant groups, such as homosexuals, find themselves having to
function in communication systems that often do not represent their
experiences. Non-dominant cultural groups often find themselves being labeled
and stereotypes being formed against them. Labels can lead to people feeling
trapped or misrepresented. Although, it would be very difficult to communicate
without labels, people are still be hurt by labels when they don’t like them or
have the feeling that they are not being represented correctly.
The
word “gay” is used to refer to someone who identifies himself or herself as
homosexual. Over the past few years it has become increasingly offensive to use
this word out of context and when referring to someone unfavorably. There are
may other words that people also use in a negative way that mean homosexual.
More and more awareness is being brought forward about using these words. It is
extremely hurtful and offensive to people and is not being tolerated.
Recently
Alec Baldwin was angry when paparazzi were surrounding his home, in a fit of
anger he yelled racial slurs at them and told them to go away. This is not the
first time Alec has used words like this to express anger or unhappiness. Alec
has been criticized as being “homophobic” but continues to argue otherwise and
works for marriage equality. Most people are still outraged at the fact that he
would use derogatory terms such as these to express anger so often. 
Not
only can using these slurs look bad to the public but can also be a reason for
punishment these days. Colorado state football coach, Greg Lupfer, was caught by ESPN camera’s for using a gay slur
during the bowl game. Lupfer will be suspended without pay for two weeks and
required to go through anger management and diversity training. Using terms
like these is becoming looked down upon by the public and not tolerated from
authority. As homosexual equality continues to be fought for it is increasingly
more important to filter our word choice. 
Phil
Robertson of the popular TV show, Duck Dynasty, was also recently suspended
from working on the set due to his homophobic comments and expression of his
beliefs. He argued that he was being misunderstood. The LGBT community is upset
over his remarks and believes he is "littered
with outdated stereotypes and blatant misinformation."
Prejudice is often based on
nonverbal aspects of communication or behaviors. Although we still see
discriminatory slurs being used today as described in the stories above, much
bias also comes from body language and facial expressions.
Our cultural space is how we think
of ourselves and others. The cultural space of home is one of the earliest
places where we learn our identification. Although today the discrimination of
the LGBT community is being brought to the forefront, this wasn’t always the
case. Older generations may not have been taught the severity and consequences
of using such words in their early cultural spaces.
Excellent blog post! Very clear and well developed. This is exactly what I am looking for. Just watch the formatting, your font color shifts in the middle of the post and it gets tough to read. But all around awesome work!
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