What the Supreme Court Rulings Meant for the LGBTQ+ Community

Haroon Shaikh ’22

The Supreme Court ruling concerning a civil rights law was a huge victory for members of the LGBTQ community. The Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ members from workplace discrimination. This is since the ruling declared that discrimination based of sex also applies to sexual orientation and preferred gender. The Supreme Court in a 6 to 3 ruling concluded that it was against the law to fire someone for simply being part of the LGBTQ community. Before this decision it was legal in more than half the states for an employer to fire someone simply because they were a part of the LGBTQ community.

A surprise was the way that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Niel Gorusch voted. He voted to protect members of the LGBTQ community. This vote contradicts the Trump’s administration’s latest actions regarding the LGBTQ community. Actions such as banning transgenders from the military and rolling back protextions against discrimination in the helathcare system which were designed to protect membersof the LGBTQ community. Another Obama-era rule was under threat that would allows adoption agencies to turn away same-sex couples from adopting simply because of their sexual orientation.

These laws are incredibly important and protect the LGBTQ community. People in the LGBTQ community are at higher risks of committing suicide due to discrimination like this. Studies have shown that in the transgender community risk of suicide is extremely high due to discrimination, family rejection, and other forms of people not accepting who they are. LGBTQ youth are also 120 percent more likely to face homelessness and 40 percent of homelessness youth is part of the LGBTQ community.

Homophobia and transphobia are often depicted as a personal choice. However the reality is when lawmakers and individuals act out their prejudice and discrimination it costs people their lives. No one should have to face the hardships and discrimination that the LGBTQ community faces it is simply not moral.

Prejudice & Judgement

Rohan Lokanadham ’23

As said by the author “Some people think that it is so easy to come out. They say that people care for some time but then forget about it. But that’s not how it is. Every time someone says any one of these things that I have stated in the poem, it shows their homophobia. These are things people in the LGBTQ+ community have to deal with every single day, and not only that, but they hear from their friends and family. I feel like I can’t ever truly be myself, because people will look down upon me for that. I get scared to have a “gay voice”, so I make my voice deeper when talking to strangers. I have to go through all of this just to hide my true self, and sometimes it makes me not want to be myself anymore. My anger and frustration about this, reflects who I am. This is how I feel. I feel that society needs a change, a major one, and it needs to happen soon.”

Why can’t I be myself,
I don’t understand.
Wherever I go, there's the judgement, 
The prejudice of the gay kid. 
That’s all I am, isn't it. 
“Shut up, you like men” 
“You’re gay” 
“You don’t count ‘cause you gay”
Why?
Why am I invalid because of my sexuality? 
These are the questions I ask myself everyday. 
These are the questions that make me wonder if I’m valued. 
I don’t wanna be myself.

()

Yasmine Patel ’23

it might be strange to see a brown girl
in this neighborhood-
sitting on her driveway
bent over in concentration
wiping the sweat off her brow
and replacing it with a layer of colored chalk 
that blanketed her calloused hands. 
the white people pass by in their trucks 
roll down their windows, 
and look out to see what task is so 
alluring 
so fascinating 
where she won’t even look away from the ground
to see the passerby’s. 
they might roll their eyes and keep driving
disgusted by the flag 
that she carefully sketches
on the blacktop. 
the little kids who walk past her
might just see a rainbow, 
and start to excitedly search 
for the pot of gold that follows. 
but she never looks up. 
even after she lays down her chalk, 
claps her hands together and forms
a hazy cloud of color and dust. 
even after she carefully writes in block letters
“happy pride month.” 
she only looks up at the white man before her
who gawks at the letters she scribbled on her driveway. 
she laughed-
obviously amused at his discomfort
and gathered up her box of chalk and walked away
leaving the man staring after her 
in a mixture of awe and confusion.

aim for the head

Bhakti Patel ’22

you will not defeat me.
i’ll let you try
come on, i’m right in front of you, easy target practice
tip: aim for the head; my soul is bulletproof
i refuse to fall to a man like you
too pathetic to come up with a better insult than “faggot”
masculinity too fragile to be able to call his friends handsome 
i’ll steal your girlfriend before you can even throw a punch
i spent too long fighting a civil war that you cannot imagine 
to even consider you a worthy opponent
my battle scars are by my own hand; your battle scars came from a poorly picked fight in a walmart parking lot
so throw up your fists and spit your ugly words
because at the end of the day, you are a man who falls back on your archaic beliefs to justify your fear of everything different than yourself
i am sorry that my existence offends you, that you cannot pull your head out of your ass and recognize
the world has changed. 
society has shifted to make room for me and pushed you out in the process
jealous? you should be.
so come on, take out your second-amendment-guaranteed pistol and fire
and like i said: aim for the head.