1

Name:

Instructor:

Date:
 2

A newspaper article.

I believe that newspaper articles are written to educate and inform readers on current

affairs or emerging issues. I hope that someone will read my article and get enlightened or know

about the world around them. Ross & Rivers (2019) suggest that journalism does not only inform

people but also help them to shape opinions regarding various socio-political scenarios. I agree

with the author because by writing a newspaper article, one can address issues affecting the

economy, environment, politics, other fields and open people’s mind to share their views. In my

newspaper article, I identified LGBTQ as an issue, whereby I will present my perception and

reflect on my cousin’s view after interviewing her.

LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and the queer community. I

decided to discuss LGBTQ community as an “issue” because I have met with people from

different parts of the world and heard their views. As we all know, in many states and countries

LGBTQ community continue to face widespread stigma, exclusion and discrimination. This

include discrimination in education, employment, health care, back in our society, and many

other scenarios. I also noted how LGBTI community face targeted physical attacks and extreme

violence. We have heard of cases in our country whereby an LGBTQ member has been beaten,

sexually assaulted, tortured and killed.

Such acts cannot be condoned because I believe that every life matters and everyone

deserve to be respected despite their sexual orientation, gender identity, or there stand as far as

“sex” is considered. I am worried to know that in many countries, there are no laws established

to protect LGBTQ community from such violence and threat. This indicate that many LGBTQ

members are not legally recognized and cannot even seek justice when abused just because of

their sexual orientation and gender identity. I think LGBTQ people should be protected by the
 3

law of the land and be treated equally. One question that I always ask my colleagues while

discussing this issues is why we always exclude LGBTQ member in many scenarios, but fail to

exclude them from paying taxes. I believe this means that they are important in building the

economy and their contributions should be recognized.

That is my perception, but to understand this issue better I decided to interview my cousin

who I am not going to mention by name because she is a lesbian and that is a secret I hold. It was

challenging to convince her to agree for the interview, but I told her that other than doing the

assignment, I am so passionate about the LGBTQ topic and she is aware. We agreed not to

record a video or voice of our discussion, but I assure you that we had a lot to share, disagree and

agree. We did the interview using zoom, since we don’t stay together and we did not want to

attract any attention from our parents. I prepared the interview questions before, which made the

exercise easier, consuming about 15 minutes.

For formality of the interview, I started by asking her about her background, but she kept

on saying that I already know. I asked her full name, where she comes from, where she live, and

how long she have lived in her city. She lives in Colorado and she seems to very proud of the

city. I asked her about work, and she works as a chef in one of the city hotels. I asked what she

get involved with in her community and she told me she is very active in one of the nutrition

program, whereby she teaches the elderly how to feed and exercise to leave a healthier life. She

has even received a certificate of recognition from the governor for her work. She also

participates in environmental community programs meant to keep her city and resident areas

clean.

I continued with the interview and asked open ended questions regarding the LGBTQ

community. I asked whether she ever heard of a story about an LGBT person facing
 4

discrimination in her state and if she has ever been discriminated against for her sexual

orientation or gender identity. I must say that she seemed updated about LGBTQ matters because

she immediately mentioned one of the recent Supreme Court case of Colorado wedding web

design company, which refused gay marriage work. She mentioned that she was very proud of

the direction the case was talking. I did not know about this, which made me to research about

the case and I confirmed that the case was titled “303 Creative v. Elenis” (Mangan, 2022). The

justices ruled in favor of the plaintiff, claiming that this should be a lesson to other businesses

who discriminate people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. On whether she has

ever been discriminated for being a lesbian, she told me she has never and I believe it’s because

she has kept it a secret. She revealed that her parents and co-workers don’t know about her being

a lesbian.

I asked her whether she has joined any LGBTQ group or she knows any other member of

her community. She again told me that she was “playing low” and feared being judged by

members of her society and it could bring shame to her parents. However, she told me that she

has a partner who she loves so much and just like me, she doesn’t know why many people judge

LGBTQ member despite believing in God who love all his children. I felt her pain and I think

this is reasonable because we as Christians believe that we are created in the Image of the lord

and one of his great commandment is love. I think people should be allowed to love whoever

they want unconditionally. She felt appreciated and told me that I am the only cousin she can

trust with her secrets.

I then asked her some of the challenges she has experienced for being a lesbian. She started

by telling me that she realized that she was attracted to other women from a very young age. She

claimed that she tried to “normalized” because her culture, religion, and our family view dating
 5

and romantic relationships differently. Therefore, she outlined the following challenges, first,

coming out. She claims to have been raised in an environment whereby it was hard and almost

impossible to spot a lesbian or LGBTQ member. This made it difficult for her to acknowledge

her sexual orientation, achieving self-acceptance, and disclosing her status to family, friends, and

coworkers. Second, love and dating. She claimed that in the beginning, it was challenging for her

to learn how to navigate the dating landscape, considering how lonely she felt. I was surprised to

hear that she once dated a boy who wanted a serious relation and she did not know how to

commit to him because that was all fake. She broke up with the boy, but she did not know how to

date her “type.” However, she claims that internet and social media platforms played a huge role

in meeting her current love bird because that is how they come to know each other.

Third, tension in family relationships and worrying about others' reactions to coming out.

She mentioned that it’s like family members suspects her sexual orientation since they don’t

know her girlfriend and she has never brought a man home. This worries her and it’s a challenge

since she doesn’t know how her parents will react. We agreed that I can “test the water” for her

by engaging her parents and ask them how they feel about LGBTQ issues. I must say that this is

tough but I promised her to try. Lastly, she told me that she gathers her strengths from different

LGBTQ groups established in our country and activists advocating for equal rights among all

people. As a future therapist, I think learned a lot and this will prepare me to understand how to

handle patient living in denial, being stigmatized, excluded and discriminated.

 6

References

Mangan, D., (2022). Supreme Court hears case of Colorado wedding website refusing gay

marriage work. CNBC News. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/05/supreme-court-hears-

arguments-website-refusing-gay-marriages.html

Ross, A. S., & Rivers, D. J. (2019). Internet memes, media frames, and the conflicting logics of

climate change discourse. Environmental communication, 13(7), 975-994.