Essay on Homosexuality: The Fear of Societal Norms

📌Category: Human rights, Social Issues
📌Words: 638
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 14 April 2021

In our current year of 2020, society has seen an increase in the advocacy for gay rights which has resulted in many more homosexuals coming out of the closet. Despite these increases, many homosexuals are frightened to come out as gay since homosexuality is still not to the point of acceptance as it should be in our society. The ignorance of the LGBTQ+ community today and even in Medieval times has resulted in many members of the community to hide their true identity for all or most of their lives. The film Brokeback Mountain relates to much of my godfather’s partner’s life because of the similarities they have in regards to society not being accepting of homosexuals, resulting in them not living life in their true form.

My godfather’s boyfriend, whom I call Uncle Todd, was raised in a strict Christian household from Atlanta, Georgia and realized he was gay since around eighth grade. On the eighteenth of October, I interviewed him with questions about his life story. First, I asked him how knowing he was gay since he was a young boy affected him. My Uncle Todd responded, “For about thirty years I knew I was gay and I was scared about not being accepted by my friends, family, and society in general. The combination of living in the South and being raised by strict parents did not help my case at all.” When he was twenty-seven years old, he got married to a woman and they gave birth to a son named Christian. My Uncle Todd told me that he wanted to be “normal,” hence why he took this route in his early life. 

Five years after Christian was born, my Uncle Todd said that he started to become unhappy with himself and wanted to express his true self after around seventeen years of trying to fit in with societal norms. Just before he got divorced from his ex-wife, Uncle Todd had to accomplish what he had held back for most of his life, which was to finally come out as gay to his family and friends. He told me, “Coming out to the people I surround myself with was incredibly hard to do, but all of my friends and family accepted me, and before that day I had never felt happier. My whole life I was scared about showing the world the real me, but it truly payed off.” Two years after his divorce, Uncle Todd started to date my godfather, Uncle Terry. Once he was living the life he always wanted, my Uncle Todd found his place in society with my Uncle Terry, who are living their best lives to this day. My Uncle Todd’s heartwarming story relates to much of Brokeback Mountain in the way that they were all hiding their true selves from society.

The movie, Brokeback Mountain, highlights the relationship of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist. They were two men who were sexual partners in their early life, then were married to females, and finally got back together after realizing that they were meant for each other. Just like my Uncle Todd, the characters in Brokeback Mountain hid their true identity by being gay but both marrying females due to the fear of not being accepted by society. At one point in all three of their lives, they realized that they needed to be their true selves and were at the happiest moments in their lives with their partners who made them complete. 

After hearing the stories of the touching plot of Brokeback Mountain and the story of my Uncle Todd, I feel nothing but sadness for people who think they will not be accepted in society. It hurts even more to know that the stigma of nonacceptance for gay people has been present since Medieval times. If my Uncle Terry and Todd lived in the Medieval times, they would never be able to express themselves as they do now because no one was allowed to be homosexual. It is good to note, though, that our society has been trending upward towards the increasing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.


 

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