Economics, different political and class ideologies: LGBT panel

Last week in class I was part of one of the discussion groups that met with a panel of members of the LGBT community. My group had about ten or so students from the class, and we had two members representing the LGBT community on our panel: Lane, a male student currently attending UAB, and Alisa, a woman who has been married for five years now after going to Massachusetts in order to get a legal marriage. Alisa is a teacher in the area. Our discussion time started off with Lane and Alisa telling their stories. We then went around the room and responded to their stories, and then wrote down questions we would like them to answer. Lane and Alisa were free to answer whichever questions they chose to, and covered the majority of them. Overall it was definitely a unique experience that gave me a lot to think about. I was glad that we were able to meet with the panel members face to face as opposed to only talking in class about engaging in differences. Although for me it wasn’t one of the most comfortable experiences, I felt like it was more real life learning.

This experience definitely falls under the category of engaging in difference for me. I am straight, and although I’ve known a few people who are not straight, all of my close friends throughout my life have always also been straight. This was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to ask others who are not straight questions directly, as well as share my views, which was uncomfortable at times. I am also a Christian, and that affects the way that I view all parts of life. My relationship with God and life experiences lead me to believe that God created man for woman and woman for man. So in times designated for us to share our views and responses, I honestly did find it a bit awkward sharing what I believe because I hate conflict with people and in our society that is all about accepting others in a way that says “That can be right for you and this can be right for me” I realize sharing that I do not agree that a certain lifestyle is right, makes me sound intolerant and ignorant, but that truly is what I believe. I did learn a lot from what Lane and Alisa said. Lane especially pointed out that very many stereotypes, especially of gay guys, are not accurate. I found it interesting that he said he can’t stand it when others flaunt the fact that they’re gay, many doing so for attention’s sake. Lane said that because the majority of people don’t go around saying “Hi, my name is so-and-so. I’m straight” he doesn’t immediately make sure that people know he is gay. He said that to him, sexuality is much more of a private thing. A lot of what Lane said really did do away with many of my own stereotypes that have been partly formed from my own life experience and partly formed by the media. I found it interesting that Alisa and Lane pointed out that when the media shows images of a “Gay Pride parade” they always show the pictures of the most dressed up bizarre looking people in the parade, rather than the typical, more “normal” looking members of the LGBT community. I believe the most relevant anthropological concept in this experience is the way that we were able to hear from an emic perspective on these issues. Everything up until last week that I have known about the LGBT community has been from my experiences on outside looking in, but because we were able to hear directly from Lane and Alisa, we were able to listen to insiders’ perspectives. This really is the best way to learn about others’ lives, to hear directly from them.