Primary Source

I felt that it was hard for me to distinguish between primary and in depth sources during my research. One article I found was about a study that took place which was the interviews of 12 LGBT members between the age of 18 and 21 (I think). The article talked about affective support systems that are available/ should be available to LGBT members in the school systems. I learned that there are 4 types of support that are able to be provided. The first type is emotional support which is in the form of love and trust. The second type is appraisal which comes in the form of positive feedback. The third type is instrumental support which comes in the form of something that is tangible such as money. The fourth type is informational support which comes in the form of advice or knowledge. The lack of support makes the LGBT members in the school systems feel isolated, without anyone too look up to or go to. The study found that non family members were more supportive of the LGBT students compared to their parents/family members. It also found that heterosexual peers were unable to give as much emotional support as other LGBT members. Other LGBT members are able to relate and provide contextual support with specific experiences to back it up. Many of the studies felt fear about telling people their sexual identities. One of the female students in the study said that her and her friend could talk about "pretty much anything..." and added in, "not my sexual orientation at that point at all." The study stated that a main part of high school is the development of social norms and the study found that most of the teachers and other administrators "strove to uphold the heterosexual model as normative." This is the reason why the school is seen as so homophobic, their homophobia is institutionalized and taught as normal. This is teaching a cycle of hate and discrimination. This environment that the schools have crated has lead many LGBT members to be uncomfortable with their sexuality and has made it hard for them to "come out" in fear that they will be harassed, bullied, treated unfairly, singled out, or treated lesser by their peers and teachers. This research has lead me more into the area of homophobia in the school setting rather than bullying and suicide in general.