Youth Cultures and Moral Panics: An Essay on LGBT Community and Their Representation

Running head: YOUTH CULTURES AND MORAL PANICS
Essay on youth cultures and their representation
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YOUTH CULTURES AND MORAL PANICS
Introduction
It is a common perception that Australian youth dishonour the integrity of the society.
This is because they are illiterate, lack proper dressing sense and are always busy surfing
their phones. According to the politicians, Australian youths, “apparently threaten the fabric
of the society”. Typical evidence of this lies in the masterpieces, The Narcissistic Epidemic
and The Dumbest Generation. Modern terminologies characterize Australian youths as
apathetic and disinterested towards politics (Lewis et al., 2017). Media has appropriately
captured the youth culture. One of the most striking facts is the indulgence towards violence.
This essay focuses on the LBGT community within Australia, their culture and societal
representation.
Discussion
LGBT Community
LGBT Community involves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Pride, diversity,
individuality and sexuality are the attributes, which defines their culture. The social activists
perceive LGBT Community as outweighing concepts like heterosexism, homophobia,
biphobia, sexualism among others. The term “gay pride” symbolizes the identity and strength
of the community. Political affiliation enhances the cultural diversity of the community
(Dentato, Orwat, Spira & Walker, 2014). Mention can be made of the different colours,
which represents the core values of the community:
 Pink in the flag represents sexuality
 Red colour symbolizes life
 Orange is the indication for healing
 Yellow colour represents the brightness, as that of the sun
 Green colour stands for vigour, vitality and energy
 Blue reflects the artistic skills

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YOUTH CULTURES AND MORAL PANICS
 Indigo stands for harmony within the community
 Violet symbolizes spirit (Beasley, Jenkins & Valenti, 2015)
Statistics and acceptance
According to the Australian Census Statistics, LGBT Community accounts for 11% of
the total Australian population. There has been a rise in the number of same sex couples in
the period between 1996 and 2011. In 2011, 6300 children lived in the families consisting of
same sex couple. Most of these children are from female same sex families. Regarding
intersex, estimates are made about one in 2000 births to 4% of the population. As per the
revelations of Organization Intersex International Australia (OLL Australia), a mid-range
figure of 1.7% of all births are estimated (Humanrights.gov.au, 2018). Most of the people
from LGBT Community hide their sexual identity at the time of accessing services in the
social events and employment. These are mainly the young people belonging to the age group
of 16-24 years. 61% of the LGBT Community people encounter verbal homophobic abuse.
81% are the victims of physical homophobic abuse and other types of homophobia. This
includes cyber bulling, graffiti, social exclusion and humiliation.
80% of the homophobic bullying consists of the school students. This heavily impacts
their education and wellbeing. Transgender males and females are victimized more than
lesbians and gay in terms of physical and non-physical abuse. These issues generate
depression in the minds of the community people. Typical evidence of this lies in the claims
of 61% of the same sex people regarding verbal abuse as a result of sexuality. 18% of the
people belonging to the same sex narrate their experience of physical abuse
(Humanrights.gov.au, 2018). These issues deprive them of the basic subcultures, which
would act as their empowerment.
LGBT culture

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YOUTH CULTURES AND MORAL PANICS
Early 19th and 20th century’s gay culture projects the dominance of codes and
symbols. There was high association between gay men and opera, ballet, couture, cuisine ans
theatres. Golden Age of Hollywood witnessed the empowerment of homosexuals through
their thematic approach in interior designing. Apart from this, songs and literature are the
evidences, projecting the involvement of LGBT Community into the mainstream social
activities. According to the modern trends, tourism is one of the areas, working towards the
empowerment of the LGBT (Ayoub, 2015). There has been a rise in the same sex marriage,
increasing the possibility of rainbow tourism. Marriage equality rallies and celebrity
performances makes the people aware of the cultural heritage of LGBT culture.
Mention can be made of Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is observed for
paying tribute to the murder of anti-transgender. The event is an effective means of raising
awareness about the crimes and injustices towards transgender. Moreover, the event consoles
the deceased and the family members. A Trans March is also organized, which symbolizes
the marches, protests and gathering taking place during the pride week. This March is an
initiative of the transgender Community to address the existentialist struggles.
Youth Pride, is an extension for Gay Pride and the social movements of LGBT
Community. This group consists of the members, usually above the age of consent
(MacCartney, 2018). The area of operations of this group is wide. The group aims to organize
festivals and events for the LGBT Community in order to ensure their empowerment and
wellbeing.
Positive legislative developments
LGBT Community was underrepresented by the Civil Rights. However, modern
legislatures have succeeded in projecting the existentialist struggles of gay community. The
major drive behind this is globalization. The etymological origin of legislature for LGBT lies