LGBTQ Community: Challenges, Resources, and Library Support

This report addresses the issues faced by the LGBTQ community, including discrimination, violence, and healthcare disparities, and explores how libraries can provide support and resources. It highlights the historical context of the LGBTQ rights movement and discusses challenges in various countr...Read More

Running head: THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
The LGBTQ community and its issues
Introduction
The purpose of this assignment is to address the LGBTQ community issues. The paper
will first identify the challenges that the community faces in terms of participation in the society.
Then, it will describe the possible ways by which the library could help the community meet
these challenges. The assignment will use actual case studies and reports including statistics to
provide a comprehensive overview and explanation of the issue. Further, the assignment will
provide solutions and plans that could help the community meet those challenges.
The term LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) began to be used during
the 1980s by replacing the more derogatory term ‘homosexuality’. The community has had a
long history of struggle that continues even today. The struggle has been for acceptance in the
society without any stigma or prejudice attached. The challenges they face range from emotional,
physical, mental, social and political. In this essay, all these challenges will be described with
special focus on the social challenges the community faces. The main argument of the
assignment is that the LGBTQ community’s challenges could be met by making people aware
about the contribution the community could make in the society.
Discussion
As described above, the LGBTQ community comprises people who are lesbians, gays,
bisexuals, transgender and queers. During the 1980s, when the term first came into existence,
only the lesbians, gays and bisexuals were included within its vicinity. However, with the spread
of the movement during the 1990s, the community expanded and included the transgender
people as well. In 1996, another section of people was included in the community known as
‘queer’. Queer referred to those who had questions about their sexual identity. However, the
community is not limited the above-mentioned sections of people only as those who have any
issue or concern regarding their sexual identity are a part of this community. The community is
always evolving and hence the terms would keep on adding but the important thing is not to
memorize the term but to show genuine respect to the community.

2
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
In the long history of this community’s existence, there is hardly any era when the people
of this community had the freedom to realize their existence wholly. They have always felt a
sense of fear and hatred, prejudice and stigma and for this reason; the community has been
struggling to participate fully in the society. Those who consider this as a crime or sin
discriminate against the people. The people who are hostile towards the LGBTQ community are
generally referred to as ‘homophobes’. Several instances of hate crimes against the people of this
community have been reported in the past decades. Although the situation has changed now but
there is still a sense of fear amongst the people of this community. As per the Human Rights
Watch organization report, around 2.8 billion LGBTQ people are residing in countries where
they could be imprisoned, tortured, face corporal punishment if the government identifies their
sexuality (Hrw.org, 2019). In contrast to this, only 780 million people are those who live in
countries where the community has been accepted and has the freedom to enjoy equal rights. The
reports published by the organization were gathered from the International Lesbian and Gay
Association in 2014. It is thus clear to understand that due to fear of punishment and banishment
from the society, the LGBTQ people could not fully participate in the society although they want
to contribute. The Pew Research Center based in the US found that over 90% of the LGBTQ
adults think that the society has become more acceptable (Pewresearch.org, 2019). However, the
non-LGBTQ people have not shared the same (only 55% think that homosexuality is not a sin)
(Pewresearch.org, 2019).
In the recent past, movements for the complete acknowledgement of the community
within the society have increased and the world community has started to realize their issues. In
2001, Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage thus setting an
example for other countries. Belgium and Canada followed suit. Sweden, Argentina, Ireland,
Colombia, New Zealand, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States joined in as
well in the next few years. India became the latest addition to the list after decriminalizing same-
sex marriage and romantic relationships in 2018. The fact that countries had to decriminalize or
legalize the same-sex relationships brings forth the struggle for these people to realize fully their
existence in the society and not just their participation.
The above discussion provided an overview of the situation of the LGBTQ community
and the struggles they had to face and continue to face even today. This section will specifically

3
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
point out the challenges that they face. However, it must be mentioned that the challenges differ
as per different countries and cultures. The first and the most universal challenged the
community faces is discrimination (Nytimes.com, 2019). In the United States, despite the fact
that the LGBTQ people have been given every right to live a fulfilling life like others, they are
being discriminated against. In a report published in The New York Times in 2016, Mara
Keisling, National Center for Transgender Equality’s executive director, stated that the LGBTQ
people are facing post-marriage backlash (Nytimes.com, 2019). Majority of LGBTQ couples
have been denied services on religious and other grounds. Almost 29 states in the US lack anti-
discrimination legislation that involves gender identity or sexual orientation. The situation is the
same in Canada. Despite increased efforts from the government, the gay community faces
constant discrimination. As reported in the National Post, those identified as having different
sexual orientation were ousted from their services. The incidents date back to the 1950s
(Nationalpost.com, 2019). One of the former Air Force members was the first one to come out
and voice about the discrimination done to them because of their sexuality. This shows the extent
and history of discrimination against the community.
Violence is another challenge the community faces. One of the worst cases of violence
against the community is the 2015 Orlando gay nightclub shooting in the US that took almost 50
lives. Although the incident was not registered as hate crime against the LGBT people, it did
prove to be one of the deadliest attacks on the people of this community. In Canada too, violence
against the community continues to rise. According to the Statistics Canada report, 176 hate
crimes against the community was registered in 2016, a sharp increase from 2015 where 141
incidents were registered (Www150.statcan.gc.ca, 2019). Due to such violence against the
community, they fear to come out and participate fully in the society.
Health care is one of the worst challenges the LGBTQ community faces. This is a
challenge that is escalated by the discrimination against the people of this community. In
Canada, the health of the LGBTQ community people has seen decline over the years especially
in terms of mental health. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, the LGBTQ
people have higher risks of mental health issues. The association further states that socio-
economic factors are amongst the main determinants of health for the marginalized people. It

4
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
also referred to an Ontario-based study where it has been found that over half of the transgender
people “were living on less than $15000 a year” (Ontario.cmha.ca, 2019).
The above-mentioned are the three main challenges that the LGBTQ people face
restricting their full participation in the society. The library helps greatly towards meeting these
challenges for the LGBTQ people. Libraries are the only place where the LGBTQ individuals
could find information about their rights, about coming out, family topics and health. As Mehra
and Gray (2014) explain, libraries play an important role in mobilizing the movements for the
LGBTQ rights across the world. According to the authors, libraries act as “virtual spaces of
resistance and protectors of LGBTQ people”. The reason the authors give is that in many of the
educational and other institutions, people are restricted from speaking openly about sexuality and
sexual orientation. In this case, libraries allow the people to have free access to texts about
sexuality and sexual orientation. Shelton and Winkelstein (2014) published a journal article
mentioning the real life incidences where people not belonging to the LGBTQ community also
found libraries to be a useful source for understanding the issues of the community. The authors
state, “Libraries and librarians are potential resources for both LGBTQ youth who are homeless
and communities who are struggling to find ways to solve this problem” (Shelton & Winkelstein,
2014). Julie’s story about how she came to know about the LGBTQ community and their
struggles and decided to take up research on this community is an example of the way libraries
help in meeting the challenges of the LGBTQ people.
The Canadian Pride Library is an essential and significant example of the use of library in
meeting the challenges of the community. The library was founded in the 1990s and boasts a
collection of more than 5,500 titles including periodicals, videos, slides, books and CDs that
have all the information about the LGBTQ community (Uwo.ca, 2019). With such resourceful a
place, it is bound to encourage people to think newly about the community and the contribution
they could make to the society.
As evident from the discussion above, libraries play an important role in contributing to
the knowledge about the LGBTQ community and their struggles. This is one of the best ways to
aware people about the potential of the community in the society. People must be made aware
that the LGBTQ people are no different from others and that they too have equal contribution to
make to the society as do others. The libraries in this regard have a huge role to play because

5
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
people, most importantly student frequent libraries for study and research purposes. Another
effective way to make people aware about the LGBTQ community and its challenges is to create
online forums and invite people from the community to express their views and experiences.
Apart from that, these forums could also be used to demonstrate the talent and skills of the
people of this community. In this way, the society will be able to know that the LGBTQ people
are equally qualified to be a part of the society and contribute to it fully.
Conclusion
Therefore, it could be reiterated that an effective way to help the LGBTQ community
people meet the challenges they face in fully participating in the society. The assignment first
discussed about the inception of the term, its expansion and its importance. It was revealed that
the term had replaced the more derogatory term of homosexuality. Furthermore, the assignment
examined the situation of the LGBTQ people across the globe and found that many countries
have still not decriminalized homosexuality. Then, the assignment specified three crucial
challenges the community faces that contribute significantly towards their deteriorating status.
The first challenge identified is discrimination, which is one of the foremost reasons restricting
the LGBTQ people in realizing their goals. The second challenge is violence, which poses a
significant challenge in realizing the full potential of the LGBTQ people in the society. Third is
the healthcare especially the mental health. The analysis has found that amongst most of the
Canadian LGBTQ people, mental health is a big challenge that arises out discrimination and
violence. The assignment lastly discussed the role of libraries in meeting these challenges and
suggested the plan that people should be made aware about the potential of the LGBTQ people
through libraries including virtual libraries.

6
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
References:
Hrw.org. (2019). LGBT: Moving Towards Equality. Retrieved from
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/01/23/lgbt-moving-towards-equality
Mehra, B., & Gray, L. (2014). “Don’t Say Gay” in the State of Tennessee: Libraries as Virtual
Spaces of Resistance and Protectors of Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) People. Walker, J., & Bates, J. (2016). Developments
in LGBTQ provision in secondary school library services since the abolition of Section
28. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 48(3), 269-283.
Nationalpost.com. (2019). More LGBTQ people will be compensated in ‘gay purge’ lawsuit
settlement. Retrieved from https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/gay-purge-lawsuit-
settlement-expanded-to-include-more-people-who-suffered
Nytimes.com (2019). The Challenges That Remain for L.G.B.T. People After Marriage Ruling.
[online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/us/the-
challenges-that-remain-for-lgbt-people-after-marriage-ruling.html [Accessed 29 Mar.
2019].
Nytimes.com. (2019). The Challenges That Remain for L.G.B.T. People After Marriage Ruling.
Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/us/the-challenges-that-remain-for-
lgbt-people-after-marriage-ruling.html
Ontario.cmha.ca. (2019). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Queer identified People and Mental
Health. Retrieved from https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/lesbian-gay-bisexual-trans-
queer-identified-people-and-mental-health/
Pewresearch.org. (2019). How LGBT adults see society and how the public sees them. Retrieved
from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/25/how-lgbt-adults-see-society-
and-how-the-public-sees-them/
Shelton, J., & Winkelstein, J. (2014). Librarians and social workers: Working together for
homeless LGBTQ youth. Young Adult Library Services, 13(1), 20.
Uwo.ca. (2019). About. Retrieved from https://www.uwo.ca/pridelib/site/About/

7
THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ITS ISSUES
Www150.statcan.gc.ca. (2019). The Daily — Police-reported hate crime, 2016. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/171128/dq171128d-eng.htm