February 19th is like a second Christmas for me and is something I’ve celebrated for a few years now. Every year approximately 100,000 people across North America participate in the International Day of Pink, the international day against bullying, homophobia and discrimination in high schools and communities. It was started by youth in Cambridge, Nova Scotia in a high school. A student was being harassed for wearing a pink shirt, being called a “fag” and various other derogatory words. Later that week students got together and wore pink shirts to stand up to bullying, discrimination and homophobia. Personal experiences have made this a “home-hitting” day for me.
Growing up homosexuality and “being different” was very acceptable. I come from a family of underdogs; people not usually accepted by the general public. With a “racial mutt” older brother, a younger brother with a learning disability and a single lesbian mother I was used to seeing “different” types of people around. Bullying was common and discrimination was a way of life growing up but it was something I learned to get used to. After so long of seeing so much discrimination it started to become something I scarcely reacted to on the outside. That didn’t mean it didn’t bother me on the inside though.
What someone sees as “different” depends on the person. Everyone sees things differently depending on circumstances, environment, experience and much more. People growing up in a censored environment where homosexuality and being “different” isn’t acceptable will react to those kinds of people in a much different way than those who grew up where it was accepted. The people we grow up around and their own opinions often help to shape and influence our own perceptions on things. Of course, accepting people won’t always have family members who are just accepting and my own experience tells me this.
Personally speaking I have seen everything from racism, to homophobia to transphobia to sexism and not just in schools but in every day places and it is something that disgusts me. In my eyes this shouldn’t be happening, which is why I am such a strong support of Day of Pink. My own experiences have given my strong opinions against discrimination and mistreatment of people while other people’s experiences give them a completely parallel opinion. Everyone’s perspectives and the way they see the world, whether it’s positive or negative, is shaped by their experiences.
“What we perceive is a function of the context the perceiver finds him/herself in.”
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Works Cited
Abdulla, Anisha. Options for Sexual Health. Options for Sexual Health, 2008. Web. 10, Oct. 2009.
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. New York: The Penguin Group, 1972. Book.
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