As long as you don’t rub it in my face.” So not like this then.
This meant I would often hear conversations between colleagues, and even bosses, littered with casual homophobia. While I’ve always been open about my sexuality, it has never been easy to pick me out as gay from a crowd. In a way, that probably sheltered me a bit from what happens in the real world.īut entering the workforce was a real eye-opener. I attended a performing arts school where heterosexual guys were the minority. My high school experience was pretty carefree. In terms of encounters with homophobic people, I have been relatively lucky so far. Society has certainly come a long way in the past 25 years, but there is still a ways to go. This year is special as it marks the 25th anniversary of the World Health Organisation’s decision to declassify same-sex attraction as a mental disorder. Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. They can have a serious impact on a person’s life and psyche, especially when they are already feeling vulnerable. No matter how tough someone is - words do hurt. As great as that old nursery rhyme is, the unfortunate truth is that’s not how things work out in the real world.
Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.
