1. Introduction

Definition of Social Inequality

Social Inequality can best be defined as the different sets of circumstances and opportunities that exist for individuals from different social classes within the community. Due to social inequality, different and unequal sets of opportunities are afforded to the more privileged classes of the society. (Moffitt)

Reasons for Social Inequality

One of the most oft-cited reasons for social inequality is the people themselves, i.e the only reason that social inequality exists is because the people themselves do not have the prerequisite motivation, skills and education to find employment. Another reason is society itself and that in an increasingly automated word, there simply isn’t enough work available for the ever increasing global population. (Moffitt)

Definition of Social Exclusion

Social Exclusion is defined as the widespread effects when the population of any particular area significantly suffers from multiple problems such as joblessness, poor health, lack of income, elevated levels of crime, poverty, increasing instances of broken families, low quality of housing and individuals within the community suffering from a lack of skills. In most instances, these problems are linked and each compounds the effects of the others. (Social Exclusion Unit, 2001)

Causes of Social Exclusion

Factors that may cause social exclusion include being a part of a household with a very low earning threshold and lack of earnings growth potential, growing up in a family with high degree of interpersonal conflicts, mental or physical disabilities, being an ex-felon, being part of a minority based on ethnicity, or living in a desolate and poor area within the community. (Social Exclusion Unit, 2001)

2. Social Exclusion and Social Inequality Face by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered People

Social exclusion faced by Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people varies wildly from social exclusion faced by unemployed or poor people. Discrimination face by LGBT people on a daily basis is a key reason for the social exclusion face by them. Due to discrimination LGBT people are constricted and thus are not able to have as many rights or to participate as any other individual within the community. Discrimination also causes LGBT people to be marginalized and hence they are deemed invisible and are not able to be recognized as fully functioning members of the community and citizens of the country. LGBT people may be bullied at school from an early age and also may be treated unfairly at home after revealing their sexual orientations. The same applies at the workplace where LGBT people are often derided and mocked for their sexual orientations

The exclusion faced by LGBT also differs from other types due to two important characteristics. Firstly, members of the LGBT community do not have any physical characteristics differentiating them from other individuals who are not LGBT. Due to this reasons, the practice of “coming out of the closet” exists which complicates existing relationships. LGBT people may have with others. Secondly, in some cultures the whole existence of LGBT people is challenged by certain conservative mindsets within the community who defy LGBT people as “challenging the course of nature.” (Takacs, 2006)

Members of the LGBT community also face inequalities in many countries with considerably conservative governments. Laws are generally very severely against sexual minorities such as LGBT people which are persecuted both by the government and the population in general. In Iran, discriminatory laws are in place whereby people suspected of being gay may be detained at any time. While those who are charged with the offense of consensual sex between the same genders, (an offence punishable by death in Iran) very seldom get a fair trial. (Human Rights Watch, 2010)

3. Contributing Cultural and Social Factors

Many social and cultural factors affect social exclusion and inequalities faced by LGBT people; however the key among those remains geography. Research has found that Europe and American continents have a higher tolerance for people who are homosexual as compared to Asia and Africa. Further, countries where faith does not play a dominant role in the daily lives of the population are more tolerant towards LGBT people. However, certain countries that are predominantly catholic are also highly accepting of LGBT people, such as Spain, Italy and Argentina.

Another important contributing factor is age. Young people are often highly tolerant and accepting of LGBT people while those over the age of 30 often have a negative predisposition which is very difficult to change. Gender also plays a role as in some countries; women are more open to accepting homosexuality than the men.

Time has been observed to play a very minimal role in the attitudes towards LGBT as perception has changed very little in almost half a decade in certain countries. Most countries have a stagnant rate of acceptance with the passage of time; however, in certain European countries in the north, tolerance levels have increased. (Morello, 2013)

After geography, the second most potent factor affecting attitudes towards LGBT people is religion. Countries with highly religious populations have little acceptance of people who are LGBT. This is compounded in case of countries which are predominantly Muslim such as in Asia and Africa. 98% people in Nigeria, 96% people in Ghana and 90% people in Ghana do not accept homosexuality within the society. On the other side of the spectrum, 95% in Egypt, 93% in Indonesia and 87% in Pakistan believe homosexuality should not be accepted. (Pew Research Centre, 2013)

4. Consequences on Mental and Physical Well-being

Prior to the Hooker studies in the 1950’s, the general consensus throughout the North American continent considered homosexuality to be a mental disorder. Today, almost all major health research organizations consider homosexuality to be one of the three sexual orientations. (Robinson B. A., 2014)

Homophobia and discrimination can affect the health and well-being of LGBT people in a wide variety of ways. Even in the early phases of life, homosexual people may be subject to physical abuse and bullying in school. This not has a physical effect but also affects the mental capabilities as anticipation of further bullying may create stress within the LGBT individual. Further, such bullying often causes the victims to leave school or college premises early which may also affect the education of such people.

It also becomes difficult for such people to keep stable jobs as firstly, due to discrimination, they might be not allowed fair chances to acquire a job and even after being employed, they may continually face discrimination while being on the job. Unstable employment may also cause frustration, resentment and stress within such individuals. Due to unstable employments, such people may also harbor untreated illnesses and due to expecting discrimination from the healthcare industry as well, might not get the required medical treatments required.

Research also points out that some LGBT people may have very specific health issues; that are even more complicated than non-LGBT people which they are reluctant to get treatment for. As for family life, often LGBT people after coming out are told by their family members to move out of the house and intolerance is promoted in the entire community as a whole. (Stonewall)

5. Mathew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act

The Mathew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act, (hereinafter referred to as the Act) was passed as a consequence of the brutal killing of one Mathew Shepard in 1998 in the state of Wyoming in the United States of America. The murder has often been considered to be a landmark moment in the struggle for equal rights for LGBT people. Soon after the murder, calls were made to broaden the definition of hate crimes to include crimes perpetrated on the sole basis of someone’s sexual orientation. Then President Bill Clinton tried to get the law to be passed, but failed due to fierce opposition from conservatives from a religious background. The reason cited that this law was attempting to drown out the voices of the different religious leaders trying to oppose homosexuality as being against the natural order of things and prohibited under the religion.

However, eleven years after the murder, the bill was finally passed by the congress as the Senate approved the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act 68-29 after it was approved by The House earlier that month. The bill now requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to also keep track of statistics on hate crimes based on gender. Some claim, still, that the Act is a plot to promote homosexuality, which others call out to be a baseless argument as the Act focuses on hate crimes but has no effect whatsoever on the free speech rights. Research shows that approximately 16% of the 118,000 cases of hate crimes are due to the sexual orientation of the victim. (Group, 2009)

6. Religion and LGBT

Historically speaking, religious institutions have consistently been at odds with LGBT people. Religious people establish or alter their stances on particular issues based on the following four factors: Teachings of the holy books, teachings of the group, personal experiences and scientific findings. Progressive liberal religious groups, however, stress on the third and fourth reason while fundamentalist and conservative religious institutions emphasize the first and second reasons and continue promoting beliefs against LGBT people. Progressive religious groups often actively promote and stress on equal human rights and protections for all people, sexual orientation notwithstanding. (Robinson B. A., 2014)

Religiously conservative people usually restrain discussions about homosexuality to those in behavioral terms, i.e. they don’t consider homosexuality to be something a person does rather than was a person is. It is usually believed by such people that if a person has a strong enough will, they can, despite being attracted towards the same sex can restrain their sex lives to that with the opposite sex. Conservatives often believe that therapy can be used to “switch” a person from entertaining homosexual behavior to becoming heterosexual again. The conservative stance views homosexuality as a sin, as an abomination and a travesty of the highest order. LGBT people are frequently called out as immoral, abnormal and unnaturally addicted. The key detail to grasp here is that according to the fundamentals, homosexuality is something that can be changed. (Robinson, 2004)

Religious people also staunchly oppose marriage between the same sexes. The most oft quoted argument against marriage between members of the same gender is that it ruins and insults the sanctity of the institution of marriage and therefore promotes immorality within the society.

Most of the world’s leading religions, though, share two common fundamental points against homosexuality. The first is that homosexuality is wrong because it involves sexual intercourse that does not result in life. Islam also shares in these views as according to certain schools of thought, consensual sex with either the same or the opposite sex results in the displeasure of the Creator. The common response to this argument is that the first true nail in the coffin of non-life creating sexual intercourse was the creation of birth-control, not homosexuality.

The second moral argument supported by all major faiths around the world is that homosexuality by its very name is unnatural and a threat to the natural order of things, since men and women have been created with certain specific and unique features and it would be an affront to the Creator. (Waldman, 2003)

7. Human Rights Campaign

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the largest civil rights organization in the United States of America striving hard to maintain and obtain equal rights for gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual people. It was found in 1980 and has more than 1.5 million members. (Human Rights Campaign)

Due to the efforts of the HRC, eight additional states passed legislations to allow same sex marriages in 2013 bringing the total to 16 states. Further, during that year, benefits like joint tax filing, military benefits, medical and family leave and ability to get a green card was also granted to LGBT people. Further, the senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and more than 100 companies all across the United States of America stood in support of the ENDA. Furthermore, Sally Ride and Bayard Rustin were posthumously awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom. HRC President Chad Griffin states that the HRC is constantly striving and in the near future would bring equality of rights and the right of same-sex marriage to LGBT people of all 50 states. (Human Rights Campaign)

8. Conclusion

People who are either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered are frequently discriminated against due to their sexual orientation. Such social exclusion and the inequality of rights significantly affect every phase of life for such people from schooling to the ability to get a job. Major differences in such basic necessities in life have a great degree on influence and effect on the mental and physical well-being of LGBT individuals, who face severe discrimination on a daily basis.

Attitudes towards LGBT people have been evolving with time and main factors affecting tolerance are geography, age and religion. Religion, to date, has proved to be the staunchest opposition of homosexuality and equal rights for people who are LGBT. However, laws such as The Mathew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act have helped in providing security towards LGBT people against bullying and physical abuse. In the meantime, organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign are constantly working towards a better future for LGBT people where they are afforded the same rights as every other member of the society.

 

Bibliography

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