How would you like a friend so close to you, you call her "Daughter" being shoved up against a wall, beaten, and threatened by death if she told what those who had hurt her had done just because of her sexual orientation? Even worse, that the four boys who did that to her had gotten away with it? Homosexuality, defined as “sexual desire or behavior directed towards a person or persons of one’s own gender. Every year, hundreds of innocent people are killed in the U.S. just because their sexual orientation is different than what it considered to be ‘the norm.’” Focusing on these crimes, I will discuss the problem, and potential solutions, of what is come to be known as homophobia.

   Homophobia is not just a peaceful fear, dislike, or aversion; thousands of people are injured or killed every year due to hate crimes against homosexuals. According to Katherine Bodine, “in schools [in year 2003] 31% of gay youth were beaten, threatened, and injured on school grounds.” So, of ten of the non-heterosexual students here at this school, more than three have been or will be harmed due to their sexuality. This means, every single person with at least ten non-heterosexual friends or family members knows at least three people who have been or will be attacked. Scott Bidstrup said that the murders due to hate crimes against homosexuals “in the U.S., number in the dozens every year. Abroad, the numbers run to the hundreds to thousands.” Overall, at the very least, thousands are killed world wide due to homophobia. An unnamed member of the GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, wrote “in Asia, same-sex love has been known since the dawn of history. Early Western travelers were often taken aback by its widespread acceptance and open display.” Though homosexuality is accepted in that Asian society, everywhere else seems to be shocked and hostile towards it. This may cause even more problem by instigating hatred towards not only homosexuals, but those who support them as well. Overall, hate crimes against homosexuals are on the rise due to widespread misinformation.

   Now that I’ve explained what the problem is and where is occurs, I will now discuss its impact on the human race. According to homohatred.com, “data from the FBI uniform crime reports, non-heterosexuals rank third in reported hate crimes.” Now, if so many are physically harmed, how many others see their friends or family members hurt or even killed? With it ranked as third common in the U.S., a better question than “who is affected” would be “who is not affected” by the hate crimes against homosexuals. Alfred Kinsey hypothesizes “a minority of humans are exclusively homosexual or heterosexuals, and that the majority are bisexual.” This means that, if the majority of the world could be considered at least partially homosexual, hate crimes against homosexuals would really affect everyone. Whether it be you, a friend, or a family member, everyone knows at least one person who has suffered a hate crime due to their sexuality. Scott Bidstrup said “If a gay person comes along and says, "hey, look at me, I'm a productive, contributing member of society with values and ideals that make me little different than you," that person is a threat to someone who has believed all his life what he may have been told since he was young; that gay people are somehow perverted, miserable, lonely people who live short, desperate lives.” The problem of homophobia is usually created by influences from the outside by other homophobes. All people are affected, to some degree, by homophobia which, in most cases, would not be present in one raised to treat others equally.

   We now know how bad these hate crimes really are, but now, how do we stop them? Katherine Bodine said “it is unlikely that this hatred will ever be completely dissolved from the world. However, one can only ask, why do so many people continue to display signs of hatred towards homosexuals?” With people raising these questions, the world may someday accept people and their sexuality. Though it is unlikely, tolerance may be achieved through the help of those like Katherine. According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association, the solution is to “denounce violent anti-gay discrimination in out society.” This means that, in order to stop the hate crimes, we must all rise up against that hate. Going against those who commit these crimes, and not tolerating them, is the only way to end homophobia. Suzanne Pharr, another member of the GLAAD association, said “it’s not unusual for people to make enormous leaps of judgment and connect woman’s team sports, lesbianism, and unethical behavior… Are there some gay women on our Hockey team? Yes, there are. Do the straight women care? No, they don’t. Is it an issue on our team? No, it’s not. So why is it for everyone else?” Hopefully, people like Suzanne will finally make the world understand all about homosexuality. Sadly , even with people speaking out against hate crimes against non-heterosexuals, the numbers of these hate crimes are still on the rise.

   I have said what the problems of hate crimes against homosexuals are, where they occur, who is affected, even those who help to stop homophobia. Injuries and deaths due to hate crimes against homosexuals are still rising. Soon, someone you love may be hurt or killed if you don’t speak up. An unknown wise person once said “love is blind.” We must be blind, too, seeing as we still haven’t seen that they are right.