The family, key in education for sexual tolerance

In this month of June, Gay Pride Day is celebrated, with which the LGTBI community remembers the first public demonstration against homophobia, as a result of the events at the StoneWall bar in New York.

Protests against the police forces that stormed the Greenwich Village neighborhood took place in 1969. 21 years later, on May 17, 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. Since then, being attracted to people of the same sex is considered a sexual orientation.

Education, essential to stop discrimination

However, historical events do not have an immediate impact on all social or personal settings, so Even today it is still considered important to educate minors in sexual tolerance.

The family is the point of origin of this education against homophobia, since it is the first nucleus of influence of the person. The adults in this group are, therefore, those in charge of educating with the word and with the attitude.

To achieve satisfactory results, it is first necessary to understand the reasons why human beings tend to reject the other. Group identity is one of the bases: people who do not have their own identity strongly reinforced, feel more comfortable in the group; they define themselves in relation to that group and are not flexible with those who are different.

However, a person with a strong individual personality is more likely to understand that everyone is different and that there are many diversities in people's identities. That is, someone with a marked individuality and who understands that there are different individualities does not tend, in principle, to reject the other, who is different.

Childhood, an age to build values

In childhood, the family is key to avoid this rejection of those who do not belong to our group of equals, while in adolescence friends come to occupy the first place in terms of influence.

Although in the new school and entertainment environment, discriminatory behaviors appear towards people with homosexual orientation, if during the first years the values ​​of tolerance and respect have been solidly instilled, it will be more difficult for behaviors to flourish later and homophobic attitudes, as well as behaviors of integration and support, as well as rejection towards people who are grateful against these rights.

Parents must, above all, watch their words (sometimes expressions simply learned without a exclusive intention) and loudly condemn conduct against the LGTBI community that occurs in the environment.

A false belief of many adults is that validating other sexual tendencies will foster an environment of debauchery or induce them to have another intimate orientation. It is something totally wrong because if they learn from a young age that there are different options, they will learn to respect any type of orientation, and In addition, in the event that they are not heterosexual, it will facilitate the integration of their sexuality into their identity and will normalize it in their environment from the beginning

Tips for

These simple tips can help you overcome some natural barriers that arise between parents and children when it comes to sexual orientation. Since Origin Clinics we recommend:

• In the face of homophobic news, express rejection and verbalize the opinion that one has in this regard.

• When talking about boyfriends, girlfriends, remember that you may like girls and / or boys, that you can also have a partner of the same gender.

• Educate in values ​​such as respect for diversity in matters of race, gender and sexual orientation.

• Naturalize homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality, on the same level as heterosexuality when they appear in series, books and movies and in other areas of the social environment.

• Naturalize when the parents of a partner currently have a same-sex partner. Explain the family diversity that exists today.

• Finally, the ideal is that parents and educators, if possible, agree on times and guidelines regarding the guidelines on sexuality, in order for the minor to perceive consistency between the two most important environments among which moves.