Gay. This word echoes through the halls of our schools, our parks, and other public places. Take a moment and think; in the past twenty-four hours, how many times have you heard that term used synonymously with stupid or lame. If your number is below ten, I envy you. Using gay as a derogatory term is a form of homosexual discrimination, which is an epidemic plaguing our nation’s teenagers, and even adults.

If you were asked now what heteroflexibility is, would you know? If you are like the majority of teenagers, the answer is no (congratulations if you do know). Heteroflexibility is defined by Wikipedia as a form of sexual orientation or situational sexual behavior characterized by minimal homosexual activity despite a primarily heterosexual (straight) sexual orientation. To break it down, this is a lot like bisexuality, but generally heterosexual people will not have partners of the same sex, and their homosexual behaviors will disappear later in life. Studies conducted show that one of every eight males are heteroflexible, and many times, heteroflexible people will be confused as to their sexual orientation. Think of your friends; you hopefully have at least eight. This means that at least one of them will be heteroflexible, even if it is not prevalent now. When you start slinging around derogatory terms, such as gay, you are probably hurting your friends, and many of your classmates, even if it affects them later in life, and not at the time.

Many people believe being gay is a choice. Being gay is not a choice. Psychotherapy and many other treatment options have been tried to change sexual orientation, with no success. Being gay is not a mental illness, and can not be treated. It is simply part of who you are, much like the color of your hair. In fact, members of Exodus International, the largest church supporting that gay people can be changed, have admitted that the change can never be complete. Proving this point, the founder of the organization left with another member because they had fallen in love.

People may say that this is not a problem, that it is all done jokingly. Statistics say otherwise. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community reports that ninety-two percent hear bad things about being LGBT, and almost eighty percent heard derogatory remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke.” Sometimes, they even hear this from school staff, including teachers. Even worse, eighty-four percent have been verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation; about sixty-five percent have been sexually harassed (e.g. inappropriately touched or subjected to sexual comments); thirty-nine percent have been physically harassed; seventeen percent have been physically assaulted (this occurring is seven times more likely than their heterosexual peers), and because of that, around sixty-five percent of LGBT teens feel unsafe in school. This results in gay youth being four times more likely than their peers to skip school (thirty one percent have missed at least an entire day of school because of the bullying); nearly one third drop out of high school, LGBT teens are more likely to run away from home, experience academic problems, and struggle with low self-esteem, substance abuse, and depression. The worst: LGBT teens are four times more likely to commit suicide.

The most baffling part of this problem, is one of the good parts. Seventy-five percent of LGBT youth actually say that their classmates are actually okay with their orientation. Then, why must we drive these youth to be four times more likely to kill themselves than their peers? Studies have proven that being gay is not a mental disorder, and we know it is not a choice. Why does society attack these people? We do not attack people for their hair color or eye color, do we? We have no reason to attack them for this. It is pathetic that we hurt people because of who they date; because they are different. We are no better than the Nazis and Hitler himself if we continue on this path of killing people, even our friends, family, and peers.

Evidently, this epidemic is a problem; a problem that we stand by and watch while our friends and peers fall dead around us from the sickening discrimination. Sadly, it mostly infects our teenagers, which are the future of our nation. The plague must be eradicated from our generation, and the cure is an easy solution. As a society, we must come together to accept these people in all that we do, and all that we are, to end our sickness. Our adults, schools, and role models must educate the younger generations so the world will be knowledgeable of what LGBT truly is. Even a small amount of our teachers have been infected, and the others appear to have given up the battle. Many are bystanders, even when they can clearly hear the ignorant discrimination all through their classroom. Teachers must take a stand and make sure that this discrimination ends in their classroom. As individuals, we must put aside our prejudices, and our fears of social rejection, and stand up for what is right. One of the biggest and easiest things to do is to stop using the word gay as a derogatory term. Even the religious are called by your God to cure our disease. No religion on Earth tells us we should hurt others, and they most certainly don’t tell us to kill. Sadly, this sickness can not be cured without even more help from the LGBT community. Already, you have done plenty, but regrettably, we need more to end the plague. We have lowered the average coming out age to sixteen, and already, around sixty-six percent are out to their classmates. Still, we need higher numbers; we need more people coming out. Your heterosexual peers must realize that there are many more of you than they think, and they are hurting those closest to them. You have the hardest part of the cure, but things will get better. As long as we work together, we can end this problem. The solution is easy, and together, we can save the future of America, but we must all work together, be brave, and stand up.