The intercultural concept I am choosing to examine is Minority Identity Development. Minority identity is a sense of belonging to a non dominant group, aka the LGBTQ's. Coming out of the closet isn't just something you decide overnight, it takes time. There are many stages LGBTQ people go through in their lives, and I thought the minority identity development was perfect my culture.
- Stage one is described as the Unexamined Identity. In this stage people do not, and have no interest in exploring their identity. "Gay people may try very hard to act 'straight' and may even participate in 'gay bashing.' (Martin & Nakayama. 2010. Identity and Intercultural Communication. p.173).
- Stage two is described as Conformity. In this stage many people of the LGBTQ culture often try hard to make sure no one really finds out who they are. They follow the social norms of the majority group, and shun those of their own. For example, there is a term called Beards. A beard is a man or woman who is used as a cover for a gay partner. For example the famous actress Fran Drescher's husband of 21 years came out that he was gay just after they divorced in 1999. He had confirmed to the majority for so long instead of living out his life the way he wanted to.
- Stage three is the resistance and separatism of the culture. "Sometimes the move to this phase happens because individuals who have been denying their identity meet someone from that group who exhibits a strong identity" (Martin & Nakayama. 2010. Identity and Intercultural Communication. p.176). I think this is why its so important that we have LGBTQ resources in schools and universities. WIth these centers LGBTQ peoples can find others who can relate to them more so than the majority of heterosexuals.
- Stage four finally is integration. In this stage the person has finally accepted their identity. I feel this stage of integration relates the greatest to transgender peoples. The most shocking identity acceptance I've seen are in children whom believe they are the opposite gender. In the following video there is a young child who was born a certain way, but strongly believe their identity belongs to the opposite gender. This part one of the video shows the parents thoughts of their son becoming a daughter at such a young age.
Based on this concept there are many stages to coming out in the LGBTQ community. Advice I would give to future intercultural communication is to realize that the LGBTQ community is very different than others. It takes time for them to correctly identify with who they really are, and how hard it is to identify with that. For example some homosexual people say things like 'who would choose to be bullied and tortured throughout their whole life.'
Another thing I think people need to take into account is the seriousness of coming out. " Many young LGBT people are undermined when they try to talk about their sexuality and gender identity, by parents, teachers, and even doctors dismissing their feelings as a phase" (AVERT). I think people coming out can tell from a very young age that they are different from others, and should most always be taken seriously when entrusting someone with something so fragile like their sexuality.
I have already interviewed a few members of the LGBTQ community, but in my next blog I will dig deeper into the thoughts of these individuals.
Sources:
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York: McGraw-Hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAOFGSHGJlc
http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=vi
http://www.avert.org/coming-out.htm
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