mosexuals are made fun of all the time. Email jokes are forwarded all around the world about homosexuality. Seriously, who would really want to be called a homosexual? Name-calling happens more in high school than in college, but who stops it? The answer is no one even dares to protect a gay person because then they too would be thought of as gay. Imagine dearly loving someone else and having to keep it totally secret, because if you do not, you will be punished, thrown out of your home by your family, not accepted by your friends, and maybe lose your job. This is the most likely world of the lesbian or gay young person. The feelings that homosexual young people face are only the beginning of the problem. As they recognize they are different and discriminated against, they lose self-esteem and become depressed. Many become suicidal and develop a feeling of extreme depression and helplessness. Those who do not commit suicide live an adolescence of silence and oppression, rarely being able to speak up without being struck down by peers. Not only do they face unrestricted discrimination and harassment at school, they often face similar or worse homophobia at home. Parents, unaware of their children's sexual orientation, often make cutting remarks about homosexual television characters, community members, or the orientation in general. I know mine have. They may not even recognize their comments, but the child (or children
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