Well, he's not really my friend, but my cousin. He's a smart kid, and he's generally quite open minded and agrees with me on most things, except for when it comes to LBGT topics, I've considered coming out to him in the past but I've always thought it was best to test the waters before diving in. Every now and then I try to discuss lbgt stuff with him when the opportunity arises, like when we see something lbgt related on the news together, without giving it away or making it too obvious that I'm someone who belongs to the lbgt spectrum myself, and with the hopes that he'd have learned something since the last time, but to no avail.
I try to educate him, he's pretty dismissive and it seems he doesn't want to learn, and he doesn't want to hear opposing views, because it's kind of 'taboo' to him. I wish he'd see things my way, but I don't know if it's right for me to try to influence his beliefs, even if I think I'm guiding him in the right direction. Maybe I should let him decide on his own and hope that he learns someday.
Personally it does sadden me, if I weren't trans (or person with GD or whatever), I would've never known this side of him since I never would have been curious to know his opinions on this subject in the first place. He does say some pretty awful stuff sometimes, but I don't think he's a bad person at all, because I know him quite well. The only thing I've learnt from my cousin is that you can be perfectly rational person about most stuff and still be ignorant about people with deviations from 'standard' or normal gender identity and sexual orientation.
Quote from: Cin on September 04, 2014, 03:09:21 PM
I try to educate him, he's pretty dismissive and it seems he doesn't want to learn, and he doesn't want to hear opposing views, because it's kind of 'taboo' to him.
I think this says it all.
Anyone can be educated, but education is an active process. You can't ram education into the head of someone who obviously doesn't want it.
Maybe the best you can do is to expose him to situations where the facts of LGBT reality are obvious.
People generally reach their biased views based misinformation mixed in with other people's prejudices. Without the education they rarely change their point of view and then go on to infect other people's minds with their half baked nonsense. You're teasing out his point of view, fair enough, but are you countering or challenging that with your own views? If he says something horrible why not ask "why do you say/think that?" Try and get a bit more depth to it and then suggest some other points of view. Or tell him about "someone you went to school with" who has transitioned and see where that goes...
Quote from: Ms Grace on September 04, 2014, 05:01:52 PM
People generally reach their biased views based misinformation mixed in with other people's prejudices. Without the education they rarely change their point of view and then go on to infect other people's minds with their half baked nonsense. You're teasing out his point of view, fair enough, but are you countering or challenging that with your own views? If he says something horrible why not ask "why do you say/think that?" Try and get a bit more depth to it and then suggest some other points of view. Or tell him about "someone you went to school with" who has transitioned and see where that goes...
Well I do try to counter him, I once said "Even if you were trans* or gay, I'd still love you" but he said "You're gay aren't you, oh my god, you're gay!", and then I had to quickly put the conversation to end and convince him that I'm not. He does often say bad stuff that hurts me and my beliefs, but I know he can learn, he's fairly young. I'm just sort of hoping he'd come across a documentary about lbgt people on TV and he'd watch it without changing the channel immediately..