Imagine you're left-handed. How would you feel if you were bullied for this simple reason? What if you have blue eyes and I beat you in the schoolyard because of the color of your eyes? Sounds ridiculous, right? What I'm going to talk about today is equally absurd. It's like a poison that permeates the very fabric of society. I'm talking about homophobia, a problem that remains largely unresolved. With this speech I would like us to reflect on the presence of this problem in society and the threats it represents for humanity. And finally I will propose possible ways to eliminate this stigma. To be honest, when I had my first encounter with homophobia, I didn't really understand this hatred. I saw a movie called The Laramie Project. It tells the true story of Matthew Shepard. You may have heard of him. Matthew Shepard was an innocent gay student who was tortured and left to die tied to a fence because of his sexual orientation. I couldn't understand it because until then I had never been exposed to gay culture and therefore I didn't consider homosexuality a weakness. The fact is that I saw homosexuality as a fact, I didn't question it, I didn't attribute certain characteristics or qualities to it. And I still don't. To me it's just a part of people's personal lives. You can imagine how shocked I was when I discovered that there were people who thought that other people's sexual preferences influenced them. But I wanted to understand, because there had to be some explanation behind this behavior. So I started reading. Now I will share with you my journey of discovery. Let me start from the beginning. Homophobia means “fear of equality”. Describes irrational fear or hatred of homosexuals. It can come in any shape or form. It can be...... middle of paper......quality in dignity and rights. Why did we turn our backs on him? This should remind us that gay people are people. The next step should be public endorsement by credible religious leaders. It may seem impossible or out of reach, but I assure you it is not. Last month the Dalai Lama publicly declared that he accepted homosexuality. Pope Francis has declared his support for LGBT marriages. But even the greatest efforts will be ineffective if we treat homophobia in isolation. Homophobes are likely to be people who show a general dislike of stigmatized groups. To eradicate this problem from our society, we must work to overcome all aspects of discrimination to create a safe space for tolerance to thrive. The first steps towards achieving equality have already been taken. It's our turn to educate ourselves and lead by example. Now it's your turn!
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