Ngaruawahia High School Yearbooks 1994-2009 Ngaruawahia High School Yearbook 2009

Year 10 Speech Winner 2009, Morgan Timms Have you heard of this joke? “What do you call a gay man? Anything you want because that poofta ain’t gonna do anything about it!” Is that really that funny? about it!” Is that really that funny? I am here to talk about the progress we’ve made with Gay Rights, or the progress we think we’ve made. Rights, or the progress we think we’ve made. Sure, we’ve come a long way from the day where you were imprisoned for being gay, or killed (by Hitler). imprisoned for being gay, or killed (by Hitler). Today, if you are gay, you can even get married ? sort of. You can’t adopt, but you don’t get harassed as much. There are even laws protecting gay rights. But how far have we actually come since the bad old days? come since the bad old days? Well, let’s have a closer look. You are probably familiar with the following words ? faggot, fairy, dyke, bent, queer, poofta; you the following words ? get my drift, even the word “gay” itself. While it describes a person of a homosexual nature, it is mostly used in a derogatory way. way. “That’s so gay,” meaning it’s not so good. As in, if it’s gay it’s bad. But gay (an don’t bother arguing with me) means homosexual. So it’s the equivalent of saying gay is bad, a put? put? down. down. Words are extremely powerful ways of putting people down. And gay people definitely suffer from more than their fair share of put?downs. People don’t even realize they’re doing it. put? They have become so accustomed to using a word that describes someone homosexual as a put?down that it becomes automatic, put? thoughtless. It’s time to become more thoughtful and to think before we speak. before we speak. Of course, it’s not just language that can be used for put? put? downs. It’s how we think about things. downs. It’s how we think about things. What’s your mental image of a faggot? You know, a typical gay guy? Dresses tidily, small build, very effeminate, very creative, probably a hair?dresser or an actor. And a typical lesbian? Big hair? build, short hair, wears boys’ clothes, hairy legs and butch?looking. butch? looking. Then there are the drag queens in the gold lam’e ball gowns and bouffy wigs, blue eye?shadow and high eye? heels, dancing to “I Will Survive”. So, so gay?! heels, dancing to “I Will Survive”. So, so gay?! But do we really know who is gay from what they look like? I’ve given you some stereotypes but most gay people are not like that at all. Most are able to hide, which is lucky, in a world which is so homophobic. which is lucky, in a world which is so homophobic. Ten percent of the population is allegedly gay. That’s at least two people in this class. But would you know? Not really, because people think of the stereotypes. stereotypes. But we have to keep coming back to the argument. How far have we actually come wit ? ????? ?)?????? ?]? ????? ??? ????????? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ?)? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ????e? ?)???????? ?=/ ?? ???? ?????????? ?)???????? ?=/ ?? ???? ?????????? ?+ ?)Q??? ???? ??A??????? ??1?? ??%? ??????? ??????? ????? ?)?????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ?=??? ??? ???? ?)??? ??]????????? ????? ???? ???????? ??M????? ??????? ????? ?)???? ???? ???? ???????? ??? ???? ??????? ????? ?!? ???? ?)? ????? ?????? ?)? ????? ?????? ?+ ?)Q?? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? ???????e? ????? ????????? ?) ?? ???? ????? ???? ????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ?)??????? ????????????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?)Q??? ???? ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????????? ?)Q??? ???? ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????????? ?+ ?)!?? ???????? ??? ???? ?]??? ?????? ??? ????????? ?? ?)???? ???????? ?????? ???????? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ?)????? ??? ???????? ????? ???? ?????????? ???? ????????? ??%? ?????? ?)???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?)???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?+ ?)M?? ???? ?? ??????e? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???e? ????? ?? ?)??????? ??M??? ??? ????? ???????? ??? ????? ??' ?????? ??? ?????? ?)?????? ???? ????? ????? ???????? ???? ???????? ???? ???? ?????? ?)?? ???? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ?)?? ???? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ?+ ?) ?? ?' ??????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ??? ???? ????????? ?))??? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ???????? ???? ??? ??????? ??q????t? ?!?? ?)???? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ????? ??? ??? ??????????? ? ?)???? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ????? ??? ??? ??????????? ? ?)?? ????????? ??? ??? ???????? ????? ?? ????? ??????? ?+ ?)???? ??????? ???? ??? ????? ?]??? ????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?)??? ???????? ?5?? ???e? ??? ????? ???e? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ?)??? ???????? ?5?? ???e? ??? ????? ???e? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ?+ ?+ ?)' ????? ???? ?)' ????? ???? ?((0

Ngaruawahia High School Yearbooks 1994-2009 Ngaruawahia High School Yearbook 2009 | Page 45