Boomers

I hate that word and I hate all the other words to describe the generations; Gen-X, Millennials, Gen-Z, and of course Boomers. Why do I not like those words is because they try to fit everyone into a box, it you were born during these years you are suppose to have these common traits… Bull!

Why do so many Gen Zers identify as LGBTQ? Because of the sacrifices of prior generations, experts say
USA Today via Yahoo News
By Amanda Pérez Pintado
June 8, 2022


For baby boomers, it was Stonewall. For many in Generation X, it was the AIDS crisis and for millennials, it was the legalization of gay marriage.

Those battles over whether all Americans have equal rights, regardless of their sexual orientation, helped shape each of those generations and experts say Generation Z, where more than 20% of Americans identify as LGBTQ, are reaping the benefits of those fights.

"I think we've done a really good job collectively of understanding that you are who you are, like, there's no one right way to be in the community," said 19-year-old Olivia Julianna, a Houston-based activist who identifies as queer.

"It's just accepting people for who they are," Julianna said.

But the struggle is not over, states all around the country are passing anti-trans legislation, some Republicans states have started pushing the envelope on marriage equality and want to criminalize again same-sex relationships.

Overall, a record 7.1% of adults in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ, according a Gallup poll released this year. But about 21% of adults in Julianna's generation – those born between 1997 and 2003 – identified as LBTQ in the poll, compared to 10.5% of millennials, 4.2% of Gen Xers and 2.6% of baby boomers.

Our numbers are increasing but… we are only 7% of the population and we count on the other 93% to do the right thing. However, hate is growing against us generated by the Republican party and evangelical Christians.

Unlike previous generations, Gen Z is coming of age online, with access to LGBTQ content and communities without the need of physical proximity.

"LGBTQ communities have thrived in certain ways since the advent of internet because it's allowed people to connect with each other and seek out information from the privacy of their home and maybe, you know, clear their browser history and no one has to know about it," Westengard said.

And that is bring a cultural change.

Gone are the gay bars.

Going are the support groups.

If you visit peer support groups you will see members in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and even int heir seventies but no one in their twenties or thirties.

Even trans conferences have an older clientele.

"LGBTQ-plus rights are completely tied to reproductive health care and abortion rights," Julianna said. "The number one thing we can do is...to have support systems in place for ourselves as a community, meaning we can be there for each other emotionally or financially if or when Obergefell v. Hodges or Roe v. Wade is struck down."

If you read the news you can see the Republicans already trying to whittle away the rights that many senior citizens fought for.

First it was Florida but according to NPR in the article Not just Florida. More than a dozen states propose so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bills says,

"Florida may be the first in this wave, but there have been other laws in the past that were called 'no promo homo' laws, which forbid saying positive things about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people in classrooms," Simmons told NPR. "With the increased visibility of transgender and non-binary people, we have seen these bills expand to also prohibit educating students about gender diversity and gender identity.

First Florida. Then Alabama. Now, lawmakers in Ohio and Louisiana are considering legislation that mimics the Florida law. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he'll make a similar bill a top priority at the next session.

Chop, chop, chop.

NPR lists these states as having anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in the legislatures this year; Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisana, Missouri, Ohio,  Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Chop, chop, chop.

"The institutionalization of these bills is an overt form of structural transphobia and homophobia, and it goes against all public health evidence in creating a safe and supportive environment for transgender, nonbinary, queer, gay and lesbian youths and teachers to thrive," Arjee Restar, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington, told NPR.

We cannot bring about change alone we need allies!

We have to stand with the women right’s groups and the other minorities who are struggling for their rights. We have to reach out across the generations.

We cannot let the Pastor Martin Niemöller poem come true we have to…

Speak out for all the other marginalized peoples, united we stand divided we fall.