Andai Tiada Duka ☑️

Bab 43

"Aisyah, baca ni."

Assalamualaikum and good morning to everyone. Today I would like to talk about one of the most sensitive topics nowadays. Gays. The term gay was originally used to refer to the feeling of being "carefree", but later in the modern era, it has primarily come to be used as an adjective and a noun; referring to people that practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. Why did some teenagers choose to lead their life as gay? Is it because of all the lies that they are often heard of, the sexual pressure that they encounter in early teenager's life, their gender insecurity or all of it?

There are so many lies told to these teenagers. The most popular lie is "Homosexuality is normal and healthy". According to "Facts About Youth", a website from the American College of Paediatricians, acting physically on same-sex attractions is certainly not healthy. Those who do are at far greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, depression, emotionally exhausting relationships, and a shorter lifespan. Another popular lie is "Since you were born that way, you can't change". There is no scientific evidence that shows anyone is born gay and change is possible because there are thousands of people who were once gay have experienced significant changes in their attractions and behavior.

Teenagers are under an extraordinary amount of sexual pressure, because of this; they are often pushed to decide their sexual orientation too early. Since the brain is not finished developing until the age of 25, teenagers tend to make decisions out of the region of the brain that control emotion, thus confused when they were asked about their sexual orientation. A psychiatrist named Dr. Jeffrey Satinover from The University of Minnesota says, "Without any intervention, three out of four boys who think they're gay at age 16 are not by 25". This shows that their body is actually just begun to experience the changes and it is normal development for them. All they need is actually just a constant encouragement to face the sexual pressures and to stand against it.

There are not many adults that are sensitive enough to talk freely about their children's gender insecurity; to speak the truth about the emotional attraction that they encounter mostly at age ten. Become attracted to the same gender at in early age means that teenagers are transitioning through normal adolescent development and most teenagers do not know that it is a fact that we need to attach with the same gender before with the opposite. God gives each of us the needs for attention, approval, and affection. So when those needs are not met, teenagers often long it from the people of their same gender, results in others' misunderstands with they are being gay.

To conclude, some teenagers choose to lead their life as gay, mainly because of all the lies that they are often heard of, the sexual pressure that they encounter in early teenager's life and their gender insecurity. A label such as "gay" is incredibly hurtful, and it is easy for those who are slapped with those labels to believe in them. It's essential for teenagers to know who they actually are—beloved, precious, and needed to rule their country one day. Adults especially need to understand that teenagers are always insecure of themselves and need to be affirmed and encourage them in developing their innate feelings."

"Dan? Apa kena mengena dengan saya?"

"Tak, saya ingat, saya nak set up satu NGO-based program yang boleh tolong budak-budak yang mencari seksualiti diorang. Awak rasa ok tak?"

"Hanum cakap apa?"

"Dia ok je. Cuma dia suruh saya minta pendapat awak. Sebab awak kan ada pengalaman pahit jugak. Jadi saya fikir macam, after we shoot this one, maybe we can go to another level. You know, helping kids with abusive parents or anyone that is in an abusive relationship?"

"Izwan, this is getting nowhere. Awak pun tahu saya tak suka bercakap hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan John."

"Come on Aisyah. It has been 4 months. You should move on."