Half Support in the LGBTQ+ Community

Recently I took a trip to visit my sister, whose house I rarely go to due to some previous issues with someone else staying there. With my sister and her boyfriend, I met a woman again whom I had met before—for this, let's call her Mary. Mary and I started to talk and somehow our conversation shifted into the LGBTQ+ side of my own personal life, to which I am and always have been open and willing to explain about. As an openly gay transmale, I always aim to teach and better help others understand the LGBTQ+ Lifestyle. I have and will most likely always have to put up with a few complete haters who use either religion or science or other means to try to justify their hate for different individuals. Mary and I were quite deep into a conversation when she said something that made me think, this woman is an ally. She said she had had a nephew who had transitioned and was now a full-fledged woman. She had asked about my transition period, which is still currently undergoing. Our conversation carried on and Mary had been doing so well into making me think she was 100 percent into being an LGBTQ+ ally. Then Mary said, "I will never call him by the name he renamed himself. He will always be (Insert random name)!"

Here's where things went sideways, in the worst way!

After hearing what Mary had just said, she completely went into a rant about how being gay and transgender is completely wrong. Keep in mind that about 20 minutes before, she said she supported the LGBTQ+ Community and had family and friends deep in the community.

My own logical mind wanted to hear her out and find out her reason for her complete flip in 20 minutes. As our conversation went on deeper into her pit of complete hate of the LGBTQ+ Community, it got me thinking. How many more Mary's are out there?

Half support?? What is that?

Half support? To this you might be asking yourself what I mean. Half support can be classed in many ways.

1. People who support only the LGBTQ+ individuals that do not make up their family, sometimes even community.
2. People who only support LGBTQ+ members in their family.
3. People who say they do, until you get into a conversation with them
4. LGBTQ+ members who only support THEIR OWN sexuality or gender.

There are so many more examples of this out there that I have both seen and heard of as a member of the LGBTQ+ Community.

Is half support DAMAGING?

Let me start off with some facts.

The Williams Institute published a paper in 2011 that says there are roughly 9 million LGBTQ members in America alone based on a study done. That's the rough estimate of New Jersey alone. That is about 3.5 percent of Americans based on the 2011 year.

Report by The Williams Institute for your reading: "How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender?"

Anyways, back to the present day.

That number has grown—to what percentage? I don't know but we can assume it's grown to probably double that. So with that many LGBTQ members, is having half supporters damaging?

Me, personally—I do find half supporters to be quite damaging to the LGBTQ+ population, more so to the youth of the community!

As a youth is growing and exploring their sexuality they should always have a positive role model for that. Half supporters damage that. If a youth thinks that this "half supporter" is 100 percent for the LGBTQ+ Community and then turns out to be a half supporter, they have now been exposed to, in a lack for better words, a live wire. The person they once felt safe talking about these things is no longer a safe zone. Some half supporters don't even realise the damage they are causing to members of the LGBTQ+. Growing up is hard enough for LGBTQ+ Youth. They shouldn't have to worry about individuals who only support some of the community or only support it to look good.

That leaves the open question for both the community and those not part of the community.

Is it better to have the half-support of individuals versus no support from these same individuals?

Thank you.