Project proposal

I have to say that one of the greatest things about the IDS dept. would have to be the creative liberties that each person takes. Not just in choosing courses, but also a lot of the work that we do in those courses. That said, I wanted to come up with a topic that would be a little out of the ordinary.....well, at least for me.

I have chosen to do research on discrimination against LGBTs (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transsexuals, for those of you not familiar with the acronym) and homophobia in the Latin American media. Being a Latin American Studies major, I knew I was going to have to do something on Latin America. However, I wanted my research to include other topics in order to make it 'interdisciplinary.' I chose this so I could use my historical background in Latin America, and combine it with Gay/Lesbian Studies, Gender Studies, and Media Studies in order to make the paper and presentation more interesting.

I said that this is a little out of the ordinary for me, because I have never done research on LGBTs, especially in the media. I have had a little background in Gender Studies, but with the exception of one of my Psychology courses, this topic was primarily a personal interest outside the classroom setting. I think what inspired me to do this topic was actually the bigotry of some of the members of my former church. Even the minister conspicuously "gay-bashed" from time to time. This got my mind thinking, "I wonder if this type of behavior goes on in predominantly Roman Catholic Latin America?..." I thought that it would be an interesting topic even though I am not a gay or trans-gender myself, nor am I a Roman Catholic Latin American either.