Yeleny Navarro

Facundo León
Teacher: Sandra Olaya
A09 2022

Y: Good morning teacher and classmates, today we’re going to cover a controversial issue.

F: Many experts say that we are living in the most advanced part of history. Even though
people have achieved many amazing things, such as global communication, technology
advance, and genetic modification, discrimination is still an entrenched trend in our time, and
it has been so for many years. Many people have fought through the years to eliminate
unfair treatment. In the past there were giant cases of discrimination because of skin color,
gender or economic level, but nowadays we’re facing a different type of discrimination:
discrimination because of sexual orientation.

Y: Why are there prejudices against them? Many people believe that they are disgusting,
aggressive, spoiled and scandalous, and they may stand up for themselves by showing
some examples that “prove” what they think. Can the actions of some members create a
bad concept of a whole group? Sadly, they can. The common actions of many or few
integrants of a group can give a bad idea of every single of its members.

F: For example, many foreigners here in Peru came as good people, but it turns out that they
were dangerous criminals, as a result, many people believe that every single foreigner is a
violent person. Because a considerable part of a group acts in some way, we tend to
assume that all of them are the same. Many may fall into this, but is it fair to think like that?
No.

Y: As individuals, each one of us has a different personality, many factors can affect it, but
none of them define it. Not even if we belong to one group. For one thing, it would be unreal
and unfair to sentence every member of a group or race for the actions of some. For
another, it would also be foolish to blindly trust in all of them for the same reason. And for
another, what demonstrates if someone is trustable or not are his actions.

F: Like in a fair trial, the result must depend on evidence that proves what is alleged, in the
same way, someone should be trusted depending on his actions, not on what group he
belongs to. Just having a bad idea of some, people tend to judge someone with a different
sexual orientation without even knowing the person!

Y: After all, we all have moral values, and see what’s right and wrong, if someone has a bad
behavior, it’s his decision to follow it, but not his sexual orientation. Now, what if we do not
agree with their actions?

F: Many conflicts between people happen because of different opinions about controversial
topics, and sexual orientation is a big one. The arguments can be so angry that it can end in
violence. Both parts, in favor and against, would kill the other one to prove they’re right. Do
different opinions justify rejection? No.
Y: We all are free to choose what we want to do, be or believe, but we cannot force others to
do the same. This freedom is personal. We could even choose to do thriller but dangerous
things, but we should never force others to do the same. As law says, no one should be
forced to change his ideas of any type. If we want our ideas to be respected, we also need to
respect other ideas.

F: In conclusion, there are no reasons to treat people as garbage or as inferior because of

their sexual orientation, or any other reason. We all, without exceptions, deserve respect.
But here comes a different question: does respect mean that we have to approve every
idea?

Y: In my opinion we need to respect the ideas of other people, because this permits us to
understand our environment, to better adapt to it. Also, it is important to respect and
motivate tolerance and because we all have the freedom to provide opinions as long as
they don’t harm anyone. Although respect is a universal value, there are people who aren’t
worthy of respect, and this is associated with their behavior and ways of being.

F: As I see it, respect means that we have to accept that there are different ideas out there,
and others are free to choose to follow them, but we don't need to approve them. For
example, I disagree with teenagers having relationships, I think it’s not the time, and I
wouldn’t do that. But if someone does, it doesn’t turn him into my enemy. I may reject that
behavior, but not the person. Same happens here, if someone gets mad because another
one does not agree, who’s the one rejecting a different opinion?

Y: That’s all, thank you very much for your attention :)