Livro sobre o impacto da homofobia na adolescência

Abstract

This research proposes to give visibility to the consequences of homophobia on the mental health of non-heterosexual adolescents, giving greater focus on the process of transforming the pain of being who one is, into pride in fighting, resisting and existing. In other words, this work uses an autobiographical perspective as an invitation to reflect on the processes of suffering and confrontation experienced by LGBT adolescents as a result of homophobia, bringing as a conclusion a message of strength and resistance. This work is justified by the higher prevalence of substance abuse, risky sexual practices and suicidal ideations and attempts among LGBT adolescents as a way of dealing with a hostile and intimidating reality. In this context, during my adolescence, I used writing as a way of coping. Through writing I was able to share, between the paper and myself, part of the pain, resisting, most of the time, to self-destructive impulses. In view of this, during this period, I wrote several poems that reflect my emotional suffering at the time, caused by homophobia (feared and experienced). Therefore, through the methodology of Design Thinking, this work proposes to use editorial design to convey a message of strength and resistance to teenagers in the LGBT community, from the pain of adolescence to pride in adulthood in the context of confronting homophobia. As a result, there is a book, whose textual content is composed of letters written by my “adult self” (present) in response to poems from my “teenage self” (past). In this way, with my critical and mature look, I bring comfort and pride to my wounded adolescence. Despite the therapeutic effect that this work has on me, its main function is to demonstrate that the wounds of an LGBT adolescence can heal, revealing a trajectory of resistance that unfolds in pride in the struggle to be who we are. Certainly, the book brings healing letters to several wounded adolescences.