A few months ago, the Pixar movie “Light Year” was controversial worldwide after its release due to the same-sex kissing scenes in the film. 14 countries in the Middle East and Asia have banned the movie because of this reason. 

Fourteen countries that banned “Light Year” and that didn’t are based on their social acceptance of the L.G.B.T.Q society. A student from America, born and raised, and a student from Egypt, a relatively conservative country, I believe the two countries education systems are the primary contributing factor to different mindsets. 

In my opinion, the size of the L.G.B.T.Q. population in a country partly depends on how early people are exposed to it. I have heard that students who have received an education in America have been exposed to L.G.B.T.Q during elementary school, which led to questioning their sexuality at least once in their life. However, conservative countries such as Egypt won’t allow teenagers to get exposed to L.G.B.T.Q. because of their different cultural beliefs. Personally, before studying abroad, I had never learned about L.G.B.T.Q. at my school in Korea, and doubts about my sexuality never occurred because Korea is also not as opened minded as America. 

The education systems of both countries have pros and cons, and the opinions of parents noted in the article are split on whether or not to have L.G.B.T.Q. history in classrooms. However, I think schools must consider the values of their students and their families when deciding to include L.G.B.T.Q. history in their curriculums. 

정희성 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

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