Running head: Assignment 5.

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Signature Assignment
Stephanie Wagerer
Fresno Pacific University

This paper will discuss two cultures that are different from my own. I chose first,
Austrian culture and for my second, I chose the LGBT community. Both friends I interviewed

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live in Austria so I sought to contrast the LGBT culture in Austria against Americas. My first
friend, Kuku, talked about the city where she lives. Kuku lives in Mautern an der Donau near the
city of Krems in lower Austria. She told me about the culture there and how everything revolves
around the agriculture of apricots. We discussed differences and some of the notable ones
included the Krampus run during Christmas and Maibaum aufstehllen setting up the Maypole
which, she told me, either stays up all year or the tradition of Maibaumstehlen happens and the
Maypole is stolen. She talked about the local foods such as the Austrian national food,
weinerschnitzel, and the apricot themed foods and festival that celebrated everything apricot
related.
There are several tourist draws to the country, the most notable being the Mozarthaus in
Vienna and the Christkindlemarkt, a large outdoor festival that runs the length of the Christmas
season with booths, food, wine punch, and outdoor lights. I asked about music as well and she
told me that despite the popularity of music found on the internet, the most common music still
heard on the radio is Schlager music and Austro pop. There is also a large celebration during
Eurovision where each country sends a music star or group to compete in a national talent show
that spans all of Europe. They are very proud of the 2014 winner who was from Austria.
My second friend, Kismuntr, discussed being transgender and gay. In Vienna where he
lives, homosexuality is seen but not discussed in public. The community is primarily Catholic
and resistant to ideals that go agains the church or its teachings. He told me that his parents had
been very open with their Catholicism and he had gone through the typical rituals such as
confirmation and first communion, they were not upset when he left the church. When he came
out as transgender, they had a hard time dealing with it and still often call him by his birth name
but they did not disown him as many other LGBT children are. He talked about how the rights of

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people in the community are not easily accepted by society and the government has very little
supports for them in terms of safety and laws to protect them.
For me, growing up in an agricultural town meant that food was celebrated often. I can
remember the Grape and Wine festival in Lodi, the Greek festival every year, and the blessing of
the grapes here in Fresno. Much like Krems, we had our own culture around food and agriculture
but grapes were the biggest specialty and we were very proud that we grow most of the raisins
sent around the world. Fresno is also a huge melting pot so I grew up with a wide variety of
foods that we ate and cooked though most of them were inspired by my grandpas upbringing in
New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. I learned how to make tamales and enchiladas as a little girl
and enjoyed eating home cooked pinto beans and tortillas. To me, that was comfort food.
In Fresno we celebrated the usual holidays and for me all of them were Christ centered. I
had never heard of the Krampus run until last year, discovering that it was a celebration of a
devilish anti-Santa who stole naughty children. Like Austria, Christmas is one of the biggest
holidays in Fresno and my town is famous for Christmas Tree Lane which has been enjoyed for
over 90 years. We do not have a large Christmas market though like they do in Vienna although
there are holiday boutiques that run for a few days at a time to sell handmade gifts and holiday
decorations.
Most of the music I listened to as a child was also very sheltered. I was not allowed to
listen to popular music until I was in my teens and I was raised on vinyl records of classical,
christian, southern gospel, and jazz from the 40s-60s. Herb Alpert, Scott Joplin, and Hooked on
Classics were my favorite albums. I became aware of punk alternative in sixth grade when a
friend let me listen to Green Day so she could talk to my sister and from that moment on I

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continued to discover the music I had missed out on as a child. I did not start listening to Austro
pop and watching Eurovision until a few years back when Kismuntr introduced them to me.
A huge difference between cultures was that I was raised to fear people who were gay
and lesbian. I was taught from a very young age that men and women who were gay were sinful,
were going to hell, would try to recruit me, and needed to be avoided. My two uncles were gay
and aside from a few very awkward family get togethers, I did not get to know my uncles until
about five years ago. As a child they were frightening to me because I did not understand and I
was taught with misinformation. My first exposure to the community and culture was one of fear
and as time went on and I felt things I knew I was not supposed to, I made an effort to squelch
them with more church and more prayer and being more religious. I also attempted suicide at
least once and injured myself through cutting more times than I wanted to admit.
Kismuntr was raised with a family that, while they were religious and had a hard time
accepting him as a son, did not treat being a a trans man or identifying as gay as something that
was evil or wrong as I was. He was able to transition without too much effort and offer support
to his friend Alex as well whereas I was not able to even admit that I was bisexual until last year
for fear that my parents would reject me. I spent many years trying to believe that I was straight,
got married, had kids, and then my husband left me and I had to struggle through a brand new
experience. I realized last year that I had held an attraction for both men and women for a long
time though, due to personal beliefs, I do not act upon those desires.
My story is not unlike many young children who are born and raised in Christian
households. The religious culture that they are raised in makes it clear that homosexuality is a sin
and, until recently, an unforgivable one at that. Many studies have been done that show teenagers

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and young adults who are on the LGBT spectrum have higher depression rates, suicidal ideations
and mental health concerns that go hand in hand with identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender. Furthermore, LGBT teens and young adults are two to three times more likely to
attempt suicide than any other young people and might comprise up to 30% of completed youth
suicides annually. (Johnson, R., Oxendine, S., Taub, D., & Robertson, J., 2013)
News such as this can be disheartening and indeed there has been several stories in the
past years of teenagers committing suicide due to bullying or their parents rejection after coming
out. Many more teenagers face the risk of being sent to conversion therapy that seeks to change
them from gay to straight, a practice that has been touted by the church but is being questioned in
todays society as to whether it is ethical. Since 2012 it has been illegal in the state of California
to subject minors to conversion therapy and that ruling is only one of many that have come out in
favor of more ethical treatment of the LGBT community. Despite this, many protestants still
view homosexuality as a sin and as a choice. Mirroring past research, Evangelical Protestants
and those who attended religious services frequently were also more likely to believe sexual
orientation was the result of a choice. In these studies gender, political ideology, education, and
income were also associated with attribution style. (Whitehead, A., & Baker, J., 2012)
It is attitudes like this that have caused huge waves in the LGBT community and have
people within that culture looking for ways to end the stigmas associated with being gay or bi or
transgender. They want the world to see them for who they are, human beings, not as a huge
label with a warning sign to stay away. People within the culture also want to have the same
rights as their hetero peers such as marrying and raising families. Before the end of 2013, 16
states in the U.S. had signed laws making marriage equality a reality and as of June 27, 2015, it
was ruled to be legal in all 50 states. Diversity in Families recalls that as early as 1996, the

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Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was signed and was not repealed till 2013. (Zinn, M., &
Eitzen, D., 1990) The views on the LGBT community as a whole is still overwhelmingly
negative within the church which contrasts to the push back in the media. There has been a huge
cultural shift from denial and staying quiet as it was when I was a child to loud, proud, and
openly accepting of it.

I fit somewhere in the middle, caught between a constant worry that admitting my
bisexuality will negate my Christianity and my commitment to Christ. I struggle between
teaching my children that being a part of the LGBT community does not mean you are a bad
person and the long held ideals that the acts of homo and bisexuality are inherently sinful. I find
myself treading a fine line and talking about it when it comes up, revealing small things as they
age, reminding them that they are capable of learning how to love and not cast condemnation. I
encourage them to ask questions and learn about different cultures, just as I have learned about
Austria, started speaking German with my kids and my friends, and learned how to cook
palatschinken and weinerschnitzel. I had to learn the hard way to accept myself for who I am, I
want to raise my children without the fear and bias of a culture the way I was because my family
refused to accept any other way.

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References
Johnson, R., Oxendine, S., Taub, D., & Robertson, J. (2013). Suicide Prevention for LGBT
Students. New Directions for Student Services, 55-69.
Zinn, M., & Eitzen, D. (1990). Diversity in families (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.