Gay Rights Movements

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By now, unless one is living under some possibly metaphorical rock, everyone has probably heard about the gay rights movement/queer movement and heard all the sides of the homosexuality movement, ranging from 'Gay people should burn in Hell for their sins' to 'Equality for all sexualities and genders'. And the transgender movement is just starting to take off, starting with California passing a law which allows Trans* students to "participate in sex-segregated programs, activities and facilities" ("California Law Allows..." 1). Now, of course, most of us know what heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual and transgender are -- or, hopefully, at least. Usually society likes to pretend this is all there is to sexuality and gender. You are either one thing, or you are not, and that is it; you are heterosexual or you are homosexual, and if you are bisexual obviously either you're a liar or are 'have one foot in the closet'. This is completely and wholly not true. Despite how society illustrates it, gender identities among individuals are not simply black and white, but instead they are a spectrum of colour.
One of the many things truly overlooked in the LGBTQA+ movement is gender identities. Most people know things about transgendered people, although they are widely unaccepted, seeing as "49 per cent of transgender people attempt suicide" (Bockting 167), and "1 in 12 transgender people in America is murdered" (Bockting 172). Now, those are horrifying statistics and if that does not make you cringe or want to retch or weep over the injustices of society, what will? It is rather disgusting how society treats people whom they consider 'abnormal'. However, transgender is not the only gender identity faced with issues. While it is a huge pro...

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...o pick bathrooms, sports teams they identify with - CBS News." CBS News - Breaking News, U.S., World, Business, Entertainment & Video. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Eveleth, Rose. "What Percent of the Population is Gay? More Than You Think." Smithsonian Magazine 1 Oct. 2013: 121-123. SIRS Issue Researcher. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Handy, Matthew. "Are You Gay?" Significance 1 Oct.-Nov. 2008: 134 - 135. SIRS Issue Researcher. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Huegel, Kelly. Glbtq: The Survival Guide for Queer & Questioning Teens. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub, 2003. Print.
Killermann, Sam. "A Comprehensive List of LGBTQ+ Term Definitions." It's Pronounced Metrosexual. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
"Legally Recognize Non-Binary Genders We the People: Your Voice in Our Government." N.p., Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
The Transgender Law and Policy Institute: Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

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