Proposition 8: Play Analysis

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The event, The Reading of the Play “8,” took place at OU’s School of Law on Sunday, April 19th 2015. The play is based on Proposition 8, which is the amendment to the California State Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Dustin Lance Black wrote the play in response to a court battle over Proposition 8, the California ballot measure, which banned same sex marriage in the state. The play takes place in a courtroom on June 16, 2010 as two separate same sex couples speak up and fight for the rights to have marriage equality. They were opposing the use of the terms civil union and domestic partner and were seeking instead to be able to use the term marriage as it related to their relationships. There were a …show more content…

A co-culture is a group of people who share values, customs, and norms related to mutual interests or characteristics beside their nation citizenship. The characters in the play “8” demonstrate this concept due to the fact that there are two sides; one side for same sex marriage and the other against same sex marriage. In addition each side of the court is an in-group, which is a group of people with which a person identifies. It is clear to see that both sides of the argument can identify with each other because each side wants the same outcome. Another example of communication in the play was listening, which is defined as the active process of making meaning out of another person’s spoken message. The attorneys as well as the judge did an exemplary job of listening to what the individuals for each side had to say. One of the characters told of growing up gay and when his parents discovered his journal they were extremely upset and sent him to NARTH (National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality), he admitted that he did not commit to the therapy, he just wanted to survive. By sitting through all of the therapy sessions without really listening this character was engaging in pseudo listening. As well as being in a large group courtroom environment the characters also engaged in communication within their close proximities such as face-to-face. While participating in face-to-face conversations the various characters were able to pay attention to each other’s words as well as their expressions and

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