Stranger is a status given to a person who is not recognized by society as a friend or an enemy while being denied full legal and social rights associated with being a full-fledged citizen. Shane Phelan stated that when people are denied the opportunity to share a communal identity with the vast public and are excluded from certain rights that are a part of that people’s collective identity, then they are second-class citizens (Phelan, 18). In the past, gays and lesbians were denied fair treatment such as marriage licenses and instead receiving respect that is guaranteed to all first-class citizens, they are instead treated as strangers with toleration acts that are reserved for second-class citizens. Currently, the mediocre progress of full …show more content…
In a social context, citizenship provide a sense of belonging because it makes a person feel welcome in his or her nation. Second-class citizens have legal rights but are still excluded from the mainstream in a social sense. The same-sex second-class citizen face restrictions on social elements such as sexual expression. Our founding fathers, as far as we know, were heterosexual males and they created laws that favored people like them. The case of Bowers vs Hardwick in 1986 established that in the state of Georgia it was illegal for two consenting adults to engage in homosexual acts. The US government attacks gays and lesbians’ right of privacy, or the right for consensual adults to engage in sexual private activity which reinforce only heteronormativity can have first-class citizenship. It was not until the case of Lawrence vs Texas in 2003 did sodomy laws get overturned for violating people’s right to privacy. Since then this has created the debate on the effects of right to privacy vs. queer public culture. The limitation of granting homosexulas the right to privacy is that does not guarantee respect from the general public. The queer public culture or having openly gay couples also ensure only toleration for the gay community because it allows those who fit society's definition of good queers to stay popular but those who do not fit the mold is
All human beings are born with genes that are unique to them and make us the individuals we become. The right to exist as an individual in society achieving the best possible potential of one’s existence irrespective of any bias is expected by most humans. In the essay, ‘The new Civil Rights’ Kenji Yoshino discusses how the experience of discovering and revealing his sexual preference as a gay individual has led to him proposing a new civil rights by exploring various paradigms of the rights of a human being to exist in today’s diverse society. In exploring the vast demands of rights ranging from political or basic human rights we have differentiated ourselves into various groups with a common thread weaving through all the demands which
The focus of the book helps understand the true importance of books like Gay New York, Coming Out Under Fire, and Men Like That by explaining the progress made in the United States regarding the acceptance of the gay community into society. Consisting of six chapters that cover many issues regarding the government, including the military, welfare, and immigration. Much like in Coming Out Under Fire, Canaday points out issues gay men and women faced following World War II. From the mid-1940s into the late 1960s, the state crafted tools to overtly target homosexuality (Canaday, 2009). Policies were enacted that explicitly used homosexuality to define who could serve in the military (Canaday, 2009). Much has changed since then, considering the infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was repealed. Canaday’s main argument in the book is that sexual citizenship was built into the federal bureaucracy as it was being created, and this needs to be more attended to by historians (Canaday, 2009). According to Canaday, the foundations of sexual citizenship are the reason the United States has such an issue with securing universal gay rights. Issues in the South are also addressed, much like in Men Like That. Religion and the power it has in the country limits many initiatives that support gay
People of LGBT community keep on facing numerous discrimination and hatred from our society throughout their life. Our society is often unknown and ignorant about the right of LGBT community, therefore, confused about how to respect or welcome them into our society. Because of our unfamiliarity and of lack of knowledge about this LGBT community, sometimes, our occasional effort to respect this community turns into a discriminatory statement towards that community. For instance, our president Donald J. Trump’s statement on LGBT society just points a finger on us of how much we actually know about this society when he states, “There can be no discrimination against gays. I’m against gay marriage”. It shows how confuse we are about the rights of LGBT society that even our president couldn’t make it clear whether he is against discrimination or against the equality of this particular society. There are several other instances when our view on this society as a monstrous one creates many societal discriminations. In many instances, LGBT couples don't offer to enjoy the societal advantages like any other opposite-sex married couples, and consequently, go through several societal discriminations and denied many societal rights and justices. Furthermore, in
In the “Class Of America” article, the author Gregory Mantsios displays his point of view on what society says class individuals are in and how that affects their lives further than people in America think. Mantsios believes that citizens in the United States prefer not be put in different social categories like higher, middle, or lower class just because of the income value. Mantsios elaborates on his beliefs about class categories in America and disproves them by using statistics for evidence. In example, he claims that the class you are placed in will affect your lifestyle. Mantsios also debates that whatever class you fall under reflects on how well you will prosper in life, just like schools connecting test scores and the level of schooling the student receives. Whatever class a person is categorized in defining their future in life, even, if they choose to not see it that way that’s how it is.
The ideal concept of American society is one in which all of the citizens are treated equal in all every realm and situation. Class, race or gender does not divide the utopian America; everyone is afforded the same opportunities and chances for success. In this chimerical state Americans are able to go as far as their dreams allow and with hard work and perseverance any thing is possible. Many Americans subscribe to this pluralist view of the Country, believing that within our democratic system it is the majority who maintains control and sets policy. Unfortunately this idyllic country does not exist nor has it ever existed. America is made up of distinct social classes and the movement within those classes is for the most part, limited to the various classes in the middle where the lines of demarcation are blurred. Although the majority of the Country's population would attest to the myth that America is a classless society, the distinctions definitely exist and influence the entire life scope of most Americans. Housing, health care, education, career prospects and social status are all dependent on the amount of wealth one has and their class standing. Our system needs the built in inequities of the class system in order to perpetuate itself and the upper class needs to have their interests as the dominant determiner of corporate and governmental power and policy.
Currently, only 13 countries offer rights for members of the LGBT community. Within those countries, few offer equal rights such as health care, marriage rights, and adoption to LGBT members. Many people around the globe would agree that these rights, along with all other rights granted to heterosexuals, should not be granted to these members of the LGBT community. One prevalent notion is that being gay, or being included in the LGBT community, is unnatural. This notion is simply incorrect; everyone, no matter their gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation does, in fact, deserve the same liberties as their heterosexual counterparts. Being a member of the LGBT community has no negative effect on the lives of others unless those people view heterosexuality in a negative light, allowing it to bedevil them, and ultimately change the way they live their life. Being gay is completely natural. Though some would argue that homosexuality is unnatural, others would disagree, being that research has been conducted. The conclusion was that the way people think and feel towards others is s...
In the world of today, people of different ethnicities, cultures, and groups, such as religion, live in the same communities more often times than not. Although they are technically an association, there still tends to be a “black sheep”, or in other words, an outcast among the group. These unlucky or perhaps lucky, depending on the point of view, individuals are then alienated either in a positive or negative way. On one hand there exist a variety of people that believe being an outsider is only experienced by a select few. On the other hand some argue that everyone at one point or another is isolated from the rest of society. However, the fact that there lives so many distinct individual’s tends to make people favor only one of the claims. The experience of being an outsider is undoubtedly universal due to people belonging to different groups, having distinct personalities as well
When we first broke into our groups, I was a bit confused as to why we were doing this exercise. I thought that it was probably had to do with sharing ideas of being in a privileged socioeconomic status so we could merge groups afterward and share what we brainstormed, which turned out to be correct. I wasn’t surprised to be included in the middle-upper class group because for where I stood during the “privilege line” activity. One difference that was noted in our group was how it felt to be in the middle-upper class group. I said that I felt a bit of pride because the reason for why I was in this class was because of how my mother worked to overcome oppression. Other people said they felt guilty because they didn’t have to work for anything they had today, and almost everything they had was inherited. I now understand why they felt that way because of the reading for this week.
The Second Amendment and the right to personal gun use and ownership, is under attack in The United States today. Apparently the Second Amendment wasn’t clear enough when it states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" and politicians are calling for this amendment to be altered or even removed. Firearms have always been a big part of the American culture, and the ability to own a gun is detrimental to not only protecting one’s life and property, but also to keep the government in line. Author William Burroughs said, “After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn 't do it. I sure as hell wouldn
Imagine yourself in a life of poverty. No healthcare, earning low wages in poor working conditions. This is the life of an illegal immigrant, surprisingly, in the United States of America. What, exactly, is an immigrant? According to the World Almanac of U.S. Politics 1997, “Not subject to any numerical limitation, immigrants [are] classified as immediate relatives (spouses, parents, or natural children) of U.S. citizens; returning permanent resident aliens; certain former U.S. citizens; and certain long-term U.S. government employees” (Wagman). The fear stemmed from being caught as an illegal immigrant hinders every decision of his livelihood, from education to employment—their whole lives are affected in a negative manner. No one needs to live that way. The solution, however, is not to simply accept every willing immigrant freely, but to give all foreigners a more fair and reasonable chance of becoming a citizen of the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Strict enforcement of a more streamline verification process by the government in supervising legal immigration is needed to continue America’s evolution culturally and economically with the addition of individuals from foreign nations trying to properly enter the United States of America.
While the gay rights movement has been around for some time, the things that they fight for is forever changing. Currently it is fighting for the right to marry, and receive all the rights straight people get when they marry. Married privilege is like white privilege; married people have more rights then non-married people, no matter what sex a person is married to. These benefits include insurance coverage’s under a spouse policy, social security benefit inheritance, receiving pension and personal assets without taxation, visitation rights at the hospital without question and making health care decisions (LaSala, 2007). In addition to all that, there is a social benefit to being married; it represents a healthy, developed and normal relationship (LaSala, 2007). Before reading this article, I never thought about why married people are given all of these rights. I never thought about where they came from, who made them up, or why they were even made. Why are we fighting for legalizing same-sex marriage a...
basic civil rights protections for GLBT people.” (Currah, Minter p.9) Many of the LGBT population feel like their personal freedoms and liberties have been violated as lawmakers in some states and countries infringe on their personal rights. Passings of legislature that marginalizes the LGBT population is not only unjust and inhumane but it causes sociological and societal implications that question that persons beliefs about themselves leading to the dangerous climate facing the group from within themselves and the population around
As a United States citizen who was born in the new millennium, I was brought up with the idea that, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This statement was one of the main sources of fuel for the Civil Rights Movements in the mid 1950’s/60’s in the United States. Minority groups have often been mistreated in the United States culminating in movements much like that of the women’s suffrage movement, civil rights movements and now a movement toward equality for the LGBTQIA. In the last few decades a new minority group, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and allies, and their struggle to attain their right to the pursuit of happiness. This small makes up roughly 4 percent of the US population. Though many say that gay marriage will weaken the moral foundation of our country, it should be legalized, not only because banning it is unconstitutional, but also because strips people of their human rights
Social class assumes different definitions based on an individual’s view on the topic. The definition may take the 20th Century assumption of sociological strata and one portrayed by the imperialist understanding of class. The sociological perspective of social class highlights an individual’s or group’s classification, as well as their position in societal standing, as predetermined by history, economy, and the role that they are expected to play as a result of being in that stratum (Jereb and Ferjan 155). While social class may take different interpretations, the interpretation adopted in this study is that of social strata that one occupies in a socially stratified society. The argument here is that social class is increasingly becoming less important in our society.
dThe treatment of the LGBT community in American society is a true social injustice. LGBT, or the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, community has gone through many hardships whether it’s been being harassed, denied