Stonewall Riots Research Paper

LGBTQIA stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual. The LGBTQIA topic is still an issue in society. There are people who are still against it. Some people in society still see this topic as a negative thing. The Stonewall riots was an important event for the LGBTQIA community. Stonewall is where the gay rights movement started. The transgender community is an important part of the LGBTQIA community. Same sex marriage was an important event that happened and impacted people of the community. The LGBTQIA community has many influential people like Laverne cox and Caitlyn Jenner. The L and G stands for lesbian and gay which means you are attracted to the same sex. The B stands for bisexual which means you are

attracted to 2 genders. T stand for transgender which are people whose gender identity differs to their sex. Q stands for queer which a term to anyone that identifies or feels outside the norms of the sexualities or gender. I is intersex which is a term for people who don't typically fit the definition of male or female. It has to do more with genetics in which your chromosomes don't correspond with your sex. And A for asexual which means you don't experience sexual attraction. People of the LGBTQIA community should be allowed the same rights because they should be treated as everyone else

The Stonewall riots was a bunch of riots that were happening at the same time with the members of the LGBT+ community against police.

The stonewall riots happened june 28, 1969. It took place in the the Stonewall inn which is located in Greenwich Village which is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. “The stonewall inn is widely known as the birthplace of the modern LGBT rights movement and holds a truly iconic place in history” (gaycitynews). This means that the Stonewall riots was the event that started the gay rights movement. This is saying that The Stonewall is where the gay rights movement started for gay people to have same rights has anyone else. It all started with A number of incidents that were happening simultaneously. “There was no one thing that happened or one person, there was just… a flash of group, of mass anger”(Wright). This means that everything was happening at once and a bunch of people were angry. People in the crowd started shouting “Gay Power!” “And as the word started to spread through Greenwich Village and across the city, hundreds of gay men and lesbians, black, white, Hispanic, and predominantly working class, converged on the Christopher Street area around the Stonewall Inn to join the fray”(Wright). So many gay and lesbian people were chanting “gay power” . “The street outside the bar where the rebellion lasted for several day and night in june”(gaycitynews). so the stonewall riot lasted many days and

nights.

The T in LGBTQIA stands for Transgender. Transgender people are people whose gender identity differs to their sex. So it has to do more with gender identity. “The word “transgender” – or trans – is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to at birth”(Human rights campaign). So being transgender means that the sex you were born with is different from the gender you identify as. So if you were born male but feel or identify as female or if you were born female but identify as man. Your genitals do not determine your gender. Gender and sex are different. Sex is mostly biological so female or male while gender it's not really about your biological configuration. The transgender community has a diverse community (Human rights campaign). this means that the community has different people so it varies. “That there are at least 700,000 transgender people in the United States, about 0.3 percent of the total population and about 3.5 percent of the LGBT community” (Human rights campaign). This means that the transgender community is is part of the united states. there are also many influential transgender people who advocate for transgender rights.

Caitlyn jenner is one of many influential people of the community, specifically the transgender community. Caitlyn jenner formerly known as bruce jenner is an American television personality and used to be a an olympic gold medal winner for decathlon. Bruce jenner now Caitlyn was the winner of the gold medal in the decathlon in the 1976 olympics. “A symbol of masculinity has interwoven into american culture as the marlboro man (Vanity fair). This mean that bruce was considered really masculine and manly. Caitlyn jenner is an american television personality, caitlyn is mostly known for the show she is in called Keeping up with the Kardashians. Jenner came out has a transgender women in april 2015 in the 20/20 interview with Diane sawyer even though In the mid- and late 1980s. He took hormones that resulted in breast growth and had his beard removed (Vanity fair). So jenner has been taking hormones but stopped the hormones and the transition. Jenner went through surgery and changed the name Bruce jenner to Caitlyn jenner. With Caitlyn coming out as transgender to a big audience and going through the surgery process she became a big influence in the LGBTQIA community. With all the fame she had because of olympic and being in a tv show she was considered one of the most famous openly transgender women. Caitlyn jenner started to advocate more. She was bringing up the topic of violence against trans women and other trans issues. She has won awards like the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during the 2015 ESPY Awards in July 2015.

Laverne Cox is an influential person of the LGBTQIA community. Laverne cox is an american actress,reality television star, television producer, and LGBT advocate. She was a reality tv show called Work for diddy. She became the first african american transgender woman to appear on an american tv show (Huffington Post). So she was the first african american transgender women to be on tv. Laverne cox is best known for her role in a show called Orange is the new black as Sophia Burset where she played a trans woman sent to prison for credit card fraud. she isn't only an actress she is also an lgbtq advocate. she talks about transgender rights. “Because her role in orange is the new black she plays a trans women she talks about transgender rights Sophia is written as a multi-dimensional character who the audience can really empathize with—all of the sudden they're empathizing with a real Trans person. And for Trans folks out there, who need to see representations of people who are like them and of their experiences, that's when it becomes really important”(MCDONOUGH). This means that she uses her character as a way of talking about transgender rights. “Laverne Cox has used her growing celebrity as a star of the critically acclaimed Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, to become an outspoken leader of the trans rights movement, addressing crowds of thousands at schools and other forums around the country”(Merritt).

On june 26, 2015 same sex marriage became legal in the US. “The supreme court has ruled that states cannot ban same sex marriage, thereby requiring all states to issue marriage license to same sex couples”(NCSL). This means that now same sex couples can now get married. “It means the 14 states with bans on same sex marriage will no longer be able to enforce them” (BBC). So states can not ban the right of same sex couples to get married. Same sex couples didn't have the right to get married but now they can. At first it wasn't legal, and on october 6, 2014 the law was declined. At that time there was only 19 states who allowed same sex marriage. Now they can get married anywhere as a civil ceremony or religiously.

The Stonewall riot was where they gay rights movement started to rise. The transgender community is a major part of the community . The community has many influential people like Caitlyn jenner and Laverne cox. Same sex marriage became legal in the United States, so now same sex couples can have the right to get married. The negativity around the topic of LGBTQIA is something that should stop. There are many people who feel or identify as part of the community. There are people who put a negative vibe to it and it causes problems. Violence towards the community, bullying , people of the community getting hurt and it should stop. They are people too and they should be treated the same as everyone else, their rights should not be taken away for being different. Them being them shouldn't really matter it doesn't really change who they are. So people of the LGBTQIA community should be allowed the same rights and be treated equally as others.