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Gay rights movements in the us
Gay rights movements in the us
Gay rights movements in the us
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One of the biggest issues going to debate throughout not only the U.S. but the world is the gay rights movement. The Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) community is being denied their basic rights as citizens just because of their sexual preference and the opinion of people throughout the country. Many Christians believe that homosexuality is wrong and that God is against it but others believe that God creates everything for a reason and that He loves everything equally. Even though many people believe that homosexuality is a sin and that it’s unnatural and wrong, homosexuals are ordinary people and they should be given their full rights regardless of their sexual orientation.
You may be wondering just when and how precisely did the gay liberation movement started. Well, it officially started on Friday, June 27, 1969, when a police raid in Stonewall Inn, a dive bar operating without a liquor license, caused an angry mob of gays, lesbians, drag queens and many other patrons to riot for the entire weekend (Misiroglu 308). Although there were many other riots throughout the country this particular one became the “foundational political narrative” for gay liberation (Misiroglu 308). The gay liberation movement, as it’s formerly known, can actually be traced back to the early to mid-twenties. The Society for Human Rights was founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago on December 10, 1924 and it was the first gay rights organization as well as the oldest documented in America. On November 11, 1950 gay rights activist Harry Hay founded America’s first national gay rights organization. Its main purpose was to change public perception of homosexuality. On September 21, 1955 the Daughter of Bilitis became the first lesbian rights organizati...
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...n by popular votes and those are Maine (Dec. 29, 2012), Maryland (Jan 1, 2013) and Washington (Dec. 9, 2012). Washington D.C. also legalized gay marriage on Mar. 3, 2010 (“19 States with Legal Marriage”).
For many years has the gay rights movement been fighting, since before Stonewall Inn on 1969 and after. Many teens struggle to find out who they are and because of the encouragement and support they meet from people who support gay rights, they come to peace with who they are regardless of what others think, including their families. Many still believe today that homosexuality is a sin and that it’s unnatural but even though it’s regarded as a sin, the LGBT community has fought long and hard to earn their rights and they should have them, the fact that they have a different sexual orientation shouldn’t matter because we’re all human, and we should all be equal.
In Vicki L. Eaklor’s Queer America, the experiences of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people in the years since the 1970s gay liberation movement are described as a time of transformation and growth. The antigay movement, threatened, now more than ever, created numerous challenges and obstacles that are still prevalent today. Many of the important changes made associated with the movement were introduced through queer and queer allied individuals and groups involved in politics. Small victories such as the revision of the anti discrimination statement to include “sexual orientation”, new propositions regarding the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortion, were met in turn with growing animosity and resistance from individuals and groups opposed to liberal and
The media considers the1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City the spark of the modern gay rights movement. This occurred after the police raided the Stonewall bar, a popular gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Allyn argues that the new energy and militancy generated by the riot played a crucial role in creating the gay liberation movement. Arguably, the Stonewall Riots have come to resemble the pivotal moment in gay rights history largely because it provided ways for the gay community to resist the social norms. In fact, the riots increased public awareness of gay rights activism (Allyn 157). Gay life after the Stonewall riots, however, was just as varied and complex as it was before. In the following era, ho...
“Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things--he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies” (Carter). Jimmy Carter took a religious route to support the Gay Rights Movement. The Gay Rights Movement started in the 1950s and is still a heated topic that is debated over. The Gay Rights Movement is believed to be started by the Stonewall riots. The Gay Rights Movement had no real leaders and its followers were homosexuals and people who sought for oppression towards gays to end. The purpose of the Gay Rights Movement is to end discrimination towards the homosexual community. “The Women’s Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements” is a speech written and spoken by Huey Newton, cofounder of the Black Panther Party. The speech was given on August 15, 1970 and the theme of the speech is for people to fight for their own liberation. In Huey Newton’s “The Women’s Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements” speech, he motivates his intended audience during the Gay Rights Movement by using the rhetorical strategies pathos and punctuation.
...dentity. Only 17 states allow gay couples to adopt. LGBTQ youth face many struggles. Many LGBTQ students do not have the support they need and are four times more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual youth according to a survey done in 2006. Organizations have been created to support LGBTQ youth and the struggles they face. Since the Stonewall riots in 1969, the gay community has come a long way since, but there are still many obstacles to overcome.
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...
One of the world’s greatest social movements known as the Gay Rights Movement stemmed in the late 1960’s in America. After events known as the Stonewall riots, the Gay Rights Movement gradually became increasingly influential and empowering for all sexual minorities and gender identities.
For many generations, especially in North America, homosexuality was not accepted in any way, shape, or form. Many believed that it was a medical illness that was curable, when in reality, people were, and still are, ignorant and could not come to terms that everyone in this world is different from one another. For many instances of being treated unjust, many individuals in the gay community did not want to “expose” themselves and remained in the “closet”. As means to make gays and lesbians proud and take a stand for who they are, a movement spread across internationally. This movement is known as “The Gay Liberation” movement which occurred between the late 1960s and the early to mid 1970s (“Gay Liberation”). The Gay Liberation movement urged individuals of the gay community to “come out,” revealing their sexuality to their loved ones as a form of activism, and to counter shame with gay pride (“Gay Liberation”). The Stonewall Riots are believed to have been the spark that ignited the rise of the Gay Liberation movement; it influenced the way the gay community is viewed socially and how their rights are politically present day.
The persecution of homosexuals during this age of McCarthy proved exactly how vulnerable they were to attack and discrimination. Out of those persecutions came some of the first organized “gay rights” groups, known as Homophile organizations, the first two being the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilibis (who focused their efforts on Lesbian rights). Founded in 1950 by Harry Hay, the...
As New York City was waking up on Saturday, June 28, 1969, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. The raid led to riots and protests that lasted several days. Such police harassment was hardly uncommon at the time, but this particular raid proved to be the last straw. What could have been a quickly forgotten brawl instead became “the beginning of the modern struggle for gay civil rights” (Teal). The Stonewall Riots pushed the gay rights movement to the forefront of hot-button topics in the United States, where it has remained ever since (Teal).
The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or psychopathic. Often times, gay men committed suicide from harsh judgement and criticism that always followed them. Even though population of homosexuality grew and had jobs, they were harassed and beaten by the police. There were a lot of disapproval and hostility of homosexuality. Anita Bryant, a singer, made a campaign to oppose the rights of homosexuals. Christian forces and activists withdrew gay-right legislation which lead to Proposition 6. The harshness from background of homosexuality back in the 1940’s and 50’s took the freedom away from the homosexuals. After the harshness, there came a little bit of hope for the homosexuals in San Francisco. Castro, a city in San Francisco, became the center of gay neighborhood. In 1964, gay men formed Society of Individual Right (SIR), and 1,200 members joined. Homosexuals started having good views when Sipple who was gay saved the president from a gunshot. Finally in 1972, Board of Supervisor banned the discrimination law for homosexuals. Even though in 1940...
are said to have launched the “gay rights movement.” As the anger of many individuals,
The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged local police forces to harass gay citizens. "Vice officers regularly raided gay bars, sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night" (Milestones). In spite of the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the "homophile" (Milestones) movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July 27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Rio...
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
Have you ever thought how much progress the LGBT community has made and how it affects other people? The gay rights movement was and is currently a movement that “strives to end all discrimination towards the LGBT community” (Redlingshafer). As early as 1924, the Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes United States’ earliest known gay rights organization (“Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement”). However, most people recognize the Stonewall riot in 1969 as being the beginning of the gay rights movement. Almost ninety years later, society and the government have progressed over time and are still growing. Harvey Milk, author of “The Hope Speech”, was a politician who led a portion of the gay rights movement. Also, a more recent and well known leader of the movement is Dan Savage, the creator of the “It Gets Better Project”. The followers of the gay rights movement are not just homosexual. There are followers and supporters of every gender, race, and sexual orientation. The gay rights movement and its issues are represented in “The Hope Speech” by Harvey Milk.
As the years have passed, homosexuality has become a very controversial topic. The fact that day by day they fight for equality just to be happy, I think it is an injustice that many people refuse to give them the rights they deserve.