Can We Really Accept People Who Are Different Than Us?
Amanda Purdy
Kaplan University
February 15, 2015
Gay Rights: What does that mean? Gay rights according to Google by definition is “equal civil and social rights for homosexuals compared with heterosexuals.” What does it mean to be gay? It simply means that a man loves a man and a woman loves a woman. Does that really seem all that bad? You can’t help who you love sometimes. In reality it is no different than a woman loving a man and stays with him, even though he has beat her for the last 10 years, or a man who refuses to leave his cheating wife because he loves her so much. Where did we come up with the idea as to what is socially acceptable or not? We have all these ideas of what people are supposed to be like and somehow we have been convinced that being gay is the devils work and vile. The only thing vile here is how we treat one another for being “different” and expressing who we are.
In 1924 there was an organization in Chicago. This organization was called The Society of Human Rights (infopplease.com) and is known as the earliest gay rights organization in this country. This organization was founded by a German man named Henry Gerber. Gerber came to the U.S. in 1913 and found himself in quite a pickle. Gerber himself was gay and he was put into a mental facility in 1917 for his sexual orientation choice. He later decided to enlist in the US Army and served in World War 1 as a proofreader and printer in Coblenz for Allied Army Occupation. While in Germany, Gerber learned of a man named Mangus Hirschfeld. Gerber was inspired by Hirschfeld because he was diligently working and trying to reform the anit-homoseual German laws (Wikipedia). Now in Berlin the gay community was thriving and the community was greatly supported. They were supported so much they even had a homophile magazine. Gerber was so inspired by all of this that when he came back to the US he filled out the proper documents to start a non-profit organization called “The Society for Human Rights” to Illinois on December 10, 1924. His chapter was created on December 24, 1924. This organizations sole purpose was “[T]o promote and protect the interests of people who by reasons of mental and physical abnormalities are abused and hindered in the legal pursuit of happiness which is guaranteed them by the Declaration of Independence and to combat the public prejudices against them by dissemination of factors according to modern science among intellectuals of mature age. The Society stands only for law and order; it is in harmony with any and all general laws insofar as they protect the rights of others, and does in no manner recommend any acts in violation of present laws nor advocate any manner inimical to the public welfare (Wikipedia).” Gerber’s Society for Human Rights served as links “between the LGBT-related activism of the Weimar Republic and the American homophile movement of the 1950s (Wikipedia).” The Daughters of Bilitis was the very first lesbian rights organization. This organization was founded in 1955 by a group of woman in San Francisco that would hang out on Friday nights. They hoped that other ladies form the Bay area would come and join the parties and conversations they had at one another’s home. It was their discussion that help evolve the DOB. By the 1960’s DOB were in cities across the US: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The also had a magazine called “The Ladder” which was entirely written by lesbian woman and it was intended for lesbian readers. Now luckily some of the bars in the major cities would allow the gay community to meet there, but the place could have been raided by police at any given time. The women and men that met at these bars were people who were searching for who they are, looking for love, healing their broken heart or people who just needed some sort of validation in their life. This was a “circle of
1969 The gay rights movement refers to efforts to protect rights and obtain equality for people who are homosexual (sexually attracted to people of the same sex); bisexual (attracted to members of both sexes); or transgendered. Transgendered individuals are those whose gender identity—that are their sense of being male or female—differs from their physical sex. A major goal of the gay rights movement is to eliminate laws that restrict or ban same-sex sexual relations. 1973 The American psychological…
Thesis Statement: The Gay Rights Movement dates back to the 19th century. By 1970 gay and lesbian organizations existed all over the United States and in other countries all over the world. Some supporters of the movement would say that our society as a whole has made great strides towards acceptance of homosexuality. However, gays and lesbians are still fighting for equality in 2009. The issues are vast and widespread, with same-sex marriage at the top of the list. In the world that we live…
Gay Movement in America Mostly everyone these days know a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender individual. America is currently divided between those who approve gay rights, including gay marriage, and those who do not. Even though there are still plenty of Americans who oppose the idea of homosexuality, the LGBT community has certainly come a long way since World War II. The gay community, after being discriminated against for many years, has slowly but surely gained acceptance in the nation…
Gay rights The gay rights movement in the US can be traced back to the Stonewall Riots that occurred following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City at 3 a.m. on June 28, 1969. Police raids on gay bars were commonplace, but on this occasion the gay and lesbian patrons fought back and sparked days of protests. The Stonewall Riots marked the beginning of a political movement for gay rights during a time when it was illegal to have homosexual sex in all states except for Illinois. [21]…
Gay Rights By: Torian Portier Thesis statement: Gay rights is even is an even more controversial topic than women’s rights and African American rights. Works Cited: 1) http://www.datehookup.com/content-the-argument-for-and-against-gay-marriage.htm 2) http://www.religioustolerance.org/denomchg2.htm 3) http://www.enderminh.com/minh/civilrights.aspx 4) https://rcclibrary.wikispaces.com/GayRights 5) http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refere…
Demanding of Equality Rights Based on the constitution, our forefathers stated that “all men created equal.” Such declaration refers to human rights; that each and every citizen should not be denied to any civil rights based on their sex, race, and religious belief. Also, according to the Bill of Rights, everyone should have the freedom of speech, liberty, and equal treatment in court. However, homosexuals have not been treated equally and have also been discriminated against. Homosexuality has…
culture, America has progressed in a positive way when it comes to homosexuality. Civil rights movements had dominated the United States since the civil war when African Americas won their right to freedom. In the 1960’s the civil rights movement for equal rights of African Americans began and shortly to follow was the fight for women’s rights, these movements paved the way for homosexuals to start their movement. It was shaky in the beginning with Stonewall, but since then America has come to accept…
The Drama Final Draft 12/05/08 We Have The Same Wants An Essay on Torch Song Trilogy: Widows and Children First For decades, gays and lesbians have fought for the same rights and respect for their relationships as their heterosexual counterparts. In a world of non acceptance and disdain for homosexual couplings, gays are left in constant search for comfort and security in the alternative family. In the play “Torch Song Trilogy, Widow’s and Children First!,” we see the frustration and struggle…
attracted by others of the same sex. The words gay or gay people often common terms used instead of homosexual. Homosexuality exists in all classes, social group, races, positions, and countries regardless to their age and or origin. Some of the earliest forms of print reinforce the existence of homosexuality in nearly the beginning of time. Since the Greek times homosexuality has been discriminated against. After centuries of being discriminated against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and trans genders…
(hb). ISBN: 0-226-35471-7. John Howard in his 1999 book Men Like That: A Southern Queer History explores gay and transgendered male-male sexual desire and actions that goes beyond self- identification as being gay and includes those men that are “like” that and self -label as gay, as well as men who “like” that and engage in homosexual activity but do not consider themselves gay. Howard aims for a more accurate accounting of homosexual desire in Mississippi during the postwar years after…