The Gay And Lesbian Movement

Submitted By jb92694
Words: 795
Pages: 4

Joey Bragg
Prof. Grattan
English 101
11/18/13
The Gay and Lesbian Movement Ever since the country’s birth, the people of The United States has always had a somewhat closed mind towards people that did not fit into their “social norm”. The African-American people were under control of the rich white landowners from the Revolutionary time all the way until the country’s civil war. Even after they were all free men, the black population still had to wait another five years to be able to vote in their country. The next group of people that was looking to end discrimination towards themselves was the women of the country. The women had to fight hard for seventy two years, before the government narrowly voted to give them their right to vote. The current surge of people trying to end their own discrimination is the gay and lesbian population. This cause is clearly illustrated in The Queer Nation Manifesto While they are not fighting for a right to vote or anything like that, they are fighting so they can live a life just like everyone with the person they love. They also are fighting so they do not have to go through the torment of being called homophobic slurs everywhere they go. This is one of the most controversial rights movements because many people claim that their homosexuality is a sin and should not be encouraged. No matter someone’s opinion on that point, there is still no right to discriminate or verbally attack another group. This is why the gays and lesbians are fighting each and every day. The gay and lesbian population have been ignored for far too long and they simply wish to bring visibility to their cause. The manifesto opens by talking about privacy, but not in a way that’s not expected. The author says, “Being queer is not about a right to privacy; it is about the freedom to be public, to just be who we are”. What he means by this is that they are not fighting for the right to be gay only when they are locked away in their houses, the gay population wants to be accepted by the world out in the public view. They do not think that they should have to hide who they are, so why should they not be allowed to express themselves out in public? The author then goes on to talk about how angry he is because of some of the specific things the gay population has to deal with as they just try to live their daily lives. He says that, “I’m angry. I'm angry for being condemned to death by strangers saying, "You deserve to die" and "AIDS is the cure."”. His anger cannot be blamed because many people will never know the struggle of having random strangers judge every aspect of their lives. The next point the author wants to make is about pride. He believes the gay and lesbian population needs to take such pride in their lifestyle that they should shout it. He believes that