The+Gay+Rights+Movement

Yijie Lu
=The Gay Rights Movement=

Definition:
The Gay rights movement, also known as gay rights demonstration or LGBT social movement, is defined as challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity, homophobia, and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family in cultural sphere, as well as changing laws and policies to gain new rights, benefits, and protection for harm in political sphere (Bernstein, 2002). We often regard the Stonewall Riots in 1969 as the birth of the modern gay rights movement. Gays got organized around the oppression of inequalities and discrimination. Even though the different opinions and beliefs do exist throughout the group, most activists try to achieve more public awareness for equality in issues such as same sex marriage and fair treatment in the military, and promote ideas that sexual orientation is innate and homophobia will harm the harmony of society.

Historical milestones:
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** Stonewall Riots: **

The Stonewall Riots were a series of violent protests and street demonstrations that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, centered around a gay bar in the Greenwich Village, New York City (Carter, 2005). That night Greenwich Village’s most popular gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, was raided and its employees were arrested by police and patrons tossed out, the crowds outside the bar were in turbulence and began to throw stones at the police (Carter, 2009). It is always seen as the first example that the gay community fights against a government dominated system that persecuted sexual minorities in American history. And it is defined as a milestone in America and international gay right movements. At the end of 1960s, homosexual sex was illegal in every state but Illinois, and there was neither laws to protect their rights nor images that depict homosexuality in objective way in media (Carter, 2005). After the riots, lots of gay groups were founded, for instance, Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance. The Pride Parade on the last Sunday in June in New York City is held to memorize Stonewall Riots. And June becomes Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in the U.S.

“Don't ask, don’t tell” is the term in military policy that prevents the military from asking enlistees if they are gay, and service members may be discharged for homosexual conduct. The full name of the policy is “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue, Don’t Harass.” “Don’t Ask” provision requires that the military shall not ask or reveal a service member’s sexual orientation. “Don't Tell” provision requires that members shall not reveal their sexual orientation or may be subject to discharge. “Don’t Pursue” provision establishes the requirement of initiating the inquiries. “Don’t Harass” provision bans the harassment against service members for any reasons ( 9th District Legal, 2010 ). Before the policy was put into place, gay men and lesbians were barred from serving in the military. In 1993, Bill Clinton compromised on “don’t ask, don’t tell” that gay soldiers could serve in military if they did not disclose their sexual orientation (Shanker, 2007). In Sept. 2010, Judge Phillips declared the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the U.S. military, which openly bans gay service members, is unconstitutional (Willon, 2010). Even though President Obama has disputed the ban and U.S. House in May passed legislation to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell”, the federal appeals court has denied the government’s request to suspend the lawsuit challenging the policy (Willon, 2010; Leff, 2011)

The legalization of same-sex marriage:
Five states in the U.S. including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire as well as the District of Columbia legalize same-sex marriage. California, which is a unique state in legalization of same-sex marriage, began to grant the licenses from June 16, and ends it on November 5, 2008 due to the passage of Proposition 8 that prohibit same-sex marriage. Proponents of same-sex marriage claim that people should see same-sex marriage a civil right (Espuelas, 2008). Yet the opponents believe that same-sex-marriage breaches the original purpose of marriage and impacts the interest of children who are raised in gays or lesbians families (Staff, 2010). Moreover, opposition to same-sex marriage relates to religious variables and popular “moral values” pervasive in American politics (Olson, Cadge, and Harrison, 2006). Besides five states in the U.S., same-sex marriage is legalized in 10 countries including Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, and Argentina.

The Gay rights movement today:
Even though the previous movements have changed people’s perspective, the inequity and discrimination to gays and lesbians still remains. Fortunately, we can observe more voices that appeal to quality in public places than before, especially in various media. It Gets Better Project is an online video website founded by Dan Savage, which aims at inspiring the gay teens who were bullied or discriminated because of their sexual orientation, and preventing gay teens from suicide (Parker-Pope, 2010). More than 1545 videos are uploaded to the website, and more than 250,000 people pledge to the project. President Obama also shared his message of inspiration for gay teens on October 21, 2010. In the video, he said that all of the people in the country are equal and condemned the discrimination and bullying to gay teens (Obama, 2010). Besides President Obama, there are several famous people standing up for gay rights. Madonna and Lady Gaga are both considered as the gay icons in America. As famous artists, they both used to vocally support gay and lesbian, and promote the voice of LGBT community. Now more and more singers use their songs and music videos to support and promote the voice of gays and lesbians. The gay communities are founded all over the world and they will hold the parade for gay rights and gay pride. May 17 becomes the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Influence on sexual communication:
One of the most important influences of the gay right movement is that it has successfully changed the social norms in America to some degree. Before 1970s, American Psychiatric Association defined homosexuality as a mental disorder. However, more and more people now agree that the sexual orientation is innate, and some people even express their support to LGBT and same-sex marriage. According to Sexual Communication Class in UIUC, social norms define “normal” sexuality and what is “acceptable” (Bond, 2011). It is obvious that the gay rights movement influences the sexual norms when we look at the trace of the history of gay right movement. Furthermore, another important function of gay rights movement today is socialization. Socialization means the process of inheriting social norms, customs, and ideologies (Bond, 2011). Since more and more positive information and support to LGBT community presented on media, youth could perceive the value that sexual orientation is innate, all people are equal, and we should be more comprehensive to others. Last but not least, because several famous stars stand up to support the LGBT community, this group of people is not as minor as they used to be in media so more voice of them can be heard and understood now.

Reference:
Carter, D. (2009). Stonewall Stories. Advocate, (1027/1028), 94-99. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Carter, D. (2005). Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, 1-2. Retrieved from Google Scholar.

Bernstein, Mary (2002). //Identities and Politics: Toward a Historical Understanding of the Lesbian and Gay Movement//. Social Science History 26:3 (fall 2002).

Shankar, Thom (November 30, 2007). [|"A New Push to Roll Back ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’"]. //New York Times//. Retrieved 2010-03-25.

Phil Willon (September 9, 2010). [|"Judge declares U.S. military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy openly banning gay service members unconstitutional"]. Los Angeles Times.

9th District Legal Office, US Coast Guard. (2010) The Legal Brief, Retrieved from []

Leff, L. (2011) Court won't hold 'Don't ask, don't tell' lawsuit, //Associated Press//, Retrieved from []

Espuelas, F. (2008) Commentary: Latinos Should See Gay Marriage A Civil Right, Retrieved from []

Staff (2010) Obama Celebrates Gay Dads On Father’s Day, Retrieved from []

Olson, L. R., Cadge, W. and Harrison, J. T. (2006), Religion and Public Opinion about Same-Sex Marriage. Social Science Quarterly, 87: 340–360. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00384.x (Olson, 2006)

Parker-Pope, T. (2010), Showing Gay Teenagers A Happy Future, Retrieved from []

Obama, B. (2010), President Obama: It Gets Better, Retrieved from []

Bond, B. (2011), Culture, Social Norms, and Sexual Communication, CMN 368, Retrieved from [|http://compass.illinois.edu]

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