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Bridggette Hambrick: Homosexuality and Racism
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Bridggette Hambrick: Homosexuality and Racism
Homosexuality and Racism
Bridggette Hambrick
HR5013-110
January 27, 2017
OU Advanced Programs
Abstract
In this paper I am discussing the racial and prejudice issues of homosexuals. In the present day, homosexuals are being accepted in a better light than thirty years ago. Although, there are still racial slurs, non-acceptance issues, and violence that the homosexual communities are dealing with on a daily basis. In this paper I am discussing Lena. She is a lesbian trying to feel approval of the social world, and her family; by which she is trying to fit into the society. Therefore, the helper is directing Lena to take notice of
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History
Homosexuality has been considered taboo since around 300 A.D. (Henderson, Long, 2016). Homosexual is a greek word; in which means the same and sexus means sex. For many years, people were executed for their homosexuality; having sex with the same sex.
During the twelfth century, hostility toward homosexuals began and spread throughout the European religious institutes. Non-procreative or unnatural sexual behavior was condemned. This type of sexual activity was a waste for reproduction of the Jewish people (Henderson, Long, 2016). The Roman Catholic Church had different ways of punishment, the worst was being burned to death.
Changes
In 1785, Jeremy Bentham wrote the first known argument to reform the homosexual law, even though he did not publicize his report for fear. Finally, his essay was published in 1978. Following his unpublished report in the year of 1791, France became the first nation to decriminalize homosexuality. In the 1950?s, changes started to take place for the homosexual community around the world. In the United States, organizations started to acknowledge gay men and woman. The social movement in the 1960?s, such as Black Power, Anti-Vietnam War, and Women?s Liberation helped with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists becoming more radical. In 1965, the civil rights movement outlawed racial discrimination which included gay?s rights, but it was in 1969 when gay
Though same-sex relationships have been a prominent aspect of many cultures almost since the beginning of time, there has historically been a significant taboo surrounding the phenomenon in the Western world. "From the Fourteenth Century on, Western Europe was gripped by a rabid and obsessive negative preoccupation with homosexuality as the most horrible of sins" (Boswell 262). The majority of people did not understand or accept the idea, and consequentially did not have an appropriate way of talking about it. Over the years, as various cultures identified and even implemented practices currently associated with homosexuality, there arose a need for common terminology. Until the eighteenth century, it was referred to through the practices
Throughout history homosexuality had been seen as a sin and a punishable action. In the bible, in
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
It was not until the twelfth century that homosexuality started to be condemned. This condemnation proved to live through then until now. Due to the fact that America incorporated these early views into its early laws, even the most bland of today's sex acts were seen as unlawful (“Homosexuality and Mental Health”). Since then, these laws have changed, however, there is still a primarily negative connotation on homosexuals when coming from a church or legal standpoint concerning the masses of America.
Gay liberation throughout the United States had a purpose for lesbians and gay men to have gay lifestyles be normal. Gay liberation affected politics because gay men and lesbians wanted to inform their peers and family, which changed how citizens would view their sexual orientation. The gay liberation took place during the 1960’s through the 1980’s in which changed many cultures. The culture in the United States changed dramatically because during the 1960s through 1980s , there was an AIDS outbreak. AIDS was a sickness after HIV that would cause an individual’s body to weaken, therefore United States citizens would link AIDS to people who were gay or lesbian. For instance, David Rayside compares the United States to Britain, “After World War II, however, Britain once again stood out in the extent to public anxieties about sexuality were fanned and legal regulation of homosexual activity policed”(40) and “British authorities were especially preoccupied with the condemnation and strict containment of homsexuality.”(40). Homosexuality affected politics because authorities would prioritize the gays and lesbians before anything else. There were clear observations that governments from Britain and United States were not in favor for homosexuality, therefore attempting to change people's views on homosexuality so gays and lesbians would not be accepted into the society. Being accepted into a society requires majority of citizens to approve of other’s decisions. For example, citizens viewing gays or lesbians in public without attempting to discriminate their sexuality. The women’s movement was similar to the gay liberation because it affected politics greatly by hierarchies being
The first homosexual to speak out publicly in defense of homosexuality was a writer named Karl Heinrich Ulrichs on August 29, 1867. So while most people say the gay rights movement is something that's fairly recent, that is untrue. People have been judged for being homosexual for a very long time. Prejudice is something that can cause people to be violent, hateful, and act differently towards certain people to fit in, as shown in To Kill A Mockingbird and in society today towards supporters of gay and trans rights.
Some women seek lesbian relationships because they want to reject this sort of powerless state they may feel in a heterosexual situation. Relationships between men to men and women to women hold several differences, but at the same time they share several similarities. Downing concludes the article by stating that there are both gay men and lesbians that dismiss the homosexuality myth, but it is crucial that they understand that the myth does hold a cultural vision on the power of gender and human selfhood. In order to get past the myth, we must understand to accept its existence.
Homosexuality has had a long battle through America, the thought of homosexuality was a mental disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-II Code 302 Sexual Deviation Sub-Section 302.0 Homosexuality. It stays “this category is for individuals whose sexual interests are directed primarily toward objects other than people
The idea of being gay had been under wraps since the beginning of time. In fifteen thirty, Henry VII created the Buggery Act, defining homosexuality as a crime punishable by death. Later, in eighteen eighty-five, Parliament passed an amendment brought forth by Henry Du Pre Labouchere making it legal to prosecute gay men. This law did not apply to lesbian women, because the idea of two women being in any type of romantic relationship was unthinkable at the time. The Gay Rights Movement ignited after the Stonewall riots in June 1969. The movement started right towards the end of the civil rights movement, so the nation was growing weary of constant protests, peaceful or not. Martin Luther King Jr. died just over one year before Stonewall, leaving America little time to recover from the end of one major movement to another. The propaganda quickly spread across the country and gained national attention that has stayed relevant since then. Stonewall was the first major event that shook the United States and made the the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexal, and transgender (LGBT) rights known. In the 1980s and 90s, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic once again brought major national attention to the LGBT community- but this time in a negative way.
Throughout the course of history, the topic of homosexuality and its acceptable behavior has been one of varying opinions and much heated debate. Although how tolerated homosexual behavior was all through history can differ depending on who your source is, most everyone can agree that a few large cultures were either strongly for, or against, homosexuality.
In Mathew Kuefler’s chapter “Homosexuality” he discusses the idea that modern-day sex scandals on behalf of many Christian Leaders can be traced back to the teachings of Saint Augustine of Hippo. While in “Hermaphroditism in the western Middle Ages” Irina Metzler argues that during the medieval period hermaphrodites were allowed to decide their own gender, but as time went on it was demanded that they fully embrace their chosen gender in order to prevent homosexual behavior. At first glance, it seems that these articles may have little in common, but in actuality the authors of these readings are demonstrating a natural progression of society in terms of homosexuality. Popular opinion was not against, if not in favor of homosexuality before
Alan Bray, in his book Homosexuality in Renaissance England, states that “[T]he term ‘homosexual’ did not exist in 1611,’ in fact, ‘[I]t was not until the 1890s that the term ‘homosexual’ first began to be used in English, and none of its predecessors now survive in common speech” (Bray, 13). Homosexual men were often called Bugger, Ganymede, and many other terms. The most popular term used to describe a homosexual was the word ‘sodomite’. The modern definition of sodomy is
Americans endlessly recycle the old conflicts: "first we fought about slavery, then segregation, then gender, and now sexual orientation"-(Anon). Homosexuality is an on-going conflict in America, as well as other countries. The history of homosexuality goes back to the ancient civilizations. As we have different ideas and ways of "dealing" with it, so did the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome.
While the concept of homosexuality did not exist in the United States, changes were happening in Europe with the issue. Right around the 1870's affectionate relationships between males acquired a label.
Homosexuality is not a 20th century situation but has been in history from the age of ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, and even China. The attitude toward homosexuality always has been a variable, depending on the social, cultural and morality, or even the political development (Barnecka et al., 2005). Back in Greek history the concept of relations between two men was seen as the highest form of love, whereas the Judaic view always was against and frowned upon these relations considering it immoral and illegal. However, when the Roman rule was destroyed and the Christians took over Europe, homosexuality was seen as perverse (Woodward, 1997).