Being gay in America is difficult. Being gay in America is even more difficult when you’re not quite gay. Being a closeted not-quite gay woman in America, surrounded by Indian immigrants is pretty difficult, too. It’s a bit like staring in a James Bond film, if all of the characters suddenly developed Bollywood accents, and marginally less homicide. Also, I may be exaggerating, because I don’t attract nearly as many Bond Girls, no matter how much I’d like to. Even understanding what “not-quite gay” means for me was and is a struggle. I suppose a common saying is true: if you can’t find the gay cousin in your family, then you are the gay cousin. And it’s true; in my jumbled mess of aunts, uncles, and third-step cousins once removed, there hasn’t been a single person to come out. Or, if there has, we certainly never talk about them. What does this mean, then, in terms of the relative morals for my two cultures? If there is such a thing as an American, than I am one; I was born in this country and have lived here my entire life. This should give me a right to voice my opinion about American politics. At the same time, I refused to speak English until I was four; everyone I grew up around was Indian. Does this give me a right to interject in conversation when Section 377 of India’s penal code, recently upheld by the Supreme Court, makes being homosexual a crime? Maybe, I do have overseas citizenship. Does any measly DNA connection give me the right to protest when LGBTQ+
Richard Mohr believes that outing closeted homosexuals is morally justified. He argues that sexual orientation is not a private matter and therefore, does not violate a homosexual's right to privacy. He believes that outing will increase the homosexual community by creating positive role models. He argues that remaining in the closet is morally debasing and creates indignity to one's self. Claudia Card on the other hand, argues almost the complete opposite. She takes a utilitarian stance on outing "the big secret." The big secret is referring to one being a homosexual. She believes that outing is justified as long as it does no harm, which she believes is unlikely.
On one hand people accept that there are universal moral principles that are normal in every culture. But, on the other hand people feel that cultural differences should be looked upon with sensitivity and tolerance (Bock, 2014). You can look at such cultural and perhaps religious differences as circumcision in both men and women (Bock, 2014). In the U.S. you can abortions as an example of moral and religious choice but in other countries they feel it is morally and ethically correct to kill female babies when they are born (Bock,
Individuals in the relationship can feel pressure in regards introducing their partner to family members. Bringing someone outside of the family’s origin, religion and traditional values for many can be deemed as stressful. Although the individual involved in the relationship is open and accepting; many find their family members to be rooted with particular views, and are skeptical and unwelcoming to the partner of the relationship. For many, living in a country such as Canada has made the opportunity of an interracial marriage and/or relationships acceptable and achievable for them, yet still hold feelings of guilt knowing the disapproval of family members living in their country of origin. (University of Toronto Scarborough: Infinitom,
In recent years, society has become more accepting towards the LGBTQ community; however, it is of vital importance to explore and understand why different races with differed cultural backgrounds and religious beliefs approach the subject in an adversely manner. Minorities, specifically Latinos and African Americans, tend to have a completely different experience than that of their Caucasian counterparts when it comes to exploring their sexuality and ultimately coming out to their families. It is important to analyze how the reaction of certain races towards the LGBTQ community, specifically transgender individuals, and how it ties back in to their cultural backgrounds. The objective is to explain why different racial groups react differently
In the personal essay, “Two Ways to Belong in America,” by Bharati Mukherjee, there are two different cultural views between sisters, Bharati and Mira. Bharati and Mira grew up in India, but both moved to America. The sisters have the same cultural background, but have different cultural views now. They have different views on the current debate over the status of immigrants. They both have lived in the United States for 35 years. Bharati married someone from Canada, Mira married an Indian student. “In Iowa City in 1963, I married a fellow student, an American of Canadian percentage,” both Bharati and Mira married fellow students. (Mukherjee 70) “We dressed alike, in saris,” Bharati and Mira used to dress alike, but Bharati changed the way she dressed, Mira did not.
Homosexuality has been an issue for the public for an extremely long time dating back to even Ancient Rome and Greek. Especially with the birth of Christianity, the religious society has been persecuting anyone claiming homosexuality, forcing people to hide their own sexuality for centuries. It is important to understand and know the past of the homsexuality to understand the reason for their fight and the mentality of their opposition. Homosexuality has never been accepted into the norms of society and was even viewed as a mental disease by the American Psychiatric Association (Bowman). Not until a few decades ago has the movement for gay rights began to kick off. The event that really set off the movement was the Stonewall Riot of 1969. “New York’s gay community had grown weary of the police department targeting gay clubs, a majority of which had already been closed. The crowd on the street watched quietly as Stonewall’s employees were arrested, but when three drag queens and a lesbian were forced into the paddy wagon, the crowd began throwing bottles at the police” (“Stonewall”). This event is regarded as the foundation for the modern gay rights movement including the formation of many gay, lesbian, and bisexual civil rights organizations.
Stop acting like American”, that's what my “Aja” (grandfather) would say to me or to my young cousins. In “Two way to Belong in American,” Bharati Mukherjee discusses how she and her sister were overall betrayed in America when American anti- immigration bills in congress had Green paper elicited. Many outside Americans beliefs that “Americans don't have a good moral sense of moral and value, compared to other cultures. However, they believe that American don't have respect towards their adults, don't have religious values and shame, or culture values.
The greatest issue facing America today is the ongoing battle for social justice among minority groups such as: African-Americans, the LGBT+ community, and Native Americans who've suffered harsh treatment in the present and past. Since the early colonization of America, these minority groups have continuously fought for their rights because of the oppression that society placed on them. They’ve sought justice through non-violent/violent protests, movements, and laws to spark change among an unfair society that has endlessly persecuted them. However, this injustice doesn’t happen entirely from racism or prejudice but from the majority “refusing to take a stand against the problem causing it to grow further” (Thoreau 326).
I learned that gay oppression stems from capitalistic ideas and nature. When the industrial revolution came around in the early 19th century it brought with it the traditional ideals of family that we know today (Carlin, 2007). Capitalists didn’t like the ideal of homosexuality because it defeated the purpose of sex only being for reproduction (Carlin, 2007). They thought that gays were getting in the way of producing the next generation of workers (Carlin, 2007). They quickly deemed them unnatural in the eyes of the Christian church and society (Carlin, 2007). Gays were routinely harassed and physically assaulted by police (Carlin, 2007). Capitalists tried to justify this oppression by saying that homosexuality was blatantly abnormal and unacceptable
I knew it would be a challenging for my family to accept me being gay. Being the only gay male in the family was not as easy as it sounded in my head. I decided to wait for the “right time”. As years passed, it took a toll out of
The place that was once formally known as Eureka valley, was a working man’s dream, known for its German/Irish decent. At the time Eureka valley became desirable and accessible to people including homosexuals. However, there was a decline in the neighborhood that took place after the world war. Homosexuals experienced struggles with queer populations and physical space for them, this is brought the rising of “marginalized sex districts”. But was spread out through the country because gay men wanted to create specific spaces to fight oppression that most were going through. They, in a sense, create these safe spaces which are queer friendly. The Gay community went from secret night clubs and bars to an entire community renames The Castro.
Is the day coming when business owners in America will have the ability to refuse to serve someone with whom they disagree? Imagine seeing a sign that says “We Don’t Serve Gays” in the window of a coffee shop. Most people would voice their outrage; they would demand an explanation of the owner, wondering what could have spurred the idea for such a discriminatory sign. Should the owner keep his or her sign up only because homosexuality is against their moral beliefs?
Whether you believe it or not, every single person excluding no one is born with a sexual orientation. Most may have grown up in a family where you just knew that a man was supposed to be with a woman, and no one questioned it because it was “normal”. Then we have some people in society who were adopted by families all a crossed the world who found themselves in a home where the parents were of the same sex. We find again that we asked no questions because it was “normal”. Americans find themselves in quite the debacle these days because of prejudice. We find all sorts of Americans being prejudice whether you are a homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual. All the negative attitudes based on sexual orientation have seemed too taken over
The next topic is sexuality. Of course America will be used for my example because we are definitely making progression with almost every step we take. Homosexuality has definitely been a touchy subject when linking it to a specific religion. Many Christian followers I know believe that homosexuality is a sin and those who are homosexual will be punished in the afterlife by going to hell; some, however believe the complete opposite! On a social media site, I saw a Hindu girl from India being stoned to death. Although there are these types of extremists, America has legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, which is a huge milestone! Religion has definitely changed in “allowing” more people to be their selves and making them realize that no matter
Australian culture is vital in the process of socialising the public’s views and beliefs. Through social stratification and labelling different groups as superior and inferior, Australian culture has been manipulated into believing that homosexuals are deviant to the rest of society.