Effects of Scrutiny and Verbal Abuse on Same-Sex Couples and LGBQT People

The year is 2015 and I can’t imagine not having the freedom I do today. Marriage equality is a very recent topic in history. It wasn’t very long ago that laws prohibited the marriage of same-sex couples. I have decided to investigate the history of marriage equality and the organizations that helped make the dream come true. In order to fully understand the changes that occurred, and to comprehend the level of discrimination that was felt in the homosexual culture, one must first understand the history of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) community. The harsh history of the LGBTQ community, and discrimination that was imposed on them and the organizations that strived to advocate for the LGBTQ community on a local, regional and national level is what eventually lead to the Supreme Court ruling on June 26th, 2015, stating that states cannot ban same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage, a controversial social issue in the U.S. for several decades, is constantly evolving. When viewed historically, great change has happened in a short period of time, in the movement for same-sex marriage, given that until recently, no society in thousands of years has ever allowed it.

In this case, the heterosexuals would be the dominant group to include males and females in a traditional relationship with one another regardless of race or ethnic background, and the subordinate group is the LGBT individuals. Their relationship to each other is the scrutiny and negative outlooks that these individuals face on a day to day basis, as opposed to normal heterosexual individuals. Social- Conflict may consider a wide range of topics within this article with regards to same sex marriages, transgenders and the recent hate crimes that has struck their communities in recent events. And in this article the conflict addressed is the issues whether if changes in the supreme courts members of changes from conservative members which are against many of the laws regarding LGBT, to liberal members who are non-bias to the laws protecting LGBT, lose office or retire, and President Trump decides to replace liberals with conservatives, potentially jeopardizing the fate of the LGBT communities, causing more conflict amongst societies. The only critique to the social conflict approach with regards to this topic would be to be open-minded and compassionate when

Same sex marriage has definitely been increasing over the years, especially because of the new law that recently passed about gay marriage in the United States. Marriage is known as a social union and it is the commitment between two individuals. The Defense of Marriage Act allowed same sex couples to be as equal as heterosexual couples, which was passed in 1996. The United States followed “structural functionalism,” which is defined by Kelly Welch (2012) as a “framework that tries to get families to follow society’s norms and rules”, in order to fits its needs, same sex marriage was not very prevalent like how it is currently. Because society followed structural functionalism, which consisted of a father, mother, and children, it was as if same-sex marriage was completely isolated and excluded, which makes them feel completely vulnerable and lonely. Majority of the families in the United States are now “nuclear” and do not necessarily follow the structured family lifestyle. According to Welch (2012) “nuclear families consist of a biological father, a biological mother, and children”, which is the basic principle. Thus, both frameworks definitely make homosexual individuals feel a sense of emptiness and they feel as if they are being discriminated within society.

I chose to analyze the book Queering Marriage: Challenging Family Formation in the United States by Katrina Kimport for this book analysis. The book is written in a way that specifically focuses upon Kimport’s findings on how the act of same-sex marriage is capable of altering or affirming heterosexual assumptions that are contained in the institution of marriage, which has been heavily based upon the concept of heteronormativity. Because the American culture never acknowledged same sex marriage and was heavily focused upon heteronormativity, the gay and lesbian Americans, who had put so much effort into constructing and establishing their set of relations and the culture, had to endure so many years of exclusion. Even with the recent breakthrough

Same-sex couples report having less family support than heterosexual couples, this doesn’t appear to be completely to do with estrangement from family of origin, rather many couples contend with family relationships that are difficult and stressful (Rostosky et al., 2004). “Rarely do same-sex couples enjoy immediate, consistent, and pervasive emotional support and acceptance upon disclosure of their relationship to their families of origin” (Rostosky et al., 2004). Many theorists believe the coming out stage is necessary in the development of a healthy identity. The coming out stage often is a time of great stress as individuals anticipate the reactions of their family of origin. Rostosky’s (2004) research indicates that same sex couples perceived support from family of origin no matter how tenuous has a powerful impact on same- sex couple, even after the initial

There are over 105 million households in the United States today and out of those households, there are over 1.2 million gay people living with same-sex partners (“Census on Gays in America”). This makes the proposed legalization of same-sex marriage one of the most significant issues in contemporary America. It is presently one of the most discussed reforms in law reviews and the American court systems. If legalized, it could be one of the most revolutionary policy decisions in the history of America, along with women’s rights, interracial marriage, and slavery. There are many people who are opposed and feel it is morally and ethically wrong and others who feel that same-sex marriages are acceptable. Prior to

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 in today one might be surprised to learn how many countries are accepting of gay and lesbians, as well as how many are not. The world has made progress within the last decade regarding this issue, but definitely not enough. We need to take steps

Gay marriage is a topic that is heavily debated in this day and age. Whether or not it should be legal for homosexuals to get married is a theme that authors Andrew Sullivan, who wrote “For Gay Marriage” and William J. Bennett, who wrote “Against Gay Marriage” use in there articles. The main points the authors both discus is the meaning of marriage itself, the social impact same sex marriage will have on society, and the influence on children and teens. Although, the authors have similar themes disused in their topics, there are more differences in how they view same sex marriage.

In summation, the definition of family has had a drastic change in society throughout major movements in history. The feminist movement during the 1960s first began changing the feminine roles placed on women. It changed the economy and the state as more women began demanding equality in the work place, this demand of equality transferred over to the household as women demanded a more egalitarian relationship. The LGBTQ movement has broadened who is considered part of a family socially and legally. A family is no longer represented as a patriarchal ideology with the father having the power over the household, but an equal representation of parents without a large acknowledgment on gender. The study of homosexual marriages has presented knew

In the article “Marital Blitz: This November, Anti-Gay-Marriage Bills Will Be Back on Ballots with a Vengeance. But This Time Around, the Gay and Lesbian Activist Network Is Ready to Play Hardball.” by E.J. Graff and published by The American Prospect, he discusses gay marriage, and the battle in which the same-sex couples have been fighting. Despite this, gay support rates have been increasing with time, leading to the increasing number of organizations striving for the cause. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups have been speaking out and showing others on why gay equality is not something to be turned away or frowned upon, some even going as far to speak out that being repressed rights is affecting loved ones (Graff).

Gay Marriage should be kept legal and gays should have access to adoption and reproductive technologies. Two people who love each other, regardless of gender, should be able to get married because all people are equal! The significance of my research will impact my final opinion and thoughts on this paper and will determine if I think the same of this issue. My goal is to teach about the hard fought battle for marriage equality, the history of gay couples and information/laws on gay adoption and reproductive technologies. I hope to change some people’s negative opinions on this issue by showing them how hard gays have fought to be equal because “love is love and love has no labels”. Note- I will only cover Gay Marriage in the

2013 was a formative year in the United States. In June of that year, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that defined marriage as solely an union between one man and one woman, to be unconstitutional. This decision is seen as a monumental achievement in the LGBTQ community especially in a country that routine deny marriage to same-sex couples. Many argued that such unions between those of the same sex will disrupt society, cause their children to be abnormal or break down the tradition that is marriage. Perhaps though, they should have read the statement made by the American Anthropological Association in 2004, “The results of more than a century of anthropological research on households, kinship relationships,

Same-sex marriage is perhaps the most controversial issue in nowadays America. Same-sex marriage should be permitted by law has been debated ideologically, culturally and generationally in America (Elizabeth 2006). There are many against voices of same-sex marriage from moral, religion, society and even health sides. In addition, it is true that same-sex marriage has the impacts on these sides. Considering same-sex

Over the years in our country’s history it has been apparent that the idea of same sex marriages is becoming much more popular, however in most states there is still one thing stopping them. That one thing stopping two people from the pursuit of happiness which they desire is a social injustice. Social injustices are situations where a person or group of people is treated unfairly due to certain factors for example discrimination, prejudice, racism, heterosexism, sexism, and so forth. In the case of same sex marriages, the factor playing a major role in this social injustice is where most people believe that opposite sexes attract, but in the case of a same sex couple wanting to be married, this brings about many topics to be discussed by