Gay And Lesbian Women : The Civil Rights And Equality Movement

When describing democracy, it can be related to ideals that empower the people, such as: fairness, representation, equality, opportunity, and freedom. In the early 1800’s, these democratic ideals began to transform American culture and politics as they seemed to suffuse every aspect of society. By the 1820’s and 1830’s, America even attracted the interest of many foreigners who were impressed by the democratic character of life. They were surprised by the equality of conditions and saw American society as far more egalitarian than any society in Europe (Keene, 228). This new wave of democracy also thrived through politics and by 1828, almost every single state chose their presidential elector by letting

Even though African American women have played vital roles in social justice movements, they are often overshadowed because of their gender. Only a few organizations like Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) gave more access for female leadership. But more often than none, women had informal positions of leadership.

The next major event was the birth of the movement, The Stonewall Riots, which was the mother of all LGBT-themed associates and groups. There have been a large number of eyewitness accounts, articles and stories of how the riot began and ended, as well as what it immediately brought about. People began to start doing “radical” acts, one man decided to begin writing his college papers in terms of having a prominent gay

Equality rarely applies to Americans of color. To identify with two subgroups and be oppressed by society normalization only hurts the meaning of equalism. Throughout the years, minority groups have witness unfairness from slavery, civil rights movement and new area of the Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Bisexual (LGBT) movement. Yet, there are still heinous crimes and brutality force upon this community who wished nothing more but to be equals within society. We are living in day time where racial justice has become such an epidemic that the government has yet to take a stand for LGBT of color who are underserved. It’s an issue of equality. It’s an issue of equal treatment under the law,” Jonathan Capehart. African American still continue to face civil rights issue, just much so as LGBT population continue to struggle with justice issues today. What do you do when you are seeking justices for both as an African American individual apart of the LGBTQ community? This has become a rising social issue in today's society for many people.

By definition, democracy is a type of political system in which all members share the same level of power, but it is also the framework for the government of multiple countries including the United States of America. Athenian democracy, created near 400 B.C. in Athens, Greece, was a direct system where participating citizens had the opportunity to vote directly on legislative and executive bills. The founding fathers of the United States took the Athenian’s idea and created the idea of “representative democracy”, where the citizens of a nation were able to elect representatives who would make decisions for them. In fact, the United States could be considered to be more of a constitutional republic than democracy, since the Athenian democracy that influenced them is not a “true democracy”. Even though differences between the two governments exist, ancient Athenians heavily influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States of America to form a democratic government, allow representatives to vote on legislation, and to provide equality and fair trials to their people.

When it comes to the gay rights movement, the structure and the history of how it got to where it is today is a huge factor in today’s society. There have been a lot of things that negatively influenced gay rights. In some ways, things have happened in a positive way as well. The gay rights movement today and legalizing gay marriage has struck some people the wrong way because of their beliefs. For the gay community, though, it has been a very positive thing. Some of the big key moments in history went the way they did because of important events and important people causing it to go that way. These include Jeremy Bentham, Magnus Hirschfield, Henry Gerber, the making of the Mattachine Society, Stonewall Riots, Clela Rorex, the Ryan White

Many people of several generations before us fought a long and tumultuous battle to attain the civil rights for women that we have today. For many years, women had no rights. They had no rights to vote. They had no rights to property. They basically had no rights to themselves, as they were considered men's property. Due to these degrading circumstances, women over the years began to fight back. They started creating civil rights movements to help pursue their goals to fight against discrimination and to gain full citizenship rights. However, it wasn't easy for women to gain equal rights or the independence they deserved. The autobiographical accounts of Septima Clark and Casey Hayden and the oral interviews given by Diane Nash, Mary Dora Jones, and Earline Boyd, in Through Women's Eyes on pgs 656-664, demonstrate the trials and tribulations experienced during the civil rights movement that helped define these women's lives and experiences.

The founders of the United States envisioned a government which was controlled by the consent of the governed. The United States of America was the first modern nation to be established under the notion that the citizens have preeminent jurisdiction. Through elections, the people of the United States have the ability to chose a desired politician to be in power in all governmental positions. This political principle strongly represents a democracy as it “ is the idea that government exists to secure the rights of the people and must be based on the consent of the governed” (Doc F).

The United States government is a government which was built upon the elements of several historical documents, including the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. The basic foundations of our government, including the constitution are also greatly influenced by the ideas of social and political philosophers Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau. These ideas include social contract theory, natural law, and separation of powers. Many elements of the aforementioned documents have stood the test of time to uphold the definition of modern democracy, including due process, the right to bear arms, and separation of powers. All of these concepts are fundamental to the function and preservation of democracy.

The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and the LGBTQ rights movement happening now seem different on the surface but are more similar underneath. Many of the differences found between the two movements are only comparing the outer layer and not what is going on below that layer. When you look at how similar they are at the core, you will start to see a scary trend in the way people treat minorities in our society. The disturbing truth is people fear differences.

Civil rights are the rights of individuals to receive equal treatment and to also be free from unfair treatment or discrimination in a number of settings.The civil rights were said to have been set to historically achieve true equality for African-Americans in all facets of society but now it goes for many other equality rights such as sex, age, disability and religion. A majority of laws originates at a federal level when they are guaranteeing civil rights.

The road to democracy for America was a long one. This road starts before America was its own country it was under the rule of the British Empire. Under the Monarch the colonist’s individual rights were completely compromised in return for order and stability. Colonists felt as the King was wrongfully infringing upon their rights and declared independence from the British. Down the road during the Revolutionary war America functioned through the Articles of Confederation, a system where the power was given to the states. This worked well for America during the war, however; afterwards the flaws of the Articles became evident. States were not unified as one and therefore maintaining order was impossible. Forced with the conflict of developing a sound government, the Founding Fathers of America do this by finding a balance between the individual rights of the people and the power of the government to maintain order with the concepts of unalienable rights, checks and balances, and popular sovereignty.

The Civil Rights movement may have started out as a mission to improve the lives of the large population of African-Americans, but who would have guessed that King’s quest for racial integration would provoke the same quest for individual rights by another group of people, Gays and Lesbians. The quest for equal rights by people, who had unjustifiably been repressed for hundreds of years, would spur and give

America is also known around the world as the country that practices democracy. The word democracy originates from the two Greek words “demos” meaning “the people” and “Cratos” meaning “power.”2 Democracy allows the people to have the power in electing the most important leaders in the country, to agree or disagree on new ideas and changing of laws. This allows a country to continue to change and prosper from generation to generation.

The LGBT community has made new laws each day to bring equality to all. “Throughout its, America has symbolized equality of opportunity for people of all races, origins, religions and creeds, serving as a beacon of hope for anyone seeking a better life. However, despite its founding principles of equality and acceptance, the United States also has a long history of denying basic rights to certain people” (LGBT Equality). When the US discriminates against a certain thing people retaliate and rise up and try to make new laws to help their cause. The LGBT community has been striving to bring equality in many ways. The LGBT community has made great strides in gaining equality of same-sex marriage, gay adoption, and transgender equality.