The LGBQT Community

The LGBT community has been silently suffering through generations. But in this generation, they are finally showing the world their voice. There have been many instances where young adults were denied their right to be who they are and now they are speaking out about the mistreatment. Even though the united states have begun to be more open about the LGBT community here is still more change it come. These changes can be explained through many sociological perspectives including: functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionism and interactionism. Along with these perspective religion, norms and deviance all impact these individuals who are striving to be open about who they really are inside and out.

This paper will continue on, researching the societal change/acceptance in the gay and lesbian community as no longer being unorthodox and with the stigma coming from the gay community itself.

People in America who choose to identify as members of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A community have been chastised and mistreated for years, specifically Black Americans. Thousands of people who identify as members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual community have been suppressed of the ability to love freely without being ridiculed. Every human around the world deserves to be loved, regardless of their sexual orientation. Identifying as a member of the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A community does not make you abnormal. There is nothing troubling with liking the same sex, it does not classify you as anything less than a man or woman. Furthermore, society has created this negative notion about identifying as an L.G.B.T.Q.I.A member, we are all humans, with emotions. Homosexuality amongst the African American community is prevalent; it has its detriments and burdens on individuals. The effects of how Blacks are ostracized amongst the Black community is disheartening and is displayed through homophobia, violence, and acceptance.

LGBT acceptance has varied greatly over time in every culture in the world. For example, while it is commonly accepted that homosexual relations were common in Ancient Greece and Rome, the same cannot be said for the Middle Ages’ Holy Roman Empire. In American culture throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, sodomy was the phrase used to describe all “deviant” sexual acts. A homosexual lifestyle was unthinkable, mainly due to the high rate of Christians who devoutly believed in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. However people such as Walt Whitman, Charlotte Cushman, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, among others all achieved greatness in literature, the arts, and other fields, while also maintaining a secretive LGBT identity (Norton, 2004). To say that the proven biological inclinations of LGBT people is a “new” occurrence that exists solely due to societal acceptance simply contradicts historical evidence.

A gay couple from Indianapolis who have waited to marry for years have been quoted as saying: “We 're positive because the mindset in this nation seems to be that it is unconstitutional to say that our marriages are different from any other marriage.” (pro-con,1) This means that gay people are staying optimistic. Prohibiting gay marriage is considered discrimination to gays because the government is not giving homosexual couples the same rights as gay heterosexuals, which is also unconstitutional. Therefore, same-sex couples should have access to the same marriage benefits and public acknowledgment enjoyed by heterosexual couples. (pro-con,1)

Gay marriage has slowly become a significant factor amongst individuals of today’s society. On June 26, 2015, it was ruled out by the U.S. Supreme Court that gay marriage was now legal. The first thing that I thought was that “Wasn’t it already legal in the United States?” Well, apparently no it has not been legalized in the United States! (Dumb me.) The U.S. is known to be a nation of equality and gives everyone the freedom of the speech, but it is actually a nation full of racism, sexism, and homophobias. Our country gives us the freedom to do many things, but to gay couples they don’t have much freedom as others do. We are violating their freedom because we aren’t letting them marry the one they love, so to say that everyone in the U.S. has the freedom to do anything is wrong. Our civil rights and the Constitution give us many liberties. One of our civil liberties is the pursuit of happiness, which many homosexual people are not allowed to chase, but thanks to the new ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court homosexual people are allowed to chase it. They are being looked down at and are feeling ashamed of themselves because of all the cruelty that they are receiving. Homosexual people haven’t been able to fully express themselves until it was legalized for them to fully do so. They have been fighting for the right to be married to their same sex for about a decade now, and they have finally met their goal. #Lovewins.

Sodomy involving men with men, men with women, and men with animals were made illegal. Same-sex relations between men was outlawed because it discouraged sexual reproduction. But same-sex acts between women were just seen as acts and not yet threatening. Later into the 19th century, we saw a more of a change. The industrial revolution further enforced patriarchal families. Women and children were transformed from “producers to dependents and consumers.” During this time, gender roles were more pronounced in society, which led to a series of issues for the LGBTQ community later during the 19th century.

First, one individual that helped shape society was Evelyn Hooker. Up until the 70’s people believed that homosexuality was a disease and that they could “cure” it. They also banned homosexuals from working in government positions because it was considered a “danger to security.” Also, many jobs would not hire a homosexual person. They were treated the same way that people with mental illnesses were treated. In 1956 Evelyn Hooker, an American psychologist presented her research paper “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual” at the American Psychological Association Convention in Chicago. Her experiments showed that homosexuals and heterosexuals did not differ significantly. This helped display the idea that homosexuality was not something

The functionalistic perspective is based on the idea of society being made of parts, that together make a whole. Functionalist try to identify these different parts and figure out what their function is exactly, in terms of the contribution they make to form equilibrium in society. This perspective also states that if there is ever a disruption in society, it can be restored if its social control is operated effectively and efficiently (Lindsey, 2015). Lindsey (2015) stated, “values surrounding gender roles, marriage, and the family are central to functionalist assertions regarding social equilibrium” (p. 6). Specifically, because gender roles have a prominent place in marriage and families (Keirns et al., 2015).

This article addresses the way people view homosexuality. It mentions how society has had to “add on” identities in order to satisfy the different labels that have been added to acknowledge the unique features of those within the realm of homosexuality. It expresses the many different ways people define homosexuality before stating the author’s stance on the issue. The author goes more in depth when she mentions the Civil Rights movement and how we had to give people equal opportunities based on race. She ties that into treating homosexuals as equals because regardless of their sexual orientation, they, too, are humans.

In LBGTQ community gay people have over a long time been stigmatized because of their homosexual orientations. Acts of homosexuality are condemned as immoral practices. This group suffers most in the society because of heterosexism, which serves as overarching system of benefits accorded to heterosexual individuals (Stewart, 2001). There is an institutionalized norm, which perpetuates the idea that all people should be heterosexual. In the entire society, heterosexuals receive privileges and gay people's needs, life experiences, cultures and concerns are excluded.

Prior to delving into the argument claims, several definitions must be established for the purpose of this paper. The article is from the view point of the United States, as homosexual and

Homosexuality remains one of the most important concepts in the sociological study of sexuality. It has not been proven in any way that homosexuality is induced by genetic makeup, by an individuals cultural, or societal practices. Homosexuality is defined as: one who has a sexual attraction towards someone else of the same sex. This topic will be examined with the socio conflict approach, and therefore critical sociology, due to the inequalities that have arisen in most cultures throughout the existence of the modern world, and the early modern world. Before 1960 homosexuality was not accepted in any sense in Canada, or the United Sates. Homosexuality was labeled by mental health professionals as a sickness, and a means for being

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).

Murdock argues that the family performs four basic functions in all societies – sexual, reproductive,