Homosexuals: Discrimination In The United States

The LGBTQ+ community’s discrimination has bettered over the last couple of years but is starting to dip in places. In many countries, such as Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Ghana, being a homosexual could have you killed. Because of this difficulty, many LGBTQ+ persons have or have had, a difficulty ‘coming out’ to their friends, family, and peers. According to the Pew Research Center survey on the LGBTQ+ population, nearly 4 in 10 people, or about 39% have been rejected by their family and friends because of their homosexuality and sexual orientation. 6 in 10 people have been victims to racial slurs and jokes about their sexualities, and 21% have been unfairly treated by fellow employees. For teenage LGBTQ+, they are even more discriminated

Before we can address the issue of homophobia. We must distinguish what exactly homophobia is, Homophobia is a term to describe hate towards homosexually oriented people. Homophobia is a form of stigma based on sexual ideas. This is also explained in the book “The Challenges of being a gay rural gay man, coping with stigma”. It states “sexual stigma is defined as social disapproval of any-non-heterosexual behavior”. Stigma that is based on hate towards people that are different, or people we don’t understand.

It has been said that we discriminate because we are scared, and people do believe that holds some value. Why else would we hate for no reason? How do we define discrimination against homosexuals as just? Discrimination is fueled by hate and ignorance. In Human Rights a Short Introduction by Andrew Clapham, he discusses The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948 that describes to whom human rights should be bestowed upon.

Whether we like it or not, discrimination is a problem that has been occurring for thousands of years and is one that will continue to occur for years to come. American history has seen its share of discrimination, perhaps none more evident than the mid-19th century. Political tensions between northern and southern states concerning states’ rights and slavery sent the country into turmoil. The bloodiest battle in American history soon began and the country would never be the same again. However, after the conclusion of the war at Appomattox Court House, the definition of American citizenship and personal liberties would be changed forever. Unfortunately, discrimination has continued to take place within the nation’s borders against other groups of people. Recently, discrimination against homosexual individuals has been quite an intense topic of debate. Although I do understand the logic behind people’s beliefs, it is astonishing to me that there are people in this world that aggressively disallow others to be who they are and live the life that they so choose to live. Persecution of others for religious or political beliefs, although understandable, is a devastating problem to the entire world. In my eyes, how can America be the land of the free and the home of the brave when citizens are unable to be free in their choices and are forced to be brave to act against these unethical doings? We have seen reforms take place to minimize discrimination throughout

Imagine you're walking down the street and you’re doing something normal like shopping. All of the sudden you hear a huge bang, a gunshot, from somewhere in front of you and see a woman lying down on the ground bleeding to death while people call 911 and try to save her, she's already dead. People cry and try helping, but the reason that the event that just occurred happened was because she was transgender. Now does that change your perspective? Do you stop crying and leave once you find this out? Most people would.

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

Imagine falling deeply in love with someone; having a happy long-term relationship with them. This person is the entire world to you, but although it is wanted by both partners, there can be no legal marriage. Because it is illegal to marry someone of the same gender. The United States of America were founded on the belief that everyone is equal and should be free to pursue happiness, yet there is oppression of a sexual minority that needs to end. Although there are many different people with many different reasons opposing same-sex marriage, such as religious or personal beliefs, it should not be illegal to marry someone of the same gender because not all people support it.

Identity salience and changes in one’s salience hierarchy may be affected by one’s experiences of discrimination as they often function as a structural reinforcement of one’s primary identity (Moore 2011). Experiences of discrimination could be understood as recognition of difference and distinction between as well as the positioning of groups against one another (Higginbotham 1992)—a marker of difference and a reinforcement of a certain group membership imposed by others. Furthermore, strong centrality of and group identification with a particular identity could also affect the ways in which individuals perceive discrimination. Social psychologists Sellers and Shelton (2003) have found positive associations between racial centrality and the levels of perceived racial discrimination among black college students. Similarly, in the case of black LGBT individuals, I argue that their perceived experiences of racial or sexual identity-based discrimination would

“Discrimination [dih-skrim-uh-ney-shuh n]: treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit.” Right from the dictionary, the definition is clear. Look back 95 years to 1920, where women across America raised their voices and fought back for the right to vote. Now take a look back 48 years ago when in 1967, interracial marriage was finally legalized. These were all monumental events fighting against discrimination. However, the definition is still blurring in minds of some across America as a multitude of bills are being passed permitting people to act with bigotry towards members of the LGBTQ+ community, the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts just being one of them. In discussions of bills such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, or RFRA’s, one controversial issue has been whether or not they permit discrimination. On one hand, those supporting the laws argue that they only reinforce the free practice of religion. On the other hand, those against them contend that with their vagueness it plays out as disguising legal discrimination. My own view is that the RFRA’s and other anti-LGBTQ+ laws should be repealed or at the very least backed with a state wide non-discrimination law for LGBTQ+ individuals. This is in order to prevent a large amount of service being denied to LGBTQ+

Americans live in a society that seems constantly plagued by various types of discrimination. For instance, ableism, classism, and sizeism are a few examples of the sorts of systematic discriminations that Americans face every day. However, as of late, one of the most prevalent forms that targets homosexual minorities is Heterosexist discrimination. Heterosexism is defined as the discrimination or prejudice against homosexuals (“Heterosexism”). In addition to being prejudiced and discriminatory, Heterosexism is more often than not paired with the idea that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation, and therefore superior.

The battle against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Defiance Syndrome (AIDS) has been devastating, underestimated, and complex. In America, this difficulty surrounding HIV/AIDS is due to the inability of the state to properly educate and protect its citizens from being exposed to this illness. Since the first detection of HIV and AIDS the government aided in the miseducation, stereotypes, and deaths of its citizens by not taking the proper protocols to protect its people. Originally, United States’ government allowed its citizens to believe that HIV and AIDS were strictly related to homosexual relationships. As a result of this misguidance, homophobia increased nationally; thus, shunning the gay community and making it

Gay Rights--civil and social rights given to homosexuals in comparison to heterosexuals--is a topic that has been roaring, especially in the conservative state of Mississippi. Because this is such a controversial issue, citizens have a different viewpoints that are deemed “the right way.” Citizens’ viewpoints have grown stronger with the recent passing of Governor Phil Bryant’s initiative “1523.” The legislative measure claims, it is a person’s religious freedom to hire or sell to gay citizens. It is ironic that the measure upholds one person’s freedom but denies another. Since the constitution, America has claimed to be built upon the blessing of liberty for all. However, minorities groups: women, African Americans, immigrants have had to fight to be a part of this liberty. Mississippi’s bill, 1523, dishonors what the constitution upholds. No

This would then lead them as a group or individual being disadvantaged and in turn lead to them being oppressed. Despite the social, legal, and political advances that have been launched in an attempt to grant homosexuals basic human rights, in some parts of the world they are still seen to be an inferior group which has lead to them being oppressed.

In the United States, LGBT rights have been expanded by landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Between 1996 and 2015, the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws, Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), allowed protected class recognition based on homosexuality and made same-sex marriage legal on a federal level. Justice Kennedy played a pivotal role in expanding the rights of gays and lesbians over the years through specific legal rationale that insists upon protection of LGBT rights. On the other hand, Justice Scalia’s dissenting opinions oppose expanded constitutional protections for gays and lesbians. In order to understand the evolution of LGBT rights, it is crucial to analyze the opinions from Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas,

“Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?” -Ernest J. Gaines. For the LGBT community, many people frown upon them, treating them as if they’re not human beings. It raises a concern to many - why isn’t the government doing anything about it? As I found in an article wrote by Stephen Peters, “LGBT people are included in the federal hate crimes law; but fewer than half of states have passing or expanding laws which aim to protect LGBT individuals from bullying in schools or discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations like restaurants and stores,” said MAP Executive Director Ineke Mushovic. “The reality is that LGBT Americans are still not equal under the law, and