Kenji Yoshino's Covering: The Hidden Assault On Our Civil Rights

Andrew Sullivan, author of, What is a Homosexual, portrays his experience growing up; trapped in his own identity. He paints a detailed portrait of the hardships caused by being homosexual. He explains the struggle of self-concealment, and how doing so is vital for social acceptation. The ability to hide one’s true feelings make it easier to be “invisible” as Sullivan puts it. “The experience of growing up profoundly different in emotional and psychological makeup inevitably alters a person’s self-perception.”(Sullivan)This statement marks one of the many reasons for this concealment. The main idea of this passage is to reflect on those hardships, and too understand true self-conscious difference. Being different can cause identity

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, society wasn’t the most accepting of places for people who were different from the “social norms”. Now I know, people today still struggle with trying to fit in and be “normal” but it was different. Being a gay man living in San Fransisco at the time, which had a large gay population, Richard Rodriguez had a hard time dealing with the discrimination he faced. Richard Rodriguez was an American journalist who wrote and published a memoir about his life as a gay man. In October of 1990, Rodriguez published his memoir “Late Victorians” in Harper’s Magazine, a critically acclaimed publication of the time. In his memoir, Rodriguez describes what it was like to realize he was gay and watch as the country changed to become a more accepting place. He does this by setting up how things can change and then explaining the actual ways things change for the gay population.

Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their

In the essay titled “A Tale of Three Coming Out Stories” by Roxane Gay, the author expresses the invasion of the privacy of celebrities and other well known individuals by society. The essay revolves around the LGBT community which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and the issues that occur due to society pressure and anti-gay governmental legislation . Gay uses the coming out stories of 3 well-known individuals in her essay in a persuasive manner to prove the idea that although celebrities losing their privacy is unfair, they have an obligation to speak up in order to benefit the greater good. In order to benefit the greater good Roxane Gay repeatedly expresses that fellow LGBT members must stand up and be counted.

‘At the most basic level, if a male applicant were to live discreetly, he would in practice have to avoid any open expression of affection for another man which went beyond what would be acceptable behaviour on the part of a straight man. He would have to be cautious about the friendships he formed, the circle of friends in which he moved, the places where he socialised. He would have constantly to restrain himself in an area of life where powerful emotions and physical attraction are involved and a straight man could be spontaneous, impulsive even. Not only would he not be able to indulge openly in the mild flirtations which are an enjoyable part of heterosexual life, but he would have to

It is no secret that when Alison Bechdel was a child, homosexuality was not exactly met with open arms. Due to the unpleasant views many heterosexuals had in regards to homosexuality, Alison Bechdel was at first quite cautious when it came to being open about her newfound sexual orientation; however, she eventually opened herself up to her family, friends, and the world about who she is and did not let the political prejudices of others stop her. This is evident when Bechdel writes, “It was in that tremulous state that I determined to tell my parents. Keeping it from them had started to seem ludicrous anyway” (76). Here, Bechdel decides to come out to her parents, deciding that it was absurd not to tell them. Evidently, the prejudices of society could not keep Alison Bechdel down, and this resulted in her personality being shaped by the courage of being oneself, which is hardly an easy thing to

Ironically, today it is almost the opposite. Covering is enforced not by federal law, but by one’s own inhibition. This makes it seem like its in one’s own head, like it’s his or her fault and not societal expectations for being to scared to be his or her true self. People still feel the need to cover from our higher-ups and peers, despite the law protecting their civil rights. The need to cover has become more social than legislative, and therefore, more dangerous. Because it seems covering is imposed only by oneself, it acts invisible to the uncritical eye, and separates oneself from societal responsibility. About this, Yoshino says, “The real solution lies in all of us as citizens… These reason-forcing conversations should happen outside courtrooms - in workplaces and restaurants, schools and playgrounds, chat rooms and living rooms, public squares and bars. They should occur informally and intimately, where tolerance is made and unmade.”

There will always be a few things that a person does not feel comfortable with about their own body that leads them to hide it. These things could be aspects of their identity or their physical features that they feel must be hidden away in order to fit better into the mainstream. In his essay, “Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights” Kenji Yoshino discusses the effects “covering” has on marginalized groups in the United States. He defines “covering” as the ability “to tone down a disfavored identity to better fit into the mainstream” (Yoshino 294). In her essay, “Alone Together” Sherry Turkle discusses how the pervasive use of technology like “online communities” is detrimental to people. She worries that with frequent use of technology that people will begin to become indifferent to authenticity in their everyday lives. Both authors worry about whether individuals will unite regardless of their covering or their excessive use of online communities or not. Individuals are pulled further apart from each other due to their excessive use of virtual worlds and covering of their identities.

Yoshino describes covering as the new threat to civil rights in the country; in regards that it negates the possibility of authenticity. Though he sees the positive aspects of assimilation in regards that it enhances fluidity in social interactions, he begrudges covering which is borne out of the assimilation process. His article “Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights” discusses his struggles with maintaining authentic Japanese and American culture, and shifting between the two cultures depending on his social physical environment. Yoshino attempts to play two identities by remain at the center of his social interaction but expresses the key challenges that are associated with preservation of authenticity in the midst of prevailing cultural stereotypes. This raises key questions about authenticity and its value in the society. In her article “Alone Together,” Turkel observes that authenticity is increasingly losing its significance in the contemporary world driven by the progress made through technology. She describes the introduction of machines that can be able to fake authenticity is blurring the lines between performance and identity, with most children finding it hard to differentiate between the real animal and the machine. In fact, she points out that the machines have become convenient in mimicking the authentic that they are preferred over the real. Yoshino brings out a key concern about the potential impact of an attempt to maintain authenticity in a

There is always that one thing, be it small or large, that separates a person from the crowd. In Kenji Yoshino’s “The New Civil Rights” he supports this idea, claiming that “in our increasingly diverse society all of us are outside the mainstream in some way” (552). People are bound to be different, as they each have their own experiences that molds their personality. Therefore, it is impossible for everyone to be “normal” if a population is filled with unique individuals with various characteristics, yet, society seems to always find a way to define normality and set the standard. It decides which traits are unique, eccentric, or quirky, and which are strictly “abnormal,” and therefore shunned. When this occurs, other members of the community have little problems ensuring the “different” individual knows they do not fit in. People do this because they do not take to time to understand individuals who are labeled “abnormal.” It is a result of their own laziness and lack of desire to be educated about them; they decide automatically that those human beings are deemed less without getting a chance to know them. This phenomenon occurs frequently with the LGBTQ community. The population decides that not being heterosexual or cisgender is grounds for bullying, and that being part of that faction is too “different” to be a part of their society.This ignorance blinds them from widening their definition of normality and expanding their views. People have to be better educated to have more accepting views as it not only limits themselves, but also harms individuals around

Roy Cohn and Joe Pitt represent the stereotypical gay man who refuses to publicly acknowledge his sexuality. They portray how gay men sometimes go to extreme lengths to deny their homosexuality. Both not only lie to others, but they lie to themselves. There is a certain sadness in the fact that some gay men desire the respect of strangers over being honest with themselves. Why do such a large number of gay men live lives in denial? The answer is simple. The answer is fear. Fear is the driving force behind many gay men's secrecy. The fear of how others may view them and the fear of how they will be received is overpowering.

LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender. It is intended to highlight a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures. Historically, LGBT people have had to deal with being brutalised and misunderstood because of the misconception that being gay is different and deserves different treatment. However, there are efforts being made daily by the community in order to educate people and ease their fears. The purpose of the following analysis is to deconstruct how people who fought back while growing up realizing they are apart of community help shaped and/or will shape them to become strong roles for LGBT people around the world.

“Coming out” is a means of identifying one’s sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. At its most basic, “coming out of the closet,” means being honest with those around you—friends, family, colleagues, and so forth—about your sexual orientation, about whom you are. It also means acknowledging one’s sexual orientation to self. Such disclosure is an ongoing, lifelong process rather than a one-time event. New personal, social, and professional situations require gay men and lesbians to make decisions about the degree to which they can be open about their sexual orientation (Morrow, 1996).

In Journal of Human Rights published in 2014, after the Equalities Act of 2010 enacted, the United Kingdom sees sexuality and gender identities as “protected characteristics,” with legal imperatives to address discrimination, and in Canada in the early 1990s, there were an opposition against gays and lesbian rights, but after sexual orientation recognized in 1995, gradually by 2013, gays and lesbians have equality rights. (Browne, 2014)

The sexual orientation identity development is a theoretical model that conceptualized the resolution of internal conflict related to the formation of individual sexual identity. For sexual minority people, it is commonly known as the coming-out process (Bilodeau & Renn 2005). There have been many different models elaborated to explain such process. All of them share similar stages: awareness, crisis, and acceptance (Loiacano 1989). When individuals become aware of their queer feelings and attraction, they try to block these homosexual feelings by constantly denying and minimizing them. This mechanism of defense leaves negative sequelae in their overall psychosocial well-being (Bilodeau & Renn 2005). Individuals tend to pass by a