Making Queer History : The Victors Write History

Social aspects of my life would teach me that being homosexual or bisexual was wrong, but others (while living in Palm Springs, Ca.) taught me that it was completely normal to have such sexual orientations. I have lived in California my whole life which has always had heavy, heated debates about allowing same sex marriages, allowing homosexuals in the military, and fighting for homosexual equality, so the history behind my state has made me grow up to be comfortable around gays even with the disturbing things I had been subjected to while I was growing up in Palm Springs. This class has now taught me many things I did not know about when it comes to the psychological aspects of being homosexual or bisexual, but I am still a heterosexual, and comfortable with it.

The word “gay” has gone through drastic changes. Traditionally, it was a positive term that meant to be “happily excited” or “jolly” (Merriam Webster, “Gay”). It was used regularly to express one’s feelings about life. Today, it has a far different meaning. Now people use the word gay to label homosexuals, those with feminine qualities, or those who do something thought to be outside of the norm for their gender. “Being gay” went from expressing someone’s happiness to describing his sexual preference. The definition of gay has changed so much that its original meaning has become archaic and lost to the times.

Everyone has their own take on controversial subjects faced in society, and no matter what age we live in, this particular subject seems to stay just as relevant in the generation before as it does today. The poem written by Richard Blanco titled â Queer Theory: According to My Grandmotherâ (2012), which

In the current society that we live in, there are many things that help shape our perception of sexual identity. In the discussion with the class, there was a consensus that family, media, religion were the major influencers on how we develop our sexual identities and how we view other’s sexual identity. From childhood, most of us are shaped by the view of our parents and often follow the same principles and views at them. Though many people usually divert from this thought process, it still serves as a foundation for our future views and principles, whether we agree with our parents or not. Going through our individual groups discussions, many people in my group felt that a large part of their perception about the LGBT community came from the media and how the community was portrayed in the media. We discussed that in our childhoods we were often presented with gay characters that were often very flamboyant, feminine

My first experience with someone who was gay, it was easy to accept. I grew up in a very open home that told me it was okay to be who you are. Once I asked my friend how he knew he was gay, he told me he tried to date girls but he was not comfortable in a relationship with a girl. However later in high school he began to grow feelings for a mutual male friend. That moment he knew who he was then sophomore year he came out as openly gay. From what I saw from this is to prove a point he did not choose to be gay but found his sexual identity. He always says I was born this

Winston Churchill once said, “History is written by the victors.” Humans are so consumed with what is spoken, written, or otherwise presented of themselves; who presents it however, controls how the situation is perceived. From ancient Rome to modern America, countries of great power have perfected the art of telling stories from one side, the winners view.

In our modern era, the conversation about gender equality, marriage equality, and identity cannot be ignored. Even with current events relating to which public restroom one can use is a staunch reminder of the social inequities which exist in the United States of America. Beyond the social dialogue is the spiritual conversation. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer community fight not only an uphill battle with the pressure of society but also how to reconcile a relationship with God and a place within Christianity. It is through the thoughtful exploration of Queer Liberation Theology that a dialogue and public and spiritual discourse can flourish.

In the United States the issue of civil liberties, or a lack thereof for certain minorities has been prevalent since the 1800’s. The historically renowned Stonewall Incident marked the beginning of the civil rights and equality movement, for the gay and lesbian demographic in America. “On June 27th, 1969, patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a New York City bar popular with gays and lesbians responded to a police raid by throwing beer cans and bottles because they were angry at what they felt was unjustified police harassment” (Bardes et al. 170). Since the incident, gay men and lesbian women have formed various organizations to exert pressure on legislations, the media, schools, and churches. The liberation achieved by the homosexual community of the United States during the Stonewall Incident has lead to the acceptance of openly gay and lesbian representation in Congress, the military, and same-sex marriage in certain states. (Do I need to add a comma to thesis) -- seems long?

It was a common saying of the past that the history of a conflict was told by the victors. That was true then, the losers of the conflict had to rebuild after their defeat and the winners could share their side of the story, twisting it so it would seem that they did no harm and the losers deserved defeat because they were the villains. This is not true today. With the wealth of information at one’s finger tips and the available research opportunities the stories can be untangled and both sides of the story can be told. However, some have held strong to the truths that their side proclaimed and refuse to admit that their victory was tarnished by lies, deceits, and omissions. This very idea is what shaped how

“From capital’s point of view,” writes Jacobin contributing editor Chris Maisano, “the social and political relations of production that come with [full employment] are untenable. Accepting such an economy would be tantamount to unilateral disarmament in the class struggle.” They may sound hoary, but these words have a stirring quality, a reminder that it is more fun to read the subversive broadsides of Vonnegut than the Grundrisse, but the latter’s analytical tools continue to find a trenchant foothold. “The ideas in this volume draw on a rich tradition of socialist proposals, long a force in American politics,” writes Leonard, and what the collection lacks in humor and self-skepticism, it makes up for not just in radical traditions, but also in original thinking on life beyond today’s ruinous oligarchy. Throughout the book, there is plenty to argue with—e.g., “for socialists, freedom is exclusively identified with the time we spend outside the sphere of material production,” a contention that denies the genuinely meaningful possibilities of work. But engagement—with the essays, with the world—is the point. The contributors explore the horizontal structure of local autonomy, exemplified by Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and Fight for $15; the organizations at work in the LGBT movement confronting the economic marginalization and violence that still plague this community (the time has come to move from “legal equality to lived equality”); and the plentiful instances when small is not necessarily better.

Sometimes the feelings of one or more of the various forms of attraction to someone of the same sex appear with sexual experience and encounters that one may have, but most commonly these feelings emerge without any previous sexual experience and this fact leads us to believe that being gay is most-likely not a choice (“Sexual Orientation and homosexuality” 1). The question, “How did you know you’re gay?” will typically result in the same answer every time, “I just know.” However, when an LGBT person is asking this question they can turn it around and ask the same question to someone who straight, “How did you know you were straight?” As a result, it is shown that being gay is like any other characteristics and is something that goes unanswered as to why it is the way it is.

History is written by the survivors and historians, not the victors in particular. The losers also get their say in

Summary: Coming out can be a difficult process for these individuals, it can be extremely hard to come out to the people that these people are the closest to, they cannot help to feel the way that they do. The way that you are brought up can have an impact

The term “coming out of the closet” is from the 20th century. It is hard for the person to come out with who they really are. Although the decision to come out is a personal one, disclosure has been facilitated by a variety of institutions and social movements: The re appropriation of stigmatizing labels, (finding words that are less pejorative to describe a stigmatized group) advocacy and support groups (a second social phenomenon that facilitates disclosure is the advocacy and support groups made up of people who are out) and outing (a third phenomenon related to disclosure is outing). (Corrigan, P .2003) According to Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, Braun (2006), "the development of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) sexual identity is a complex and often difficult process. Unlike members of other minority groups (e.g., ethnic and racial minorities), most LGB individuals are not raised in a community of similar others from whom they learn about their identity and who reinforce and support that identity. Rather, LGB individuals are often raised in communities that are either ignorant of or openly hostile toward

The schools did not teach what being gay meant, I just knew I felt different. I grew up in a deeply religious family so liking girls was not an option. A television show that was on when I was growing up was Three’s Company; a man pretends to be gay so that he can live with two women. This was the first reference of homosexuality on television (Ploshay, 2007). The way television and the media portrays a character has a last affect on their viewers and readers.