Personal Narrative: Homosexuality And Civil Rights

In 1965 during the Civil Rights Movement, was the first gay rights demonstration which led to the gay liberation movement in the 70’s. Being such an impactful commemoration it inspired more liberating groups in the growing gay and lesbian world such as: feminist movements, record labels, music festivals and the National Organization for Women. This quickly evolved into acceptance in a place of worship when the first gay minister was ordained in ’72. Soon after, several large political groups formed in support of the growing “outing” of a gay society in a stand for gay rights. (Morris, 2017)

Although the issue of LGBT+ has been thrust to the forefront of issues in contemporary society, this is a battle that has affected social, political and health-related spectrums of our communities for decades. For many years, homosexuality was thought to be a psychiatric illness. In fact, it was defined as such by the APA until 1974. Gay conversion therapy was fairly popular, subjecting numerous patients to horrendous acts of torture in the name of medicine(source 3). On top of these brutal and quite frankly inhumane acts, there were laws and regulations prohibiting homosexuality. Although very loosely acted upon, it was these documents that paved the way for discrimination of LGBT members of the society to be discriminated against. Men and women alike could be easily discriminated against when trying to obtain housing or applying for immigration(Source 2). Without being able to partake in society as a functioning person, the disparity between sexual minorities and their heterosexual counterparts grew immensely.

Homosexuality has been an issue for the public for an extremely long time dating back to even Ancient Rome and Greek. Especially with the birth of Christianity, the religious society has been persecuting anyone claiming homosexuality, forcing people to hide their own sexuality for centuries. It is important to understand and know the past of the homsexuality to understand the reason for their fight and the mentality of their opposition. Homosexuality has never been accepted into the norms of society and was even viewed as a mental disease by the American Psychiatric Association (Bowman). Not until a few decades ago has the movement for gay rights began to kick off. The event that really set off the movement was the Stonewall Riot of 1969. “New York’s gay community had grown weary of the police department targeting gay clubs, a majority of which had already been closed. The crowd on the street watched quietly as Stonewall’s employees were arrested, but when three drag queens and a lesbian were forced into the paddy wagon, the crowd began throwing bottles at the police” (“Stonewall”). This event is regarded as the foundation for the modern gay rights movement including the formation of many gay, lesbian, and bisexual civil rights organizations.

According to the data bank of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (organization founded in 1950 and that has led the fight for equal rights and social justice in The United States of America for over half a century) the origin of the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement can be traced back to the Stonewall Inn, a little gay bar in New York. (Civilrightsorg, 2016)

Fifty years ago, in the early sixties, being gay was illegal in every providence in Canada, and in every single state in the United States. In the 1950’s, many gay individuals saw the men who had devoted their lives to being out and they knew what a horrible life that made for those men. This caused many gay men to “pass,” or live their entire lives in the closet. They would marry women for the soul purpose of protecting their secret. Before the stonewall riots, many Americans did not even believe gay people existed. Due to the lack of education and bigotry amongst Americans, being gay was very dangerous. Sexual acts in the gay community were commonly done in unsafe places and in public because they simply had nowhere else to go. Homosexuality was not just criminalized it was medicalized (Bawer). If you were gay, you could be subject to go into hospitals and were viewed by society as having a disability and a disease. In April of 1965, the very first gay protest took place in Washington DC. This protest was revolutionary and it began to pave the way for the future of gay men and women and reshape gay culture. In 1969, not long after the first gay protests of 1965, Canada decriminalized homosexual sexual acts in the privacy of one’s own home (Guerre). This was groundbreaking and gave the gay community hope that change was coming. Also, taking place in 1969 were the historic stonewall

The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as

According to an opinion widely held, homosexuality is said to be freer today than ever before. It is present and visible everywhere: in the street, in the newspapers, on television, at the movies. It is even supposedly completely accepted, judging by the recent legislative advances made in many countries for the recognition of same sex couples. Certainly, some work remains necessary in order to eradicate the last vestiges of discrimination. But with changing public opinion, it will only be, according to some people, a matter of time, the time needed for a movement begun many decades earlier to achieve its goals.

Imagine four teenagers: Craig, Lucy, David, and Gina. Really think about their appearances and personalities. I’m going to say that you imagined all of them as heterosexual, cisgender, white, average-sized boys and girls. If you did, it’s okay. It’s our brain's default. It’s what is “normal”. What if I said that Craig was gay? What if I said Gina was African-American? Or that David used to be Diana? And Lucy was Buddhist? Most minds of our generation wouldn’t care. It wouldn’t harbor negative feelings now that these people have “breached” if you will, the societies perception of normal. America’s gift to our generation is acceptance.

Often when we think of American civil rights history, we picture the African American struggle for equality; we think of famous court cases like Brown v. Board, a milestone in ending segregation in public schools; we think of Dr. King and the NAACP’s efforts to organize the black community through speeches, boycotts, and peaceful protests. But often times, when we discuss civil rights history in classrooms we tend to overlook the discrimination faced by other minorities and their separate movements towards social equality.

During the Civil Rights Movement, James Baldwin wrote many articles and essays on racial issues. His unique and powerful style invoked the thoughts of many people. What also made Baldwin stand out from others was his homosexuality. Baldwin wrote several essays and novels that had a homosexual theme rooted within the story. It was through this method that Baldwin was able to express his homosexuality and at the same time present a view of black culture that was highly unacceptable during that time period. His works gave him much widespread attention but essentially he was not recognized as a prominent leader of the movement. This was a result of stereotyped images of homosexuals and the desire for African American men

My stomach dropped as I noticed the white man out of the blue run up to the Negro man with a steel pipe in his right hand and hit him viciously at least a dozen times, he used all the might that his body had to beat the other man. I had never seen a human use such an abundantment of fury filled force against another like that before and worst of all it was completely un-provoked. The man tried to shield his face from the weapon by placing his arms in front of him but it was no use. Randy and I were in the utmost state of shock, but I decide even being so far away to run down the street I screamed out to the attacker, but he didn't notice until I was only a few feet away from him; Randy had also followed me when I decided to run, but had strayed a fair distance behind me the man looked up and immediately took off out of fright. I knelt down beside the man. His almost lifeless body lay helpless

In 1963, the Civil Rights Movement was in full force. Leaders of the movement, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., fought relentlessly for equality amongst everyone, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or nationality, would be treated equally. Though we, as a nation, have come a long way since the 1960s, King’s words still have a great relevance in many aspects of society today.

One important issue in our world today is Gay Civil Rights. The question is “Should they have the same rights as straight people?” A lot of people say no, but a lot of people also say yes. Obama passed a law called “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” This law allowed homosexuals to go into the military. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to? There was also a Hate Crime law passed stating there will be no hate crime based on sexual orientation. Lastly there was the Respect for Marriage Act passed that allows homosexuals the same rights as heterosexuals.

In the 1960s many movements were starting to form. The three main movements that stand out to me are women's liberation, gay liberation, and the civil rights movement. I believe all of these movements have proved a point in the lives of many Americans. Each movement has brought a group of many Americans together to help show their concerns with the situations.

Throughout centuries of generations, there have been many changes that have influenced sexual tolerance. Sexual tolerance is defined as “the acceptance of multiple sexual orientations and lifestyles, generally accompanied by the appropriate legal and civil rights” (Urban Dictionary, 2009). Though there have been improvements in tolerance, there are still many different views on the recent policies, laws or social trends occurring towards sexual and gender orientation. Every aspect of society, from the Department of Defense to local school departments, are beginning to adapt to this growth in gender identity and orientation. An article published by the New York Times (Rosenberg, 2016) addresses an uprising policy on the acceptance of