The Civil Rights Movement: The Black Lives Matters Movement

In the 65-year history of LGBTQ activism in the United States, the present moment stands out on the basis of gay marriage being legalized. At no other time would an observer have imagined that the LGBTQ movement was likely to succeed in such a manner that any gender can marry any other gender with the permission by the law (Stewart-winter

Intro: This movement was created by three black community organizers which were Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi (Black lives matter). The BLM has drawn inspiratition from past and present civil rights movements such as the African American Civil Rights Movement, Black Empowerment, and LGBT social movements (The guardian).

Over 100 years ago, the term slaves arose when blacks were separated from their families and freedom, then consequently forced into hard working labor for the white individuals’ benefit, confiscating all their rights. Approximately 50 years ago, the Civil Rights movement was conducted in order to restore the equal rights under the American law. Currently, those of color are still constantly fighting to regain rights and justice that were seized from them years ago. Roughly around 5 years ago, the Black Lives Matter movement became an active nationwide organization involved to protect the lives of African Americans, all occurring due to the unjustifical death of Trayvon Martin. Unlike other civil rights movements, the Black Lives Matter movement is intended to raise awareness of the police brutality, inequality, and racism which has

Everyone across the globe has heard of the Black Lives Matter Movement. This movement wasn’t created to put down any other races. It was to show the government that Blacks will not stay silent while the police are gunning down innocent people. This movement has gained allies and enemies. The allies have done so much to keep this going. The enemies has done nothing but become the very thing we are taking a stand against. People must understand that this movement is too bring notice to what's been going on on and off camera. “See, “Black Lives Matter“ is trying to highlight that there is demonstrable evidence that black lives matter less than white lives to the criminal justice system (and the American government

Despite the U.S.’s victory in World War II, America was experiencing turmoil and ethnic tensions among the many races, especially African Americans. When African Americans returned home from Europe, many of them still faced poverty and discrimination. A lot of them still didn’t receive some of the same privileges as many of the white men. This in turn led to the establishment of the civil rights movements: SNCC, SCLC, The Black Panther, and The Black Lives Matter Movement. However, although the civil rights movements were actively involved, the movements have ultimately failed at addressing the failures of the past and better providing equality to African Americans.

Black lives matter is a social movement started by Patrsse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza in 2012. Black lives matter movement started because of Trevon Martin was killed by police. The movement have grown ever since. Black lives matter is a movement that acts when they feel black people’s rights has been violated. The movement states that black people are targeted by the police because of their color. In the case of Trevon Martin, the officer was acquitted of any charges which led the start of black lives matter. There has been many incident since then where a black person was shot and the officer was acquitted of all charges. BLM believes that black people are targeted because of color. They become the victim because

The history of the United States tends to be understood through analysis of periods of conflict. From the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War, both World Wars, the Cold War (and its affiliate proxy incidents), and finally modern day. What this skeletal description misses are the individual struggles of people who spent their lives marginalized due to societal stereotypes and discriminatory legislation. Groups have been affected due to identities that include but are not limited to: race, religion, ethnicity, immigration status, and sexual orientation. Of course this history of identity politics is not limited to the US, but the exploration of the LGBT movement within these borders can offer an important perspective on the tumultuous

Coming to the end of the 1960s, gay and lesbian groups were springing up across the United States and Canada, jumping from fifteen in 1966 to fifty in 1969 (D'Emilio, 1983). They no longer wanted to define themselves in terms left over to them by the heterosexist opposition; rather, they sought to build a new gay culture where gay people could be free. Civil rights and

Had these stories not been shared by Filipinos of different backgrounds, we would have an incomplete picture of their struggles. Similarly, social movements have to be inclusive to be successful. In “In Our Own Way,” the speakers discuss how trying to raise awareness of racial issues within the context of LGBT issues often led to a perception that “’us’ [is] trying to sabotage ‘them’” (Stein, 1994). As lesbian women of color, these activists experienced discrimination for not adhering to heteronormative ideals, and additional challenges within the queer community for not matching homonormative ideals. Zoon mused, “Those of us who are gay people of color are often forced to choose between gay culture and people of color culture” (Stein, 1994). Said Cristy, “It makes it hard to feel a part of the larger lesbian community. You’re not a part of it. They don’t hear your issues” (emphasis added) (Stein, 1994). The LGBT community already experiences heterosexual hegemony and homophobia from without; internal discrimination and injustice will only hinder the movement as a

The struggle for equality has been intense, and still continues to this day. With this being said, much progress has been made in establishing respect and external acceptance for all individuals sense of identity. For example, in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Same Sex Marriages, marking a pivotal point in the civil rights movement for the LGBTQ community. For many, this act helped to support their sense of self, a right that been denied for so long. The United States effectively validated the LGBTQ community, giving this group all rights granted to all other citizen’s, However, the creation and acceptance of this community has not had positive benefits for all members. The Gender Binary has been changed, but many distinctions

The movement’s success comes from how the three stages worked together to create a “moment of “collective creativity,” [to facilitate] the cultural constriction of interest and identities” through which the gay identities and gay rights evolved (Armstrong 2002:7). The movement started with homophile organization which “modeled themselves on interest group politics and hoped to improved life of homosexuals by educating the mainstream public” (Armstrong 2002:1). The homophile group or “interest group politics suggest lobbying for legislative change” (Armstrong 2002:19). In contrast, the New Left developed from redistributive politics, utilizing mass demonstration for change and calling for extreme social changes (Armstrong 2002:19). The decline of the New Left paved the way to identify politics which movement focused on “building gay identity … as a step toward eliminating social categories” (Armstrong 2).The New Left allowed for the creation of a new field of identification within American society by setting the ground for identity politics logic. Yet, the gay movement gain “internal coherence and reduce internal conflict about goals and strategies” by abandoning the redistributive agenda of the New Left and instead “embracing the powerful identity politics strategy of coming out and the rhetoric of gay pride parade” (Armstrong 2002:25).The success of the gay rights movement came from creating unity out of diversity and a mindset of “identity politics [which] suggests that creating and expressing alternative selves and alternative communities is the way to achieve change” (Armstrong 19). Additionally, without the decline of the New Left allow for a reshaping of political ideology by reducing “the plausibility of revolutionary socialist ideas and cleared the way for an identity-focused

The LGBTQ community has been advocating changes in systems and processes. Most of them coming from the treatment and equality in the workplace and environment they are in.

LGBTQ social movements have evolved over time from liberationist politics of the 1970s to an enormous contemporary focus on gay and lesbian marriage rights, a controversial and arguably assimilationist priority for mainstream LGBTQ advocacy groups. Different forms of activism have approached assimilationism versus societal reformation or preservation of unique constructions of queer identities with a myriad of arguments. In “The Trouble with Normal” by Michael Warner, the author focuses primarily on a criticism of gay marriage rights activism in which he posits that all marriage is “selective legitimacy.” He points to other LGBT movements and issues as more worthy of pursuing, particularly intersectional pursuits of equal rights for people regardless of coupled status. In “Marital Discord: Understanding the Contested Place of Marriage in the Lesbian and Gay Movement” authors Mary Bernstein and Verta Taylor give a snapshot history of LGBTQ activism since the 1970s and offer similar arguments as Warner about the heteronormative and neoliberal nature of placing the fight for legal marriage rights at the forefront of LGBTQ activism, although they do also introduce emerging improvements with the increasingly intersectional awareness of modern advocacy efforts.

A study in 2011 by Gary J. Gates estimated that there are roughly 8 million people (3.5% of the adult population) in the United States that identify within the LGBTQA+ spectrum and these people have been fighting for their rights for too long. The Gay Rights Movement dates back to the 19th century. Some supporters of the movement would say that the society as a whole has made great strides towards acceptance of homosexuality, for example, legalization of same-sex marriage across the entire country on June 26, 2015. However, those in the community are still fighting for equality today. The U.S. has made progress within the last decade regarding this issue, but definitely not enough, which can be seen through the massive number of amounts of homicides in the recent years and the lack of police follow-up. We need to take steps to protect and balance LGBTQA+ rights through education, creation and enforcement of protection laws/policies, and allowing the community to speak and have representation.

LGBT groups are finding funding to fight for the cause, and it's given others encouragement to believe there's hope. Over time, people have begun to sympathize with gays increasingly, which has aided in their political strides forward. In addition to the increased sympathizing, supporters are expected to soon become the majority of the population, versus the current minority in which they represent (Lewis and Gossett 21-23). People are beginning to open their eyes and accept that change is needed, leading to a constant increase in support of ¨lesbians and gay men [to] be treated as full citizens¨ (Graff). This has lead to the strong force in which has become a public political argument, as there are still people who believe that gays are unnatural and don´t deserve the respect and honor that comes with being married