The LGBTQ Movement In The United States

The movement of the gay and lesbian population in the United States is one that has been in progress since the early 1900s, and is still facing overwhelming controversy and backlash today. The push for gay liberation in a country founded on Christian morals and beliefs has subsequently led to struggles over equality of marriage, adoption, jobs, and healthcare. One side of the controversy argues that every individual deserves the same rights, while the opposing mindset argues that being homosexual puts you into a group of people that is different, and will therefore be treated as such.

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

Over the next two decades, half the states decriminalized homosexual behavior, and police harassment grew less frequent and obvious to the public. Also in 1975, it became legal for gays to hold federal jobs. However all this headway also made room for more opposition. In 1977, Anita Bryant was so successful at obtaining a repeal of a recent gay ordinance in her home state of Florida that by 1980, a league of anti gay clubs had come together to make a force, led in part by Jesse Helms. The AIDS scare that began in the eighties did not help the gay image either, but more citizens joined their ranks in order to combat the oppression and fund a search for the cure, so in the end it actually made the movement stronger. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2000), by 1999, the anti-sodomy laws of 32 states had been repealed, and in 1996 Vermont granted its gay citizens the right to same sex marriages. Gay rights has come a long way as a social movement, and though it still has a long way to go, it makes a good topic to analyze the process of the social 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

The struggles not only happen by outsiders for African Americans LGBTQ individuals, but within their own communities. Yet the LGBT movement’s lack of substantive work on issues most relevant to people of color leaves the movement vulnerable to irrelevance and division—and leaves fully one-third of the members of the LGBT community underserved.

Oppression of minorities has had a detrimental aspect in the associated individual’s lives. History has demonstrated that as a western society, we devalue minorities’ rights and values through legislation and societal views. Today, this remains to be an issue for many individuals of many stigmatized groups. Although efforts to reach a more unified community have been taken, many minorities still fight oppression. Through activism, social and political movements, the LGBTQIA community have progressed immensely throughout the past few decades. History has demonstrated a slow, yet vast amount of success in this marginalized group. Activists endured a long journey toward gaining rights for the community which lead to a modern day civil rights movement for the LGBTQIA community. Although there has been a great amount of successes, non-heterosexual individuals still do not have full equal rights as their heterosexual counterparts. There are still adversities that are being faced in this population that hinder these individuals from thriving. The issue is even greater when the individual has an additional identity that is also marginalized. Specifically, individuals who identify as people of color (POC) and LGBTQIA still encounter prejudice from society.

In the Introduction to LGBT+ Studies class we discussed many themes of the history of the LGBT+ community, these themes include; oppression, fighting for our visibility and having it delayed, and a sort of power within the community. The LGBT+ community has gone through an immense amount of oppression, having to fight its way into the light and having it be pushed aside multiple times. In a historical context when the LGBT+ community started to show itself so to speak was around the 1920’s there were the first gay rights movements starting, and surprisingly it was the start of some acceptance. However, when World War II began in 1939 it oppressed the movement, as well as setting it back by gay men being denied from the military because

After the 19th century European history, we merge into American history. There was close to no studies done up until Post World War II. There was some encouraging growth for gay life that was very much apparent in Greenwich and Harlem in the 1920’s and this is also when the community adopted the pink and black triangle. The war allowed for gay men and lesbian women to insert themselves into the war efforts without being constantly chastised. There were efforts to work towards gaining more acknowledgement of this community. One of whom that led for this justice in the 1950’s was Senator Joseph McCarthy with his investigation of homosexuals in government positions. His investigation is what led up to the first politically inclined demand for

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the United States exhibit great heterogeneity in its members’ racial and ethnic, class, religious, and other sociodemographic backgrounds and characteristics. However, the LGBT community is often represented as a monolithic group with unified social, economic, and political agendas, especially since the large sociopolitical mobilization for the legalization of same-sex marriage that lasted more than a decade and came to fruition just last year in 2015. Scholars and activists have criticized this monolithic representation of the LGBT community as white, affluent, and highly educated movers and shakers of the larger society (Duggan 2012), and this voice was especially strong among

Homosexuality has always been a controversial topic in the United States, and the twenty-first century has brought about many new rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender group. The American Gay Rights Movement has a long history, but the LGBT community is now starting to have more rights and protection.

In the early 1960s the homosexual group was small, but began to grow. During the 1960s many gays were protesting for equal rights and treatment under the law enforcement. Multiple people found it hard to “come out” because they felt exposed and society made them feel misplaced and judged. I believe having the people protesting during this time has made it easier

The issues surrounding sexuality and gender nonconforming individuals in the United States have played an increasingly large role in modern politics since the mid-20th century. These issues, commonly referred to LGBT rights, directly affect the lives of a vast number of American citizens and, as such, any legislation addressing these issues is public policy. The growing demand for equality among the LGBT community has resulted in a number of Supreme Court cases and legislation addressing commonly debated issues such as marriage and employment discrimination. Though these particular issues have received attention from Congress, there are still other problems within the LGBT communities that must be

The history of the gay rights movement has been a hard fought battle within the United States. In fact the first gay rights movement dates back to 1924 with the creation of The Society for Human Rights in Chicago, Illinois. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that gay rights started to make progress. In the year 1969 The Stonewall Riots took place when gay, lesbian, and transgender patrons of a New York bar were raided by the police. This forever changed the movement from isolated incidents to a world wide phenomenon.

The LGBT community has made new laws each day to bring equality to all. “Throughout its, America has symbolized equality of opportunity for people of all races, origins, religions and creeds, serving as a beacon of hope for anyone seeking a better life. However, despite its founding principles of equality and acceptance, the United States also has a long history of denying basic rights to certain people” (LGBT Equality). When the US discriminates against a certain thing people retaliate and rise up and try to make new laws to help their cause. The LGBT community has been striving to bring equality in many ways. The LGBT community has made great strides in gaining equality of same-sex marriage, gay adoption, and transgender equality.

In today’s media, it is no longer unusual to see queers in the spotlight - whether that is in TV shows, in celebrity news, or even in advertisements. This definitely seems like a big win for the LGBTQ movement on the surface but is society actually accepting of queer culture? A prominent “big win” for activists was the legalization of gay marriage in 2015. However, many queer studies scholars are skeptical of the mainstream LGBTQ movement’s focus on marriage rights because it is based on homonormative politics that continues to uphold oppressive institutions and because it does not tackle the actual underlying social issues. Instead of focusing on marriage, activists should prioritize building coalitions based on community values and intersectionality and strive for radical change rather than settle