The Moral Majority

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.

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 According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2000), by 1999, the anti-sodomy laws of 32 states had been repealed, and in 1996 Vermont granted its gay citizens the right to same sex marriages.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.

“Conservative evangelicals who had returned to the Democratic Party in 1976 now defected back to the Republican Party, solidifying a trend in the making.” The Religious Right had effectively crystallized a general trend in the electorate. After the election of 1980, the Religious Right became “synonymous with the GOP in popular imagination” and socially conservative values became synonymous with the conservative movement. Despite the dissolution of the organizations that comprised the Religious Right later in the 1980s, its influence on conservatism in America had solidified and, until this day, has remained a decisive factor in both local and national

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

“Sex was something mysterious which happened to married couples and Homosexuality was never mentioned; my mother told me my father did not believe it existed at all ‘until he joined the army’. As a child, I was warned about talking to ‘strange men’, without any real idea what this meant. I was left to find out for myself what it was all about.” Mike Newman, who was a child during the 1950s America recalls how homosexuality was perceived during the post-World War II era (F). This sexual oppression was not only in Newman’s household, but in almost everyone’s. While the civil rights movement began in the mid-1950s and ended late 1960s, the LGBT community started to come out of the closet slowly. The gay rights movement stemmed from the civil rights movement

Gay liberation throughout the United States had a purpose for lesbians and gay men to have gay lifestyles be normal. Gay liberation affected politics because gay men and lesbians wanted to inform their peers and family, which changed how citizens would view their sexual orientation. The gay liberation took place during the 1960’s through the 1980’s in which changed many cultures. The culture in the United States changed dramatically because during the 1960s through 1980s , there was an AIDS outbreak. AIDS was a sickness after HIV that would cause an individual’s body to weaken, therefore United States citizens would link AIDS to people who were gay or lesbian. For instance, David Rayside compares the United States to Britain, “After World War II, however, Britain once again stood out in the extent to public anxieties about sexuality were fanned and legal regulation of homosexual activity policed”(40) and “British authorities were especially preoccupied with the condemnation and strict containment of homsexuality.”(40). Homosexuality affected politics because authorities would prioritize the gays and lesbians before anything else. There were clear observations that governments from Britain and United States were not in favor for homosexuality, therefore attempting to change people's views on homosexuality so gays and lesbians would not be accepted into the society. Being accepted into a society requires majority of citizens to approve of other’s decisions. For example, citizens viewing gays or lesbians in public without attempting to discriminate their sexuality. The women’s movement was similar to the gay liberation because it affected politics greatly by hierarchies being

The populist conservative movement known as the New Right became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It appealed to a diverse variety of Americans. Historians link the rise

As the Democratic platform changed, the Republican party became very conservative and defended state’s rights due to its opposition to what was called “big government” (Rise of Rep. Party, p. 567). On the issue of race, the Republican party fully supported that the white race was superior and the state had its own right to remain segregated. A key politician that represents this change was the former Senator Jesse Helms. Religion was the driving force of his political views and he was very vocal about his opinions. His campaign developed the concept of the “New Right” which refers to the Christian church stepping into the realm of politics (Jesse Helms Doc). In the 1970s and the 1980s, many organizations became available, such as the Christian Coalition and Moral Majority, to support the church having political influence. Since the church became a part of political campaigns, politicians became more reserved in their discrimination in a perception known as Southern Strategy. This popular technique was used mainly by the Republican party that was extremely traditional known as the “Tea Party” or “far-right”. The first politician to introduce the idea was President Nixon in 1960, through his speeches to the people. The “Southern Strategy” technique is used when the speaker uses choices of words to convey a negative, underlying meaning without blatantly stating their opinion (class discussion). As an example, Nixon expressed his support of state’s rights as a way of admitting that he supported the continuation of segregation in the

The New Christian Right as an important force participated in politics, the most prominent feature was that it could mobilize the social resources it had rapidly in a very short period of time, and formed an overt and powerful political offensive. The offensive’s formation was inseparable from its unique activities. The new Christian right is dissatisfied with the decline of traditional religious values and moral values. The New Christian Right would continue to be active in politics in

The Republican party or Grand Old Party (GOP), for over 150 years, has maintained itself as a major political party within the United States of America. As a whole, the republican party follows the belief of military build up ,less taxes, and more importantly, a limited government. However, throughout recent years there has been an influx of conservative values being spread throughout the GOP. These values include harsh stances against: homosexuality, immigration, and abortion. This recent “conservative trend” has caused many to see the party as out of date. Ironically, it has not always been like this, as the party was once what would be defined as “liberal”. These liberal views included support of “conservatism” and universal health care(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/four-things-republicans-used-to-believe-2011-07-18). So, what happened? In short, the conservative influx in the 1950s would lead to this drastic change of views, which would lead us to today 's far right republican party. In order to-

General prosperity helped produce a new middle class in search of self fulfillment and personal gratification abandoning moral righteousness of the past in the process. The culture wars of the 80s came from a conflict that arose between individual expression and moral righteousness. Culture wars over family values, abortion, gay rights, and immigration restriction represent battles waged between conservatives that stressed cultural nationalism and liberals that stressed cultural diversity. Traditional values and moral righteousness found their representation in the form of the religious right. Beginning in the late 70s Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, made the decision that it was no longer possible for American Christians

The climate of the 1960s was turbulent. This decade was marked by many political movements, which reflected support for non-establishment themes. During this time the “sexual liberation movement” became a popular cause. This intensified social and political interest helped many disadvantaged groups to receive support and attention that previously had never been received. As part of the nation’s desire for sexual political liberation, gay liberation became visible.

1.) The Moral Majority was an American political organization begun in 1979 and dissolved during the late 1980's that mainly consisted of conservative Christians. As the chart provided shows, the 60's were a liberal time of counter-culture, civil rights movements, and free use of drugs. The 70's were less liberal, as Americans were recovering from the 60's. By the early 80's, American society had slipped back into its conservative ideals, and it was during this time that the Moral Majority was founded. Americans in the 60's had wanted to rebel against everything that was considered a social norm; however, Americans wanted to return to their strict ideals in the 80's. The Moral Majority gave Americans the return to conservatism they wished for.

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.

At eighteenth century, the cost of increasing development of capitalism is anomie: people chasing material life insanely even sacrifice others’ benefits. Because of this, Adam Smith, a successful philosopher and economist, released that the original morality principle was not suitable for that society anymore, and it needed to build another new theory system to suit the developing society. He wrote two masterpieces that proposed his ideas: The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which discusses the human development by analysing the human emotion, and The Wealth of Nations, which summarises the development of capitalism and it is also a foundation for today’s economy. This essay will analyse the self-interest, plays as a motivator role in morality and economy field, and benefits the development in that society. Moreover, will suggest some limitations of Smith’s idea.