Use Of Three Rhetorical Appeals On Gay Life

Due to the increasingly negative view of homosexuality in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the LGBTQ community was facing a world altering decision; they could either shrink into the background, and allow the world to continue to draw its opinions based on speculation, or claim the spotlight and allow themselves to be judged based on their own merit. Harvey Milk, “the first openly gay elected official in the United States” (Hope Speech, Commentary) saw a need for an uprising of the latter. When addressing a crowd of his supporters and the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) people in “The Hope Speech” at San Francisco City Hall on Gay Freedom Day in 1978, Harvey Milk uses the I-You/Us-Them relationships as defined by Martin Buber, pathos appeals, and shared experiences to establish an emotional bond with the LGBTQ community. This relationship of comradery and mentorship, deeply rooted in shared values, best prepared the crowd to absorb his message of activism and hope.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, society wasn’t the most accepting of places for people who were different from the “social norms”. Now I know, people today still struggle with trying to fit in and be “normal” but it was different. Being a gay man living in San Fransisco at the time, which had a large gay population, Richard Rodriguez had a hard time dealing with the discrimination he faced. Richard Rodriguez was an American journalist who wrote and published a memoir about his life as a gay man. In October of 1990, Rodriguez published his memoir “Late Victorians” in Harper’s Magazine, a critically acclaimed publication of the time. In his memoir, Rodriguez describes what it was like to realize he was gay and watch as the country changed to become a more accepting place. He does this by setting up how things can change and then explaining the actual ways things change for the gay population.

Homosexual people have been misrepresented and refuted their basic civil rights in America over the years, especially during the late 1970s. During this time, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, was one of the most prominent spokesman on the issues surrounding gay rights. In 1978 he gave a speech impacting the gay citizens of San Francisco and America, the anti-gay right wing movement supporters, straight allies of the gay movement, and politicians in general. His speech known as the “Hope Speech” resonates with people even today as Milk attempted to address gay rights and the importance of electing gay officials in office, using various rhetorical strategies such as pathos, logos, and elevated diction.

By showing that he is gay, but it’s not all that he is, and that he has endured struggles, but he’s overcome them, he creates a connection with other homosexuals.

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

Thomas Rogers’s essay deals with the struggles he felt about his identity as a gay man and how it intersected with his identity as an athlete, albeit one who was less innately talented than his older sister. Upon arriving in college, he makes a difficult decision: ultimately, he chooses to quit the rowing team after a particularly humiliating and homoerotic hazing incident involving oil. “They had

Roy Cohn and Joe Pitt represent the stereotypical gay man who refuses to publicly acknowledge his sexuality. They portray how gay men sometimes go to extreme lengths to deny their homosexuality. Both not only lie to others, but they lie to themselves. There is a certain sadness in the fact that some gay men desire the respect of strangers over being honest with themselves. Why do such a large number of gay men live lives in denial? The answer is simple. The answer is fear. Fear is the driving force behind many gay men's secrecy. The fear of how others may view them and the fear of how they will be received is overpowering.

Davies, Diana. Sylvia Ray Rivera and Arthur Bell at Gay Liberation Demonstration. Digital image. NBC. NBC, 6 Oct. 2015. Web. 15 Mar. 2016. .

Robert George is a Princeton professor, an adamant dissenter of same-sex marriage, and was a strong supporter of Proposition 8. One of the most prevalent arguments used by Robert George to combat same-sex marriage was the “’common procreation’ rationale” which was the idea that marriage should strictly be heterosexual due to the ability to procreate (401). On December 13, 2010, Slate.com published an article called “The Best Argument Against Gay Marriage: And Why It Fails.” This article was a counterargument made by Kenji Yoshino, a New York University Law professor. In this article, Yoshino states that Robert George and his co-authors’ argument that gay marriage should be banned due to same-sex couples’ inability to procreate is invalid because it is statistically flawed and it makes unintentional attacks on certain groups of opposite-sex couples.

American rhetoric about LGBT+ issues underwent major changes in the late 60s and early 70s. While for years homophile groups such as the Mattachine Society dominated queer rhetoric, in 1969 Carl Wittman’s “Gay Manifesto” redefined the LGBT+ rights movement’s voice and goals (380). Using shocking language, his authority as a gay man, and emotional appeals to his queer audience, Wittman and his “Gay Manifesto” utilized a confrontational, liberationist tone to communicate his views on sexual identity and heteronormative culture. While opponents may argue that Wittman’s profane language and emotional appeals weaken his argument and alienate the audience, his rhetorical choices prove perfect for engaging queer readers. Wittman’s “Gay Manifesto” spoke to queer people and offered a new perspective in LGBT+ rhetoric.

All families face challenges in their everyday life. For some, the challenges are easier to handle while for others, surmounting those challenges can be more difficult. Over the years, the LGBT community in the US has faced many hurdles. Whether it’s the legalization of same-sex marriage to adoption rights to alimony, child support and child custody in case of divorce, legislation specific to gay and lesbian couples still has a long way to go.

The United States of America should adopt a federal law that gives rights, protection and recognition of LGBT people based on sexual orientation and gender identity as constitutionally and respectfully equal as others uniformly throughout the nation.

The news has recently said that a few gay activists showed their celebration of their victory on their rights for gay marriage by waving an American flag. The only issue is that the American flag was altered to their liking. They decided the good old stars and stripes was no longer good enough for them so they decided to have rainbowed stripes put on top of our flag. I understand that they have rights to celebrate or marry or whatever but they should not go unpunished for making a mockery of the flag that we have U.S soldiers constantly dying to represent. They thought it would be better if it had “a little more color” says an activist in an interview. They are trying to get the flag legally changed so people

“It takes no compromise to give people their rights… it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.” This is an extract taken from the biography of Harvey Milk, the first gay person elected into public office in California.

The meaning of the word “gay” has drastically changed over the course of several years. The word transitioned from an emotional description to a label, but can also be used in an insulting way. Primarily, gay meant “happy” or “merry”. Calling someone gay in the 1500s was not in a derogatory way or related to sexual orientation, like it is now. Although gay was originally used to describe someone who was happy, the word's connotation changed to someone with loose morals. “Gay”'s definton changed to describe someone who is homosexual. Reformed by adolescents, "gay"'s meaning changed into a word that is commonly used as a savage affront. In present times, a person could insult someone by using the newer definition; e.g., “You’re so gay!” “Gay”