Gay Rights, Go Right

In an analysis of the past 50 years of U.S. history, it 's hard to overlook the gay rights movement. The goals of the movement are to advocate for the equalized acceptance of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in society. The movement appeals to create a fair civilized environment for every human being regardless of the sex or sexual orientation. The activists and campaigners aim to have legislative support to outlaw any discrimination against LGBT people. In reviewing the historical process of the gay movement, as how it ignited the enthusiasm within one little place to several states and to the whole country, we can see how difficult it is to strive for the rights slowly, step by step. As a civil liberty expert said, “the U.S. Supreme Court finally put an end to laws criminalizing same-sex intercourse in Lawrence v. Texas. Lawmakers at both the state and federal level continue to target lesbians and gay men with draconian legislation and hateful rhetoric” (Tom Head). Although considerable success was achieved, there is still room for society opinions for gay movements to make a change.

The gay rights movement was always neglected and disconnected to political progress until 1969 when about 2000 lesbian, gay and transgender supporters gathered to defend the gay bar. The riots lasted for three days and attracted public attention than ever before. After the riots, groups of gay and lesbian liberation activities and movements are formed. People gradually realized the homosexuality is a natural born behavior instead of illness. The significant milestone is in 1973, when “the American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders” (infoplease). “Members of the American Psychiatric Association began to realize that homophobia was the real social problem” (Tom Head). With scientific theories backup for the LGBT people, psychologist began to speak out in favor of antidiscrimination laws that could protect lesbian and gay Americans. With the scientific proof that the sexual orientation and gender identity are innate and cannot be altered consciously even with efforts, the LGBT people call for the social acceptance of freedom and equal opportunity. The social issue has splashed up responses. In 1973, Harvey Milk received quite a lot media attention for his passionate speeches on opposing government involvement in personal sexual matters. In 1978, Milk won the election for the San Francisco Board and started to sponsor civil rights bill that outlaws sexual orientation discrimination. The gay rights movement was expanded after his assassination and San Francisco paid tribute to him by naming several locations after him. In the 1980s and 1990s, the gay rights movements were carried through in various states and cities. In 1979, up to 75000 people participated on Washington for lesbian and gay rights. In 1982, Wisconsin became the first state to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 1984, the city of Berkeley started to offer domestic-partnership benefits to its employees. In 1993, around one million people participated in the March on Washington for the LGBT equal rights and liberation.

In the past 15 years, gay rights movement activists were striving for legal marriage rights for the LGBT people and have made significant progress. In 2000, the Vermont state began to recognize legally civil unions between gay or lesbian couples. In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that forbidding gays and lesbians from marrying was unconstitutional because it denied “the dignity and equality of all individuals” (infoplease). Later years, same-sex marriage or civil unions became legal in different states across the America. With the confirmation of the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the request of blocking same-sex marriage in many states, so far same-sex marriage is legal in 35 states in America. Looking for the development of the gay rights movement, the strategy to arouse media attention to increase the weight on legislature and votes in the passing of laws is essential to its success. Regardless of different opinions from citizens in society, officially and legally the LGBT people nowadays are assured to have equal opportunities and rights as other people. It is the greatest success of the gay rights movement in the last century.

The media portrayal of gays and lesbians has made both positive and negative impact in the achieving of the gay rights movement goals, but generally speaking, the influence is on a positive trend as the media focus more on fact and with a rational perspective. One example to show the power of social media in the gay rights movement is the Human Rights Campaign’s successful use of Facebook to promote marriage equality. “Today 59 percent of Americans now support marriage equality; 87 percent of Americans know someone who is LGBT, and 49 percent say it's a close family member or friend” (Anastasia Khoo). In the past, the little disclose of gay or lesbian behaviors made people curious but carefully guard it as secret. As a result, the gay or lesbian groups are exclusive to outsiders. Less known means more imagination in extremity. The depiction of gays or lesbians as freaks in stories dragged the gay rights movement. As the time goes by, when the media is available to everybody and high-quality documentaries or films are made to describe the lives of gays and lesbians, the society are now much open than before to such groups and media is helping to win support for the gay rights movement.

Currently, since the legislative goal has been achieved, the next goal would be to gain social support and understanding. To achieve it, LGBT people should be more open-minded to the society. One should be brave and confident enough to earn respect from the others. Intercommunications between LGBT and other people should be promoted openly to increase mutual understanding. The gay rights movement should be brought up to other countries, especially in Asian nations. The pain in denying a gay or lesbian heart for someone is not only deep in the person him or herself, but also, will lead to series of other disasters in a family. Lectures and educational speeches could be held on the internet before going to the real spot. It 's hard to change the law, but it is more difficult to change the culture, but media can help to permeate new thought into the society little by little.