Final Thought

Gay Rights movements are happening all over the world since the18th Century—from The United States, to parts of Africa and Australia.  Although it is great that all gay people are hoping for a more equal life, I think it is important to stay relevant and only focus on the gay rights movements happening in the United States. Homosexuals have not had as hard a fight obtaining equal rights as African Americans during the Civil Rights movement, or women during Women Suffrage, but their struggle absolutely continues today—often times, the issue is but on the backburner and deemed unimportant compared to the other changes our country is going through.    

This alternative lifestyle is becoming more popular in recent years.  Many homosexuals are settling down, adopting kids, and having families. However, this is a struggle for them as well.  Straight married couples have always been allowed to file their taxes separately and split their earned incomes on tax returns.  Gay married couples have not had this option until recently (James).  This does seem like a giant leap in the gay rights movement, it is quite costly to those who chose to participate.  Same-sex couples are running into trouble because to the IRS, it looks as if they are underreporting their taxes resulting in heavy outstanding fees.  This can lead to other tax credit difficulties as well.  Interestingly, heterosexual married couples do not have this problem. I found this article persuasive because it shows how much of a struggle it is for gay people to get rights in something like tax returns—and even after they got that right, it’s not equal to heterosexual couples.
To see the full article please visit http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/.

Along with tax returns, same-sex couples are allowed to adopt children as well.  It is becoming less abnormal for kids to have two moms or two dads—my 13 year old sister has a friend who lives in this kind of household.  In the article, The changing face of the American family, extensive surveys find that “63% say a gay or lesbian couple raising a child is a family…[but] 88% say a childless married couple is a family.” It’s interesting to see the different variations a family can have. But when the word family pops into my head, I see a bunch of people who help each other out, who are there for each other in times of trouble and happy times. The statistics also show that this same idea is on the rise; the 63% has been an increase from years past.  This article makes me hopeful that people are becoming more comfortable about the vast change in America.
To see this full article please visit: http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/

While we still have children with same-sex parents on the mind, I found an interesting article about the forms for applying for passports. There used to be two sections on the application of kids 16 and younger for the mother’s and father’s name. Now, these sections are titled Parent 1 and Parent 2. This is just a small step to all forms asking for parent identification to turn to Parent 1 and Parent 2, but it finally recognizes different types of families across the US (O’Keefe). Like all other issues, there are oppositions to this change. Arguers dispute that Parent 1 and Parent 2 change the initial relationship than what mother and father mean when written on official forms.  I don’t see an end to escalation of acceptance on this issue. It is great that these strides are being made.
To see this full article, please visit:
http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/

President Obama is finally fulfilling his promise to the GLBT Americans and the “Blueprint for Positive Change” before his term is over.  According to the article, Conservatives decry Obama’s pro-gay moves; Same-sex partners included in federal medical leave act from the Washington Post, anyone is allowed to take unpaid leave to take care of a child, “specifically including same-sex partners who are adopting or raising a child together.”  The blueprint also allows gay men to donate blood once again as long as they fall within the restrictions given by the FDA. As the title of the article suggests, Republicans are not happy with this turn of events.  They feel as if Obama is slandering the United States—meaning Obama won’t be able to do any of his future plans without a fight from them. This article made me feel empowered as a gay rights supporter. However, Obama says “I’m going to keep fighting until that bill is on my desk and I can sign it,” and it makes me worry that if all this great change happens all at one time, in the last year of his presidency, when the new president takes over, all this effort would be put forth for nothing, and the 45^th president would take it away. Sure I wanted these rights for these people all my life and right away, but after this article, I think it’s best if equal rights come slowly to better appeal to the other side.
To see this full article please visit:
http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/  

The issue at the forefront of the gay rights debate is gay marriage.  The Fourteenth Amendment gives equal protection to every citizen of the United States.  This is the problem when it comes to same-sex marriage; it is up to the reader to interpret.  After a 1993 Hawaiian Supreme Court discussion resulted in the solution, “…laws denying same-sex couples the right to marry violated state constitutional equal protection rights, unless the state could show a ‘compelling reason’ for such discrimination,” the country has struggled with whether same-sex marriages (NCSL). Ten years later, Massachusetts was the first state to issue a marriage license to same-sex couples.  Since then, it has only been an uphill battle. California allowed gay marriage until the passing of Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage.  This sanction was challenged but denied until recently when the federal district court judge in California again deemed it a violation of the equal protection rights of the United States Constitution; however, the ruling is still currently pending.  Slowly, states have begun allowing gay marriage to happen; there are currently seven states that allow same-sex marriages, including the District of Columbia. The government has trouble deciding which decision to make. I find this article persuasive because it is hard for me to understand why gay couples are allowed to adopt children but not allowed to get married.  I feel as if a child is much more of a commitment than marriage is.
To see a full timeline of the back and forth history of gay marriage please visit: http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=16430.

 As talked about earlier, Obama is trying to fulfill the “Blueprint for a Positive Change.”  In this document is the right for same-sex marriage.  Eventually, maybe not in my lifetime, all of the US will enact this proposition.  A lot of people think that this would ruin the traditional marriage. If you think this, please read this article— http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/ some food for thought at least. It talks about how marriage has changed a lot since getting married started. It began about property, then people got married for love, then people got married for money, then people got married just to get married and then divorced!  The tradition of marriage ruins itself, and so do the people who get married for the wrong reasons. Marriage is about love and committing yourself to another person, till death do you part. It’s a convincing article and an interesting view.

Here is my question: Some people have always known they were gay, others do not figure it out until later in their life. For those people, how is it just to take away their rights when they decide to live this alternative lifestyle?—And even those who have always known, why can’t they enjoy the things, we don’t even consider luxuries, like we do?  As Ellen DeGeneres said in her interview with John McCain, “One day I hope it won’t be called a contract, it will be called a marriage.” See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7addd1-SY8

James, Scott. "For Same-Sex Couples, a Tax Victory That Doesn't Feel Like One." New York Times 14 Jan 2011, NationalPrint.

Jayson, Sharon. "The changing face of the American family." USA Today

18 Nov 2010, First: 10B. Print.

NCSL Home. Web. 14 Jan. 2011. <http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=16430.>.

O'Keefe, Ed. "Change in passport language is boon to gay rights activists." Washington Post 12 Jan 2011, Suburban: A13. Print.

Stephanie, Coontz. "Gay Marriage isn't revolutionary. It's just next.." Washington Post 09 Jan 2011, Every: B05. Print.

Wetzstein, Cheryl. "Conservatives decry Obama's pro-gay moves; ." Washington Times 25 July 2010, Nation: A5. Print.

Opinion Assignment 3

Although I have never thought of my age group as the “Pro-Logo generation that is more likely to but a wristband and ticket to Live Earth than hit the streets in protest,” I can understand where she is coming from—a unique viewpoint that I myself has not ever considered.  I think a lot of my peers don’t exactly know how to protest like those who displayed their opinions during the grassroots demonstrations.  Today’s protestors support social movements in much different ways like Klein has mentioned in her article.  There are wristbands that can be purchased, concerts to attend, merchandise to wear, and money donated through texting.  I don’t think that my generation is not standing idly by when it comes to protesting things, but means of support have changed throughout time; this is what my generation knows how to do in order to fight and act out on topics of today.  Klein argues that benefit concerts are not effective when it comes to supporting a large-scaled movement like Live Earth.  Maybe it doesn’t get the attention from political leaders as much as a sit-in would, but I would say, a concert reaches out to a lot of people who normally wouldn’t choose a side on the issue.  MTV replays things like this over and over for days and days—these efforts aren’t as fruitless as she claims.  These protests are also less dangerous, as Klein points out.  Only in the most radical of situations are people committing violent crimes in order to get their point across.  However all of this, Klein was observant when she basically said my generation, the Pro-Logo” generation, buys into social protest.

I’m going to start with my social movement: Gay Rights.  This movement has already made great strides in becoming the powerful force it is today through means of the media and more people in the world coming out as gay.  Since the Stonewall Riots, the Gay Rights movement has never really been a grassroots demonstration type of movement.  It is more socially acceptable for someone to choose this lifestyle than it was even just a few years ago. Major celebrities have come out publicly; there are more television shows and movies that portray homosexual characters and even Disneyland shows support through their annual Gay Pride Day.  However, the Gay Pride Parade was referred to as a “circus parade” in the article Fractured Resistances: The Debate over Assimilationism among Gays and Lesbians in the United States because it featured homosexuals more as sexual beings than human beings.  This was found ironic because this was the very idea they have always been trying to fight against.  It’s interesting to note that even though there is a large population of people who agree Gays should not be able to marry other gays, there does not seem to be much kind of protest on the supporters of the Gay Rights—besides donating money to gay rights organizations. Maybe Klein was right.

In the article, The ERA is a Moral Issue, the Mormon women were a dominating force in the stalling of the equal rights amendment.  Thousands of women showed up at the IWY conference to vote no on the ballot because God told them to.  They also did not show any violent tendencies—much different than how the other states were handling equality issues.  On the other end of the spectrum, when fighting for equal rights, African Americans following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were told to act peacefully during their demonstrations. However, the reaction to their doings resulted in a lot of violent crimes.  When we read Hendrickson Ladies Before Rosa, we learned that there were many other African American women who committed the same crime as Rosa Parks—refusing to give up her seat for a white woman on a bus.  Tell me when there was a time where small acts of the same rebellion lead up to one person spearheading a giant movement in the fight for equality?

Today, we do not see much of that same rebellion amongst my generation.  As a matter of fact, I feel our generation has slowly stopped caring about these types of issues.  We have constantly been one of the lowest populations of demographics that do not participate in voting come election time.  I feel as if this would hinder a lot of social protests from being successful in the eyes of other politicians and people around the country—if a majority of my peers would protest for change, would it really happen?  It might if they put their efforts into a worldwide, benefit concert, merchandise selling, Bono from U2 campaign. I know I’ve supported the (RED) movement.  Klein just might be on to something here. 

Text Assignment 3

The student social movement Gitlin was referring to in the text was the Students for a Democratic Society, also known as SDS, or sometimes referred to as The New Left.  This group was directed to recruit radical democrats on college campuses all over the United States and the United Kingdom during the time of the Vietnam War. The SDS began in 1960 and supported domestic concerns and civil rights campaigns of the time.  They were also against the war in Vietnam.  This group became extremely influential after the United States bombed North Vietnam.  Two months later a march was scheduled where almost 25,000 people showed their support.  The SDS encouraged men to turn in their draft cards and flee to Canada; soldiers at war began supporting the movement; even Martin Luther King Jr. agreed that in a lot of ways, the SDS was doing the right thing (Barringer).  This movement did not last long, however. Since many SDS participants were strong followers of McCarthy, the movement faded away with the election of Lyndon Johnson. These left-over SDS members began to be considered what we know as “hippies.”

When Gitlin uses the term, “The observer changed the position of the observed,” (Goodwin p. 333) he means that the media covering news stories such as news stations, newspapers, and magazines changed the story so it interested its audience.  The media would not state the facts if it was going to deter people away from them, therefore losing business and profits.  Even today we find that viewers select different news channels to watch and/or believe because they carry slight political viewpoints on different issues. Though they would never claim a side, one channel might be known to attract more democrats than republicans due to issues covered.
                                      

The protests discussed in this class are ones that are all relevant to today and have all captured attention by means of the media in some way.  In my opinion, I have found two topics to be particularly more affected by the media than the others: Immigration and Environmental Protection. 

I think I chose immigration because growing up in Arizona, I’ve heard about it my whole life. Illegal immigration has always been a problem, but with the introduction of SB 1070, we have gotten the attention of everyone nationwide, including President Obama. SB 1070 limits illegal immigration in the state of Arizona and allows state officials to ask for documentation of a person who has acted non-accordingly to the law.  If correct papers are not present, deportation is in order.  This movement has been presented through the media by both sides of the spectrum.  There is the group that says “everyone is entitled to a better life,” the ones who “have family here that could not afford to come over legally,” the ones who are “illegal and have a way of life already,” and the people that think “what will happen if one day, every working illegal immigrant disappeared?” Then there is the other side which worries about what kind of economic hold illegal immigrants have on the country.  Taxpayers money goes to the health care of these people who cannot afford it on their own (this in turn shines a light on the healthcare social movement in America as well).  In the media, it seems that Arizona has put a negative connotation on immigration as a whole because Sherriff Joe Arpaio is always the forefront of this issue.  He has countless commercials and advertisements siding with the Right Side immigration.

Environmental Protection is another interesting topic because many celebrities are heavily endorsing the idea.  I’ll start with Al Gore.  I actually don’t know much about him, but I did see his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, on how the world is deteriorating due to global warming and how citizens can help better the earth. This movie came out in 2006, I was 16 at the time; maybe I had just figured out there were more pressing matters in the world than myself, but I felt that this was the beginning of this social movement.  I started noticing Leonardo DiCaprio endorsing alternative fuels, The Dave Matthews Band was planting trees, and everyone from Tim Robbins to Charlize Theron were driving electric or hybrid cars  (Green). When I entered college every sign seemed to say “Go Green!” or “Save the Environment.”  I think this social movement has been given a positive connotation because of the type of media it has been given.  Celebrities are idolized these days and it’s the mentality that “if they do it, then I should to,” that has created a great foundation for environmental protection.

To close, I took a class last summer called The Crisis in Modern Journalism.  I learned about where journalism started to now and how it had changed in between.  I realized that the news and media is very smart when it comes to making you believe what they have to say and how they appeal to certain types of audiences and keep them engaged.  When this is applied to a social movement, it is kind of scary what kind and how many supporters movements are able to recruit.

Barringer, Mark. "The Anti-War Movement in the United States." Modern American Poetry. University of Illinois. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. <http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/antiwar.html>.

Goodwin, Jeff, and James M. Jasper. The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.

"Green Celebrities – Environmental Friendly and Green Celebrity Causes – Find List of Celebrity Activists." All-American Speakers Bureau Keynote Motivational Sports Speakers. 2008. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. http://www.allamericanspeakers.com/Green_Celebrities_&_Green_Speakers.php.

Opinion Assignment 2: Women's Rights

I found the reading on the Mormon women against the Equal Rights Movement as an interesting viewpoint in the realm of women’s rights.  Although they were not supportive of maintaining their own rights, they were able to become an incredible force to be reckoned with when trying to pass the ERA.  Women emerged from within the Mormon religion as leaders, which was somewhat ironic due to what they were trying to stop from happening.  I feel as though it would have been obvious that this Mormon representation would try to take over Nevada while Congress was waiting on their answer.  Wasn’t it obvious there was a vast majority of Mormon women at the IWY conference?  The rest of the United States should have come up with the same sort of idea to help ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.  

Now that every United States citizen is given equal rights under the law, women still gave to fight for total equality everywhere.  As cliché sounding as it is, I think if I had the chance to construct the ideal figurehead for the women’s rights movement from 2008 and onward, I would imagine her to look and act something like Oprah Winfrey or Michelle Obama.  I imagine her as a black middle-aged woman who already has a strong following of supporters. She is well put together and already has a background in making differences in other’s lives.  She should also be involved in many organizations regarding her stance.  Although, this woman would have a political stance, in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn’t matter as long as she was pushing for women’s rights. 

The entire reading of The Ladies Before Rosa: Let Us Now Praise Unfamous Women, written by Paul Hendrikson, is about how there were many other women who refused to give up their seat on the bus just like Rosa did.  However valiant these women’s actions were, they did not get the recognition for their efforts, and did not really leave big enough of an impression through their actions like Rosa.  Rosa’s actions were greatly highlighted and viewed as a major part of the change in the Civil Rights movement.  The connection between Rosa and my idea of the woman/women in charge of women’s rights today needs to be able to put things in motion, and make change happen sooner rather than later.  Having such a powerful iconic figure, would also be beneficial to achieving greater, more radical goals because they would generally have the support and financial assistance available at hand.  There could be major pitfalls as well.  Say the iconic figurehead was Michelle Obama.  With her life already in the limelight of her husband, she could obtain many people who are against her because they may not be happy with what President Obama is trying to do throughout the United States.  Actions might end up regressing in a radical situation.

Rosa Parks was a great candidate to spearhead the Montgomery Bus Boycott because she helped devise the spark of the entire bus boycott.  At age 42, Rosa worked closely with the NAACP and tried to get publicity for all African Americans and their entitled rights, but it was not until she refused to give up her seat that exposure happened. After she was arrested, she was calm and composed; she did not act violently or put up a fight, for her arrest was to prove a point and start a larger protest.  On the other hand, the text states, Claudette was a “highly emotional 15-year-old 11^th-grader about whom there were unsavory stories and who lived in a house that didn’t have an indoor toilet” (288).  Stuck in between old enough to have opinions, yet too young to be taken seriously, Claudette’s “no,” at that age, only looked like an act of teenage deviance. Also, her response to the consequence her actions brought upon her was categorized as assault and battery, even though she was just kicking and screaming in protest.  This, however, was opposite of the anti-violent deviance Martin Luther King Jr. was going for.

Claudette Colvin and all the other women who stood up and said no, deserve just as much credit as Rosa Parks.  These virtually looked-over women acted in this way because saying no was their natural reaction.  There was no planning in their efforts; they were sick and tired of being treated unfairly just because they were of a different skin color than the majority of the United States.  Their actions were noble and fearless, and won’t soon be forgotten.

Text Assignment 2: Salient Characteristics and Intersectionalities

As I have blogged about before, there does not seem to be a “frame” for gay rights organizations (at least not as extreme as the textbook makes frames seem). Therefore, I don’t think my selected social movement really has any strategies for attracting and retaining its “members.”  However, there are strong supporters like Ellen DeGeneres, Kathy Griffin, and Tyra Banks who enforce the acceptance of this lifestyle.  There are also television shows that appeal to giving gays the rights they deserve such as Will & Grace, The L Word, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.  I guess what I’m trying to say, is the media is giving this social movement attention, and shedding light on this lifestyle. I think this is the biggest and best strategy the Gay Rights movement has to make people in favor of their cause.

The beginning of the Gay Rights Movement began with the historic Stonewall Riots in 1969.  Stonewall was a popular gay bar that was almost always raided by detectives and police. However, on June 27, 1969, something out of the ordinary happened when the bar got raided again: the bar patrons fought back and started a riot.  Following this night, riots seemed to be the norm.  Even though this event marked the first protest of its kind, gay orientations had existed for years before; homosexual subcultures had existed in a handful of places around the United States since the 1920s (Wright).  It is not fair to say that homosexuals had it as bad as African Americans throughout their history. However, the gay lifestyle was heavily frowned upon; gays were oppressed and were sometimes subject to violent hate crimes.  Today, they hold almost all the same rights as people of the heterosexual orientation, except they still are not viewed as complete equals.

I do not think that sexual orientation plays a part in what race, gender, socioeconomic class, religion, or political affiliation a person has.  Yes, certain political parties and religions heavily frown upon people who chose to love differently, but deciding to be gay is not something a person can help. The gay population is accepting of all other people who chose to live their life the same way; they are all fighting the same cause. Some intersectionalities that might be present in this movement would be the religious and political beliefs and being gay or supporting gay rights.  Growing up in an environment where it is heavily influenced that marriage is only allowed by man and woman can be a great struggle for some people who believe differently because being gay is not a switch; you cannot force someone to be straight if that isn’t how they want to live.  This is the biggest difficulty that, still, a lot of the public has with this lifestyle.

Wright, Lionel. "The Stonewall Riots - 1969 — A Turning Point in the Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Liberation ." SocialistAlternative.org. N.p., 01 July 1999. Web. 4 Jan 2011. <http://www.socialistalternative.org/literature/stonewall.html>.

Text Assignment 2: Ellen, an Iconic Face

The Gay Rights Movement has many iconic faces throughout its history. These faces include both gay and straight celebrities such as Melissa Etheridge, Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga, and Kathy Griffin.  When celebrities acknowledge they support gays, they are aiding the cause of gay rights (such as in the case of Gaga and Kathy).  However, one interesting face in particular is Ellen DeGeneres.  Ellen came out on April 14, 1997 on a very public cover of Time magazine with the headline “Yep, I’m Gay,” soon to be followed, two weeks later, by an episode of her own sitcom titled Ellen where her character also came out as gay (Romine).  Ellen’s actions gave all people who celebrated an alternative lifestyle hope they would soon achieve everything they were fighting for, as well as helping others like her in their coming out experience.  Ellen’s efforts didn’t end their either. She went on to begin her own daytime talk show, where she often helps people in need, somewhat like Oprah.  The show has been hosted by CBS for about 8 seasons now with more than 15 Daytime Emmy Awards. 

As a side note on Ellen, I’m a fan of her show and I also follow her on Twitter, she always talks about her wife Portia De Rossi.  I think all that Ellen has done for her viewers is great and a lot of it has to do with her being openly gay.

Romine, Damon. "Ellen: 10 Years Out." GLAAD News Pop 10 April 2007: n. pag. Web. 4 Jan 2011. <http://archive.glaad.org/media/newspops_detail.php?id=3999>.

Text Assignment 2: Frames of Gay Rights

I wish this was an opinion assignment rather than one that has to relate to our topics because, after reading the text regarding the “framing” of social movements as well as recruitment and retention, I found myself relating to these topics not with my social movement, but with my sorority.  I did not consider this organization, that I hold dear to my heart, a social movement, but in a way it is.  There are many Gamma Phi Beta Chapters all over the United States, and every woman who is a part of it strives to “Promote the Highest Form of Womanhood,” as stated in our mission statement. Every fall semester of school every sorority participates in recruitment where we try to women who meet our values and vice versa; we have to frame our values in ways that will stand out from the other sororities and that will also attract potential new members. The whole thing is a great process that is easier said than done.

Anyways, as far as the gay rights social movement I have decided to research about goes, I feel as if there is not much of a frame to this lifestyle choice, according to the definition the book gives on framing: “[For a movement to have a strong following], its issues must be ‘framed’ so that they fit or resonate with the beliefs, feelings, and desires of potential recruits” (p55).  Under this definition, Gay Rights can be looked at in two different ways: the people who are gay, and the people who support this lifestyle. When someone decides they are gay, there’s no “club” that recruited them to join, or an organization telling this person they have obligations to uphold; they just continue living their life. Whether they decide to be open about their sexuality, or not, is their own personal preference. There is no frame in choosing this alternative standard of living. On the other side, there are the people who believe all humans were and are created equal and homosexuals deserve to have their God-given rights just like everyone else in the United States. These gay rights activists can be homosexual as well as heterosexual.  Activists can choose to participate in organizations such as the GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) that has been around for 25 years, or the GLBT Organization who is the second largest Gay Rights community in the United States.  The “frames” these organizations personify are much like, but not as drastic as, the Women Suffrage, or the Civil Rights Acts.  Gay Rights Activists are trying to make an impact on the equality of treatment of other homosexual people.

http://www.glaad.org/ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

http://gaycenter.org/ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center

Below are links to the Gay Rights Organizations I mentioned above. If you haven't before ever checked out these websites, I found GLAAD to be incredibly interesting.