I realize, by the title of this post, that you may be wondering why I am posting on this topic when this is an eco-friendly website. Well, today is for the event Bloggers Unite For Human Rights, and this is one of the topics I am most passionate about. I am not gay myself, but someone very close to me, who I will not name for privacy purposes, is. This is not the only reason I am passionate about this subject, because I have been for as long as I can remember, but this is a big reason I continue to be passionate about it.

I have so much that I can say on this topic, and I can never say enough, but I have decided to post a paper I wrote a few years back for an ENG-104 class titled "21st Century Oppression." Since it is a few years old, some of the statistics may be out of date, and there are almost definitely more recent news story on this issue, but overall idea of the paper still applies and always will. It is mostly about the US, and some of the writing may be slightly juvenile and repetitive, but it is what the professor wanted and liked (scored 6 of 6). So, for the non-faint of heart, here it goes...

21st Century Oppression

The night is October 11, 1998. The starts twinkle in the sky and the moon shines down on the innocent face, caked in blood, of an unconscious young man who is so badly beaten it is only a matter of time before his body gives in to its ultimate fate: an untimely death. A new night: July 5, 1999. An innocent Army Private sleeps soundly in his bunk at his army barracks, unaware that he is about to be beaten to death with a bat by the hands of a soldier sharing his barracks, a man he should have been able to trust. June 21, 2001: The badly decomposed and battered body of another innocent young man is found in a canyon, and a mother learns that her young son was brutally murdered. What was the horrible crime these men committed? Being homosexual.

When one hears the word 'gay' today, what comes to mind? Happy? Doubtfully. Something disgusting and wrong? Despite the modern times that we live in today, this is how many people today still see homosexuality. In a technologically advanced time, we easily accept changes in the outside world, but we are still reluctant, and even unwilling, to leave our prejudices behind. America has, since the writing of the Declaration of Independence, been a nation of freedom, and yet many people are still denied their basic rights. The Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal," but one would be hard-pressed to prove this in America. There are continually issues of discrimination to deal with, whether they be towards different races, different sexes, or different sexual orientations. To truly be a "land of the free," homosexuals, and all others, need to be treated as valued citizens, have civil rights, and should not have to feel fear because of who they are.

Viewing homosexuals as valued citizens and human beings will help enforce equality and reduce prejudice. Gay people are an integral part of our society. Your neighbor, your co-worker, your child, or even your spouse could be gay. Depending on which study is referenced, homosexuals comprise up to 10% of the population, which does not include those who are afraid to admit to their sexual orientation. Despite these numbers, homosexuality is still largely viewed as "abnormal." Gay people often have to deal with anti-homosexual attitudes, with 42% of Americans still believing that homosexuality is wrong. These prejudices cause gay people to feel that they are not equal or valued as human beings making them uncomfortable with you they are. Comfort with one's self increases self esteem and makes one feel more comfortable with others, which can help decrease negative attitudes from all viewpoints. The decision to value and respect others should not be based on any one personal characteristic they may have, such as homosexuality, but on who the person is as a whole. Gay people are not asking that everyone agree with who they are, but that they accept and respect them as human beings. This acceptance and respect is the first step towards true equality.

Civil rights for homosexual people will also help enforce equality and help them to feel more valued in our society. Homosexuals are denied many of the basic human rights that heterosexuals take for granted, including, but not limited to, the right to marriage, freedom from discrimination in the workplace, and in many states, freedom from any form of discrimination. Gay people are currently guaranteed the right to public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, in only nine states in America. Many states do not allow gays to adopt children because it is believed that having homosexual parents will corrupt the children. This belief is unfounded, as research has shown that there are no significant differences between children raised by homosexual parents and those raised by heterosexual parents.

Why is it allowable for people of different sexual orientations to be denied rights that heterosexual people take advantage of? Some say that if homosexuals truly desired these rights, they would abandon their lifestyle and choose to be heterosexual. Homosexuality is not a choice, and therefore, cannot be changed. It is hard to imagine that somebody would choose to voluntarily give up all the privileges of being heterosexual and subject him or herself to harassment, discrimination, and assault. Who would want to put themselves in harm's way if they could willingly choose not to? The main argument of anti-homosexual rights activists is that they gay people are fighting for "special" rights. This belief is untrue because it would imply that gay people currently have equal rights, which they do not, and that is all that they desire. As June Parreñas, a homosexual writer for the magazine Lesbian News states, "How dare they interfere with my right to live the joys human life is capable of?" Granting homosexuals these rights that they are currently denied is another very important step towards promoting equality and eliminating prejudice.

For true equality, a person's sexual orientation should not have to cause them worry. Of the many emotions a gay person feels, the most powerful of them all must be fear: the fear of being looked down on, the fear of being alone with nobody to talk to, the fear of being discriminated against, harassed, and sometimes even the fear of being murdered, all because of their sexual orientation. Fears such as these associated with being homosexual can be overwhelming for a person, especially a young person.

Because of anti-homosexual discrimination, gay people are two to seven times more likely than heterosexual people to commit suicide. They are also more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. The fear of being alone is significant. When a young person realizes that they are homosexual, they may have nobody they can trust to talk to, and they may feel very alone and misunderstood. How can they know whom to trust when so many people feel that homosexuality is wrong? Telling the wrong person may result in being disowned from one's family, or being abandoned by one's friends. By telling somebody and potentially the wrong person, they may be subjecting themselves to not only emotional harm, but also to physical harm.

Being homosexual can lead to violence and threats of violence to an individual. Of the homosexuals surveyed, 45% of men and 20% of women have been victims of verbal and physical abuse in school alone. Gay men and women are not only threatened with physical harm, but also death. It is hard to forget the story of Matthew Shepard, the young man who was tortured and beaten on October 11, 1998, dying in result, for being gay. There are many other stories of unfortunate, innocent young people who were murdered because of their sexual orientation, including Fred Martinez Jr., Scotty Joe Weaver, and Barry Winchell, just to name a few. To make matters worse, perpetrators of these horrible crimes sometimes get away with little to no punishment by using the "homosexual panic defense," which is essentially putting the blame on the homosexual victim of the crime. Fear of discrimination and physical harm need to be eliminated for equal rights to be implemented.

So why do some people believe that homosexuals do not deserve to be valued as equal and have equal rights? As stated earlier, many see the granting of equal rights as actually being the granting of "special" rights. There are also a large number of people who believe that homosexuality is a sin against God, and, therefore, they should not be allowed any rights. This argument assumes that every human being is Christian and, being that it has solely religious purposes, is an unmistakable violation of the separation of church and state. To successfully utilize this argument denying homosexuals their rights, we must first deny freedom of religion. Another argument is that homosexuality is immoral and unethical. This raises the question of what exactly constitutes immoral and unethical, which is a matter of opinion. Another argument based on opinion is that homosexuality is disturbing and disgusting. Every person is entitled to his or her own opinions, but is this truly a respectable reason for denying individuals their rights? Why should and observation based in opinion govern the rights of a group of people? Yet another argument against equal rights for gay people is that homosexuality is not natural. Of the species studied so far, 15-30% of animals, including those in the wild and those not, have exhibited homosexual behavior, which invalidates the "unnatural" argument.

Is there any reason why homosexuals do not deserve the same rights as heterosexuals? There is no reason to believe that society benefits from the oppression of gay people, especially when up to 10% of society, the gay people themselves, are hurt by this oppression.

"Freedom for all" is hard to imagine in a world where it is still acceptable to discriminate against others for insignificant reasons. This freedom would require equal rights to be granted to all, whether or not they enjoy relationships with the same sex, whether or not they walk down the street holding hands with a member of the same sex, whether or not they want to marry a member of the same sex. Equal rights would represent the right to live without fear of discrimination or ham, which many are not lucky enough to enjoy in today's world.

Whether or not discrimination continues, homosexuality will continue to be a way of life in our culture and in others. Unfortunately, it will continue to be demeaned until we take steps against anti-homosexual discrimination.

As a society, we need to change the negative attitudes of our culture from prejudiced to accepting. The attitude that gays don't deserve equal rights is responsible for supporting an environment in which hatred and prejudice can take root and grow. It is time that we abandon our prejudiced views of homosexuality and accept the gay and lesbian people as they are. This acceptance would not mean the need to abandon one's opinions on the topic of homosexuality, but only to realize that homosexuals may be different in their sexual orientation, but they are the same as heterosexuals in every other way, and deserve basic human rights. Acceptance towards others who are different would eliminate discrimination, thereby reducing hate crimes and violence. By evaluating our attitudes toward gay and lesbian people, we will be able to better understand them, which will help us to learn to respect them for who they are, instead of trying to change who they are. It is time for our culture to stop encouraging hatred and fear and instead concentrate on understanding and love, no matter what kind of love it may be.

For those of you who read all the way through that, I'd like to thank you and welcome your opinions on the subject. If you have any updated statistics or news stories that might be of interest to me or other readers, please feel free to share them.

Other Bloggers Unite posts on this subject:

• Unite for Human Rights-STOP ABUSE OF RIGHTS BASED ON SEXUAL IDENTITY
• Bloggers Unite For Human Rights: Gay Rights
• Bloggers Unite For Human Rights
• Stop the violence against LGBT people!
• Bloggers Unite for Human Rights
• Unite for Human Rights
• Bloggers contro l’omofobia
• For Matthew - Bloggers Unite for Human Rights
• Exchanging Vows with The Same Sex
• California Supreme Court Says Gay Marriage is legal!

Some (very) recent news on this subject that you might find interesting:

From AFP:

California's highest court will give its ruling on the legality of the state's ban on gay marriages on Thursday, a long-awaited milestone that could have a nationwide impact on the issue.

A statement on the California Supreme Court website in San Francisco said the opinion would be made available by 10 am (1700 GMT) after hearing arguments for and against the ban at in March.

I will try to find the results of this decision late today and update this post with the, hopefully good, news.

UPDATE:

In a monumental victory for the gay rights movement, the California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage Thursday in a ruling that would allow same-sex couples in the nation's biggest state to tie the knot.

Domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage, the justices ruled 4-3 in striking down the ban.

From National Post:

A Toronto-area Lutheran church parish plans on ordaining a married gay man despite warnings it is breaking church teachings and it will face disciplinary action, including expulsion, if it goes ahead.

Lionel Ketola will be ordained Friday night by a non-traditional American Lutheran group that ordains gay candidates.

From wjhg.com:

School went on as usual today at Ponce De Leon High. Except for the visiting news reporters, there was little evidence the school and one of its students had just ended a federal court battle over freedom of speech.

Yesterday U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak ruled the school board was wrong to enforce a ban on students expressing their support for gay rights.

This article listed at the Carnival of Sex and Sexuality.

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