LGBT rights have changed in many ways throughout the years. The idea of being a part of the LGBT community has been around for a long time. People who are LGBT go through many rough patches during life. Many of their rights have been taken away, because many people don’t agree with it. They face abuse, discrimination, threats, and many other things. The LGBT community should be treated with respect like any other person, but that’s not what they always get. Records of same-sex relationships have been found in nearly every culture throughout history. Today, the number of gays and lesbians in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately 8.8 million. At least one million children in the U.S. are being raised by same-sex couples. With that being …show more content…
Instead of that, they get treated very poorly. “Forty-two percent of people who are LGBT report living in an unwelcoming environment (11 Facts LGBT Life In America).” Many LGBT people also feel isolated because of their differences from others. Being LGBT is not accepted in many parts of the U.S. and this affects how they get to live. The LGBT community faces many disadvantages and struggles throughout their life. “People around the world face violence and inequality and sometimes torture, even execution because of who they love, how they look or who they are. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of ourselves and should never be lead to discrimination or abuse (Human Rights Watch).” The LGBT community often faces discrimination in health, jobs, housing, domestic violence, abuses against children, and denial of family rights. With discrimination being such a burden to the LGBT community, many people decided to try to change that. Many laws have been repealed and added due to discrimination and the fact that they already have so many disadvantages. An executive order was signed by Obama, preventing federal contracts from discriminating against any job candidate or employee based on sexual orientation (Thande, Murugi). This is one of the many milestones for the LGBT community and their rights. Most of it starts with Barack
The gay rights movement has made great progress in the United States, compared to generations ago, with the legalization of marriage in some states, and also the gaining of certain equal rights. Many people today accept homosexuals within society, and society in general is more...
In today’s society, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community has been more accepted then in years prior, especially in the 1960’s and years prior to that, when anyone in the LGBT community would be horribly ridiculed, if not tortured. However, there still lies a long road for the LGBT community, as it pertains to human rights, equality, and particularly, marriage equality. Each individual has their own perception on marriage equality, whether it is based on moral basis, or on a humanistic (humane) basis, which is the belief of not denying anyone the right to be who they are, and therefore love who they love. However, as a society, we must examine the facts, as well as ourselves, as we address the debate for marriage equality for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community.
The world as we know of it today has evolved over several decades of conflict. The conflicts have taken place due to many factions fighting for their rights. It began with African Americans wanting to be treated as equals. The Civil Rights became the theme of the 1950’s and continued for many years. More recently, there have been conflicts based on sexuality and gender preferences. The LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) Movement of today has changed and evolved over the last several decades just as the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s which gave African Americans the fight for racial equality. The similarities and differences of both movements are striking, and deserve thorough investigation.
The United States is an example for diversity and tolerance in the world. There are laws, policies and protection for a person’s rights. However, even with this in place many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) are still discriminated against. LGBT Today faces discrimination with housing, jobs, relationships, insurance, medical care, adopting, religion and social prejudice. The rights of homosexual persons are not equal to a person who is heterosexual. A person who is homosexual are told that they cannot have the same as others because of their sexual orientation Many times we like to think of the United states of American as a place that has move in to a higher level of progression, unfortunately this is not the case as we continue to only give the same right to all equally.
LGBT individual encompass all races and ethnicities, religion, and social classes. The face health disparities linked to societal stigma, discrimination and denial of their civil and human rights. Personal, family, and social acceptance of sexual orientation affect the mental health and personal safety of LGBT individuals.
Humans have established their own rights in society for many, many years now. However, because some humans differ from the norms that are built in society, they are shunned and denied their rights until they conform to society’s norms. There has been numerous groups of people who have been denied their rights in America. African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans, and gays have been isolated simply because that is the way that they were born into this world and others do not find them “normal”. There is another group that has also been mistreated though; people who identify themselves as transgendered. A good portion of society is unknowingly misinformed about these kinds of people.
Famous children’s author Dr. Seuss once said, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind". Gay rights, at the moment, are one of the most publicized and well known controversial subjects of this decade. The sides clearly drawn one fighting for rights as simple as being married the other stating that it defames their religion and goes against the definition of marriage, being between a man and a woman. The individuals who are fighting for their civil rights are fallowing the same path that African Americans and women have taken, but the change has started and in over 13 states gays have been given their basic rights and more state are joining in the fight both for and against the topic.
The number of gays and lesbians in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately 8.8 million (randomhistory.com) About thirty-three percent of Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender commit suicide each year. At least fifty-two percent self-harm (dosomethinng.com). Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender are mistreated and misunderstood. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender are treated inhumanely which causes them to go into a deep depression, self-harm, or even commit suicide. LGBT are humans, not just some creature from another world (personal).
Gay and lesbian people should have the same rights as everyone else in America. They are being driven away from their rights due to some rumors that Christian observationalists have assumed because of their own religious morals. I feel as though gay and lesbian people should have their rights because they are not as horrid as they assumptions that Christian officials have made them out to be.
One place that the LGBT community is looking for equality is in the workplace. In the United States it is legal for a company or employer to fire or not hire someone based on his or her sexual orientation. Although there are some federal recourse through civil rights and equal employment claims, there’s no national anti-discrimination law to protect the LGBT workers from state discrimination (Stone). Discrimination against the LGBT community in the workplace has begun to take the national spotlight due to the Supreme Court 's 5-4 decision on June 26, 2015. Workplace discrimination against the LGBT community is detrimental and should be unlawful. Not only does an LGBT member experience lower wages, they also are less likely to receive a promotion when running up against other applicants that are not apart of the LGBT community (Isaacs). According to the Center for American Progress, 10-28 percent of the LGBT community receive negative performance evaluations or were passed over for a promotion because of their sexual orientation. Along with those numbers it is also proven that 8-17 percent of gay and transgender workers report being passed over or fired from a job due to their gender orientation (Burns). These numbers are proof that discrimination in the workplace is violating the equality rights of those that are apart of the LGBT
As of 2015, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community continues to struggle for equal rights held by their straight counterparts. Socially, LGBT persons are subject to discrimination, hate crimes, and stigma, while legally, LGBT persons encounter obstacles that preclude them from basic rights afforded to every other subculture in America. One of the most divisive issues related to LGBT rights has been same-sex marriage, which has been creating conflict both politically and socially dating back to the 1970’s (Finnis, 1997). Those in favor of same-sex marriage argue that regardless of gender or sexual preference, marriage is a basic right that the government has no legitimate interest in blocking. Opponents argue that same-sex marriage is ethically and morally wrong, and they cite reasons spanning from religious beliefs to the creation of a slippery slope that would lead to the demise of the institution of marriage (Volokh, n.d.). Faced with the difficult task of balancing both sides of the equation, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the policy that will be analyzed in this paper.
The mental health of individuals in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community is something that is a serious problem. For most of the history of the United States and many different parts of the world LGBT people faced much persecution and in some cases even death. This constant fear of discovery and the pressure that one feels on oneself when “in the closet” can lead to major mental distress. Research has shown that people who identify as LGBT are twice as likely to develop lifetime mood and anxiety disorders (Bostwick 468). This is extremely noticeable the past couple years in the suicides of bullied teens on the basis of sexual identity and expression. The stigma on simply being perceived as LGBT is strong enough to cause a person enough mental stress that they would take their own life. This is always unfortunate, but in the case of young individuals it borders on unthinkable. Older LGBT individuals do not tend to fair much better either seeing as they were raised in generations who were stricter on what was considered proper and morally right. All this being said, even as the culture of the world shifts to more accepting LGBT individuals their mental health is something that is only now being looked at thoroughly.
For example, one issue that has yet to be dealt with is the matter of discrimination in the workplace environment. Currently, it is legal in 34 states for an employer to terminate an employee on the basis of their sexual orientation. Only 21 states and Washington D.C. have laws that disallow discrimination against sexual orientation, and 17 states and the District of Columbia have some type of laws in place concerning discrimination against gender identity. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, “would provide basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity” (Human Rights Campaign). The act follows basic given civil rights laws granted to every American. The bill has passed the Senate, and now journeys to the House of Representatives for consideration, but currently there is only a 14 percent chance of the bill even being ratified. The percent chance is extremely discouraging, not only to people who have experienced discrimination but to civil rights advocates across the country.
The treatment of the LGBT community in American Society is a social injustice. What most people think is that they just want to be able to marry one another and be happy but that’s not it. They want to be treated like humans and not some weird creatures that no one has ever seen before. They want to be accepted for who them are and not what people want them to be and they deserve the right to be who they are just the same as any other human being. After all the discrimination they have endured they should be allowed to be who they are and be accepted as equals just like people of different skin color did in the times of segregation. We have a long way to go as a country but being the greatest country in the world in the eyes of many great America will make big steps to make things fair.
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.