Homophobia in Law Enforcement: Lethal Consequences
The constitution guarantees life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all Americans, yet there is a group who endures a life without total liberty, restrictions on their choice of lifestyle and happiness, and unfair treatment which may even result in the untimely loss of their lives. This group of people currently facing discrimination and mistreatment is the gay and lesbian community of Washington D.C., and the perpetrators are the very people whose jobs are to ensure their safety. The law enforcement is not entirely protecting gays and lesbians in D.C., nor are they ensuring that they have basic human rights. The effects of discrimination or even just insensitivity in the police department can have catastrophic negative effects on the victims, the gay and lesbian community, and the city of D.C. as a whole. When people of certain minorities are not treated equally by the law, something must be done to improve this dangerous situation. In Washington DC on July 9th, 2001, an openly gay man, Alexander Gray, fell victim to two separate hate crimes. The first happened when several men made derogatory remarks about Gray’s sexual orientation, and then attacked and beat him with a shovel and a tire iron (Wilchins). Gray, both mentally and physically wounded, was then escorted home because he refused to go to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. The police drove him to his apartment, and friends say Gray was handcuffed in the backseat of the police car when he arrived (Fahrenthold “Gay Activists”). Alexander Gray was a victim of a brutal and traumatizing crime, yet the police treated him as if he were the criminal, by handcuffing him in the back of the car. The D.C. police officers responding to this hate crime were not able to treat the victim with gentleness and sensitivity he severely needed at such a time, but instead they treated him as a threat.
Throughout its history, the Washington, D.C. police department has had troubles dealing with the gay and lesbian community. There has been much bigotry and discrimination in the way some officers handled matters concerning those who are homosexual. During the 1980’s many police officers held the stereotype that all people who were homosexual had AIDS, and some occasionally wore rubber gloves when they knew they would be dealing with gay individuals (Fahrenthold “Blue and Gay”).
Josef Mengele was born March 16, 1911 in Gunzburg, Germany and his parents were Karl (1881-1959) and Walburga (?-1946) Mengele. He had two younger brothers; Karl (1912-1949 and Alois (1914-1974). He had several nicknames, one of them being Beppo. He was a bright and cheerful child in his early days. (Mengele32) He was full of ambition and had high hopes for his future. In 1930 he graduated from the Gymnasium and in 1935 he was awarded a PhD from the University of Munich. In 1937 he was appointed a research assistant at the Third Reich Institute for Heredity, Biology, and Racial Purity at the University of Frankfurt; worked with Professor Otmar Freiherr von Vershuer. (Mengele54) In May 1938 he joined the SS (Schutzstapple - elite unit which protected Hitler and his important dignitaries) and in 1940 he joined the medical corps (Sanitatsinspektion) of the Waffen SS. (an actual army unit that fights on the front lines made up of the SS - they were very widely feared) (grandparents2) In July 1939 Mengele married Irene Schoenbein.
According to Dr. Carl S. Taylor, the relationship between minority groups and police in the United States has historically been strained. Some cities have a deep and bitter history of bias and prejudice interwoven in their past relationships. The feeling in many communities today is that the system pits law enforcement as an occupying army versus the neighborhood. Dr. Taylor wrote about easing tensions between police and minorities, but stated “If there is any good news in the current situation, it is that the history of this strain has found the 1990’s ripe for change.
” Josef Mengele” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.June 10, 2013 Web. 24 March 2014
The Stonewall rebellion has been considered the birth of a new wave of a liberation movement that changed the world for millions of lesbians, gay men, drag queens, and drag kings of all races, ethnicities, and ages. Yet, it was certainly not the first raid nor the first moment of protest for homosexuals. The raid at Stonewall was preceded by decades of police harassment of gay establishments. The first recorded raid of a gay bathhouse was in 1903, at the Ariston Hotel Baths at 55th and Broadway in New York where 26 men were arrested. Seven of them received sentences ranging from four to 20 years in prison (Chauncey, 1994). Countless raids, arrests, and imprisonments occurred in the decades that followed.
Martin Luther, also known as the “Reformator,” was a superior asset in the Protestant Reformation. He was born on November 10, 1483 in the town of Eisleben, which was located in East Germany. Luther’s parents were Hans Luder and Margaretha nee Lindemann. His father was a farmer and later became a copper miner in Mansfeld. Martin Luther’s parents brought him up in the strict environment of the Roman Catholic Church. With his new job in Mansfeld, Hans made the decision to move his family there in 1484. Hans expected Martin to become a lawyer, so Luther went to Erfurt in 1501 to study law. Luther received his master’s degree in 1505. Shortly after this, he felt like law was not the right place for him. This act upset his father, not only because he dropped out of the university, but he decided that he wanted to become an Augustinian monk in Erfurt. Luther believed that if he was serious about his religion, he could please and do good works for God. However, once again, he was still unhappy. Luther decided to make another life-changing decision by studying theology. He went to Wittenberg to study this subject. Martin...
The official story of 9/11 is a conspiracy theory in that the government claims 19 hijackers conspired together to hijack four planes and create terror in the world. Four American airplanes were hijacked; two were driven into the World Trade Centers and the third airplane into the Pentagon. The fourth airplane suspected target was the White House, but it was diverted by the brave men and women aboard that hijacked airplane, and crashed the airline jet before it could reach its target. It was like time stood still as America watched through television broadcast these unbelievable and horrifying events taking place. The reports told of the smell the jet fuel, burning flesh, and people jumping out windows to their death to escape the flames. When the two bravura structures tumbling down, rescuers, (police officers, firefighters, and ambulance drivers and techs) were caught in the mast and lost their lives doing their job trying to save lives.
Hans Luther wanted to give his children better education than he has himself growing up. They started to teach Martin as soon as they could. Even if he was at home he was always learning. But in school because the schoolteachers were ignorant, he received fifteen whippings one morning at school. Martin referred the name of "school" to "hell and purgatory". When the schoolmasters at Mansfeld were through pounding Latin into Luther with a stick, he was getting ready to go to Magdeburg for school. Because Luther was so poor to have money for his own expenses, Luther had to sing in the streets. It was common for Luther to see other students as poor as him standing in front of wealthy citizen houses. Sometimes they were invited to come in for some food. He stayed in Magdeburg for about one year before moving to Eisenach and going to a school known as The School Of St. George. Ursula Cotta heard Luther singing in the street for money. So she and her Husband, Conrad, invited Luther to come into their beautiful home and share its comforts with them. Then in about May of 1501, Luther enrolled as a student at Erfurt. Then in 1502, he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts and three years later that of Master of Arts.
Homophobia has been a problem for a very long time, all across the world. For example, during the Holocaust, in which homosexuals were forced to wear the “Pink Triangle”, a pink, upside down triangle, on his or her coat for identification. Of course, the pattern of homophobia is not only shown throughout world history, but American history as well. For example, sodomy laws, laws that rule certain sexual acts as crimes, were established as early as 1963. The penalty for these laws varied from state to state. Some of the punishments include: two to ten year imprisonments or two thousand dollar fines. The cruelty of these homophobic actions should not be accepted any longer. It encourages bullying, denies human beings their civil rights, and continues to foster a mentality of indifference and intolerance towards our fellow man.
Companies merge and acquire other companies for a lot of strategic reasons with different degree of success. The success of a merger is measured by whether the value of the acquiring firm is enhanced by it. The impact of mergers and acquisitions on organization can be small and big in other cases.
According to Florida Incorporation, a merger is the statutory combination of two or more corporations in which one of the corporations survives and the other corporations cease to exist. An acquisition is obtaining control of another corporation by purchasing all or a majority of its outstanding shares, or by purchasing its assets (Florida Incorporation, 2006).
When entrepreneurs plan their business future they will consider how they can increase their business size or profit in a short period. Entrepreneurs may consider growing their business or company by using a merger or an acquisition. These methods can be a speed up tool and a short cut to enlarge their business. (Burns, 2011) Also they can reduce competition, make it easier for entrepreneurs to think about the market and product development and risk reduction. Furthermore, some lesser – known companies can improve their firm’s image and market power by using merger and acquisition with larger firms. However, there may be risks associated with merger and acquisition related to lack of finance and time. (Burns, 2011) This essay will discuss more deeply the advantages and disadvantages of using mergers and acquisitions, showing how it can affect firms and market with the case study.
Martin Luther was a German theologian whose writings prompted the beginning of the Reformation in Germany. He was born to Hans and Margarete Luther on November 10th, 1843, in Eisleben, Germany. At the age of 18, in 1501, he enrolled into the University of Erfurt. During a terrible thunderstorm at Erfurt, he prayed to St. Anna and promised that, if he came out of the storm alive, he would become a monk. After surviving the storm however, Luther regretted this promise, but still joined a monastery in 1505, becoming an Augustinian friar. In 1510, he visited Rome on behalf of a number of Augustinian monasteries, and was disgusted by the corruption that he found there. After this visit to Rome, Luther became increasingly troubled by his faith, so during studying and teaching theology, after being made a Doctor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg in 1512, he began to ...
In 2011, The Heinz Foundation commission a study entitled, Portrayal and Perception and it found that media bias existed and concluded that a disproportionate amount of Pittsburgh news coverage of African American men and boys focused on crime. The information retrieved from the study is less about sexuality or crime but that a bias toward a race and or a culture exist in such a pervasive manner that influences behavior on a number of different levels. It’s impossible to ignore the connection between the media and societal bias, it can’t be overlooked or minimized. It’s no secret that within the queer community that biases exist that can be quite difficult for a non-white male to overcome. By acknowledging the struggle within the gay community is to admit decades of exclusionary practices that prohibit gay blacks from being socially accepted within a small segment of society that affords openness and acceptance of ones sexuality. However, to a larger more dynamic struggle with race and gender related issues in our society goes unanswered because we refuse to admit that a problem exist. It would go a long way in tackling the problems, it we would simply admit that something is amiss. Being a champion for fairness and diversity in this complex universe takes real courage considering that the atmosphere is dominated by white males. Whether gay, queer or straight these striking similar community is similar in this
Between the 1950s and 1960s homosexuals had been frequently harassed and ridiculed by many people, including the police (Ojeda, 12). Homosexuals began to fight back after the civil rights and anti-war movements by asking those who were stil...
...oldiers seek employment as police officers after their discharge. Due to this the military-police integration, it has the tolerance level toward gays and lesbians in law enforcement is similarly affected by how they are treated in the military. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is increasing in strength; homosexual police officers are starting to obtain more recognition. “An important achievement that New York’s GOAL tries to create is one of their most important objectives is to protect gay and lesbian officers from being mistreated in the workplace. “We can benefit from gay and lesbian police officers because they represent more than just a human rights effort, they also represent a range or roles and skills that can enhance the flexibility of police work without forgetting the real mission are to fight crime and protect the people. (Miller, Forest, Jurik) 2003.”