Reproductive Technology and Sexual Destiny
Homosexuality remains a controversial issue in our society, especially regarding gays’ rights that are generally readily granted to heterosexuals, where the currently hotly debated topic is legitimating the relationship with the sanction of marriage. Yet, numerous measures have been taken to eliminate homosexual behavior through hormonal, biochemical, and anatomical interventions. Regardless of the fact that such reproductive controls are not yet available in order to genetically engineer the sexual orientation of your children, Timothy Murphy presents a discourse on the possibility of determining your child’s sexual destiny. It puts forward the question, “Would it be morally permissible for parents to genetically engineer their child’s sexual orientation?” Murphy maintains the moral stance that there are important freedoms that need to be preserved regarding reproductive control and since we cannot definitely predict adverse effects on the interests of existing and future generations, he concludes that while these techniques should be morally resisted, the use of heterosexist interventions should not be criminalized. (343)
This article came at the heels of the 1980’s, a time during which the Center of Disease Control noticed an alarming rate of a rare cancer, Kaposi's Sarcoma, which they at first called “gay cancer” but soon renamed GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) among otherwise healthy gay men since 1981. In fact, the term AIDS did not come into use until 1982. Because the disease was first identified among gay men, AIDS was popularly considered a gay disease through the 1980’s, although despite this misconception, also affected heterosexuals and children. Nonetheless, since it was still considered a gay disease, there was a certain stigma attached to having it as many claimed that AIDS to be “God’s punishment on homosexuals.” By the time Murphy’s article was published in 1990, there were 198,466 AIDS cases diagnosed in the U.S. while 121,255 people died.(1)
Before presenting his arguments, Murphy provides a context of his discussion regarding the attitudes of gays and lesbians toward their sexuality. He cites the Bell & Weinberg studies that were published in 1978, which he refers to as the most comprehensive study conducted on the lives of gay men and lesbians in any nation. These statistics are dated about 30 years and therefore these attitudes may have changed. In addition, the statistics provided are skewed since each group is not fairly represented in the study since it only used 575 white homosexual males, 111 black homosexual males, 229 homosexual females, and only 64 black homosexual females.
In the early 1980’s, reports were appearing in California and New York of a small number of men who appeared to have rare forms of cancer and pneumonia (Blumberg). The men were young and in very good health (Blumberg). These men were alike because they were homosexual (Blumberg). They had a disease known as AIDS, which is caused by HIV (Blumberg). The virus slowly attacks the immune system which makes the human body more prone to infections (Blumberg). They did not know what the disease was for a while (Blumberg). It was believed to be “gay-related” because homosexuals were many of the first reported cases (Blumberg). That belief was abolished when scientist found out that heterosexuals could be infected too (Blumberg).
AIDS/HIV was first recognized as a new disease in the US when clinicians in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco began to see young, homosexual men with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and Kaposi 's sarcoma (KS), unusual diseases for young adults which were not known to be immunosuppressed. These discoveries led to increased fear throughout the US since many people didn’t know what caused AIDS, how it could be contracted, or even what to call it.
I reached many other people since last week, some of them did not show much interest in doing the interview when they heard it was about homosexual representation analysis; the other people were unable to do the interview because the lack of time or other reasons. Anyway, diverse interviewees were picked to convey a considerably fair research for the attitudes toward the homosexual representation in the show Glee. These three chosen interview subjects not only vary in race (Both my boss and my roommate are Asian-American and my friend’s sister Lily is Caucasian) but also in gender (My boss is male and the other two are female). Because the main focus of the show Glee is about daily life of a group of high school students who attend their school glee club, the audience’s age range is unavoidably narrow. Despite the fact
Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.
To choose for their children, the world’s wealthy class will soon have options such as tall, pretty, athletic, intelligent, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Occasionally referred to as similar to “the eugenics of Hitler’s Third Reich” (“Designer Babies” n.p.), the new genetics technology is causing differences in people’s opinions, despite altering DNA before implantation is “just around the corner.” (Thadani n.p.). A recent advance in genetically altering embryos coined “designer babies” produces controversy about the morality of this process.
This represents a change in avenue of attack, not a broad ideological shift from historic eugenic arguments. Similarly, the search for the "gay gene," while a relatively new scientific concept, is highly reminiscent of previous understandings of queer sexuality, which located deviance in physical and/or hormonal "abnormalities." The idea that queer people's queerness is loc...
The CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 5, 1981 describing cases of a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), accompanied by other unusual infections, in five young, previously healthy, gay men in Los Angeles. By the time the report was published, two of the men had died. This marked the first official reporting of what is now known as the AIDS epidemic. It wasn’t until September 24, 1982, however, when the CDC used the term AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) for the first time. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the story the very next day; just days later, Doctors around the nation swarmed the CDC with reports of similar cases. It wasn’t until November of 1985, after the epidemic had claimed
Most scientists and psychologists believe that homosexuality is caused by a gene determined at birth much like your hair, skin, and eye color are determined, meaning homosexuality is not a choice and is no more a choice than choosing your skin color. Studies known as adoption studies show that sexual preference is genetic by adopting a young infant child and placing them in either a homosexual or h...
As a result of the discovery of AIDS, the gay community suffered greatly at the hands of social alienation. “AIDS” was not called “AIDS” until the CDC changed the different name that singled out the gay community as the only ones that could acquire the disease. After some major controversy the gay bathhouses were closed down, because it was believed that the AIDS virus was spreading greatly in these places. The gay community also suffered major emotional trauma as very little was known of the disease and little could be done about it. ___
People should not have access to genetically altering their children because of people’s views on God and their faith, the ethics involving humans, and the possible dangers in tampering with human genes. Although it is many parent’s dream to have the perfect child, or to create a child just the way they want, parents need to realize the reality in genetic engineering. Sometimes a dream should stay a figment of one’s imagination, so reality can go in without the chance of harming an innocent child’s life.
The movie, And the Band Played On, portrays a current issue the U.S. health care system face: the effects of societal perceptions of people who should receive health care support. Those perceived as undeserving are disregarded. Homosexual men were the first to be affected by AIDS in the US, and because of this, the stigma of homosexuality prevented developing health care policy to control the epidemic. Homosexuality was, and to a lesser extent now, not widely accepted. Marginalizing gay individuals was seen in the movie at the beginning, when media coverage on AIDs would not include “homosexual” within the news title (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). This represents how media has to be marketed; the broader public will not be interested if a new disease only affects an undesirable population. Another example of this negligence is seen when Phillip Burton is asked to introduce a bill on AIDS. He agrees, but does not hesitate to retort, “They couldn’t get a dime out of this administration with the name gay on it” (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). Finally, in order to change the perception, at the CDC conference with blood agencies, they renamed gay related immune deficiency (GRID) to AIDS, and the film cuts to news segments finally covering
He also is a closeted homosexual. He has a high political power; this is the cause of him not being openly gay. The homosexual community has little power, and this scares him. He is obsessed with the amount of power that he has, and he will not lose that. This is where politics come into play, being a “right wing” conservative he is supposed to generally opposed to gay marriage. He is in a good political position and knows that coming out could risk losing power, and this is terrifying for him. He changed the label of his diagnosis from AIDS, to liver cancer to avoid losing the respect of people who are above him. The impression that homosexuals are nobodies is a great example of how identity politics or other things pressure people into becoming tied down by lies. The identities of people and their true selves is often hidden under the identity of what they are compelled to show others. Homosexuality is only one of the many things that can keep people from exposing their genuine identity. Throughout the novel many characters are diagnosed with AIDS. The first five cases of AIDS were initially reported in June of 1981. AIDS has taken the lives of 636,000 Americans. In 1992, there were 250,0000 reported cases of AIDS. Of those 250,000 cases 200,000 had died. A more recent study in 2004, there were 1,000,000 reported cases, only 500,000 had died. It is still decreasing today. Gay or bisexual men make up the
“The unprecedented growth of the gay community in recent history has transformed our culture and consciousness, creating radically new possibilities for people to ‘come out’ and live more openly as homosexuals”(Herdt 2). Before the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York, homosexuality was a taboo subject. Research concerning homosexuality emphasized the etiology, treatment, and psychological adjustment of homosexuals. Times have changed since 1969. Homosexuals have gained great attention in arts, entertainment, media, and politics. Yesterday’s research on homosexuality has expanded to include trying to understand the different experiences and situations of homosexuals (Ben-Ari 89-90).
From the moment people born, there are certain basic functions that will be with them throughout their lives. The abilities to eat, breathe, sleep, or to have the capacity to learn are a natural occurrence for most people. There are, however, traits that are specific to each individual. They are traits that set them apart from everyone else. The traits such as eye color, ones dominate hand, or susceptibility to a specific disease are a few traits that aren’t easily changed. However, there are some that are controversially questioned as to whether or not one is born with the trait or if it is a learned behavior. One of the biggest of these controversies is the question of whether sexual orientation is a choice or something that is beyond the individual’s influence. Although the evidence is commonly disregarded because of personal beliefs or opinions, sexual orientation is not a choice.
The sexual orientation of a person has been a critical debate over the past several centuries. For several...