Looking into the Mirrior: Homosexuals' Human Rights in the USA

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Key Words

• Homosexuality-The romantic or sexual attraction or behavior of members of the same sex.

• No Child Left Behind- An act that went into effect January 2001 it is a standard based reform program aimed at making all students proficient by the year 2014.

• Equity- Fairness in regards to all people.

• Homophobia- The fear of a person who is attracted to someone of the same sex.

• GLBT- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender

Religious Affiliation- To be connected to an organization that proclaims morality and equality for all.

Introduction

With the rise of the gay liberation movement in the post-Stonewall era, overtly gay and lesbian perspectives began to be put forward in politics, philosophy and literary theory. Initially these often were overtly linked to feminist analyses of patriarchy (e.g., Rich, 1980) or other, earlier approaches to theory. Yet in the late 1980's and early 1990's queer theory was developed, although there are obviously important antecedents which make it difficult to date it precisely. There are a number of ways in which queer theory differed from earlier gay liberation theory, but an important initial difference can be gotten at by examining the reasons for opting for the term ‘queer’ as opposed to ‘gay and lesbian.’ Some versions of, for example, lesbian theory portrayed the essence of lesbian identity and sexuality in very specific terms: non-hierarchical, consensual, and, specifically in terms of sexuality, as not necessarily focused upon genitalia (e.g., Faderman, 1985).

With the above in mind an examination of the homosexual community also known as the queer community will be examined. The isms that exist against them and the steps we as educators can take to help them in their fight ...

... middle of paper ...

... get a good education or find a decent job, regardless of race,sex,handicapping condition, age, or national origin” (Fowler,2004) .

Conclusion

The issue is that we are not allowing all of our students to have an equitable education. Many of them are pushed aside or are ignored due to their needs or due to our perceptions of them. Many of our homosexual students are ignored in the classroom. Due to the way they act or our fear of them. That is why it is so crucial to change our perceptions and in the process educate ourselves.

With the above in mind, awareness is crucial. In our educational climate, we need theory now more than ever. Thus, we need to develop and use an educational justice discourse as a way of counteracting the hegemony and elitism that has plagued our school system throughout history. We need to educate others and ourselves in order to reform.

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