Oppressing the LGBT Communities

1338 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: impacts of globalization on society

Oppression is “the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel or unjust manner” (Oppression). Oppression not only wrong but it is unjust. Every person is different; to treat somebody wrongly simply because they are different is cruel. Oppression has been seen throughout all of history and will surely be seen in the future. Races, Social Class, Gender or Sexual preferences are all commonly oppressed (Carbone). Oppression is never just and is always unfair, the world needs to realize the horrific truth about oppression and there is lots of work that needs to take place for oppression to be resolved.
The LGBT community has been oppressed in many ways throughout history and is still being oppressed today. LGBT is an acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. This group of people is commonly looked down upon for their differences. Homosexual behavior has existed for thousands of years. Many scientists say that homosexual behaviors have been around for as long as man has been on earth. Yet the group has only been oppressed since the late nineteenth century. Therefore the oppression of the LGBT community is a recent event. Homosexual behavior was openly accepted in Greece and was considered one of the highest forms of love. Homosexuality was also accepted in certain tribes and not considered wrongful or unusual (Wolf). This is not to say that homosexuality is right, it is merely to prove that a culture can co-exist with the LGBT community.
In Russia on June 30 2013 the Russian president created a new law that banned the propaganda of LGBT groups. This new law has thrown Russia into turmoil as many people are now being fined for their sexual orientation. The gay pride parades that would have taken place we...

... middle of paper ...

...ex Marriage License." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 09 Dec. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Adams, Bell M. "Timeline of Oppression." SUNY Geneseo. TheStateUniversityOfNewYork, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.
"Witch-hunt in Iraq." BBC News. BBC, Sept.-Oct. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
"Oppression." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Carbone, Steven A., II. "Race, Class, and Oppression: Solutions for Active Learning and Literacy in the Classroom." Studentpulse. By Steven A. Carbone II, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Grekov, Innokenty K. "Russia's Anti-Gay Law, Spelled Out in Plain English."PolicyMic. Lightspeed, 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. "Iraq H
Stewart, Colin. as Become a Death Trap for Gay Men." 76 CRIMES. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Wolf, Sherry. "International Socialist Review." International Socialist Review. HayMarket, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Courageous Conversations About Race by Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    Authors Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton in Chapter Five of Courageous Conversations About Race broach the topic of race, by asking the reader to evaluate his or her own consciousness of race. According to the authors, in order to address the achievement gaps between African American students and White students, educators should shift their energy towards focusing on the factors that they have direct control of inside the classroom rather than on the factors that influence this achievement disparity between races outside the classroom.

    Read More

  • Canada’s Shame: The Oppression of Aboriginal Women in the Indian Act

    1597 Words  | 4 Pages

    Oppression is not always brought on in a violent and oppositional way, it can take on a peaceful and silent form; however regardless of the way oppression is introduced, it maintains the same characteristics of “imposing belief systems, values, laws and ways of ...

    Read More

  • Born Gay: Truth and Circumstances.

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    For years homosexuality in the United States of America has been looked down upon by citizens, religions, and even politicians. The homosexual culture, or the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender), has been demoralized and stuck out and lashed against by the Heterosexual community time and time again. To better understand the LGBT community we must first grasp the concept of Sexual Orientation.

    Read More

  • The Intersections Of Race, Class And Gender In The Anti-Racist Discourse Analysis

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author argues that in order for oppression to be vitally explored, the factors that create oppression must be realized. Oppression gives material advantage to the oppressor. "All social relations have material consequences". The author argues that all identities must be considered interconnected.

    Read More

  • The Spark of the Stonewall Riot

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    For many generations, especially in North America, homosexuality was not accepted in any way, shape, or form. Many believed that it was a medical illness that was curable, when in reality, people were, and still are, ignorant and could not come to terms that everyone in this world is different from one another. For many instances of being treated unjust, many individuals in the gay community did not want to “expose” themselves and remained in the “closet”. As means to make gays and lesbians proud and take a stand for who they are, a movement spread across internationally. This movement is known as “The Gay Liberation” movement which occurred between the late 1960s and the early to mid 1970s (“Gay Liberation”). The Gay Liberation movement urged individuals of the gay community to “come out,” revealing their sexuality to their loved ones as a form of activism, and to counter shame with gay pride (“Gay Liberation”). The Stonewall Riots are believed to have been the spark that ignited the rise of the Gay Liberation movement; it influenced the way the gay community is viewed socially and how their rights are politically present day.

    Read More

  • Homosexuality and the Right to Form a Family

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history people who manifested an attraction for others of the same sex usually have gone through a lot of maltreatments, discrimination, and have often been regarded as “sexual deviants.” Relationships between people of the same sex have been present since the beginning of history. Their lives have not always been easy, because they have been persecuted and sometimes even forced to go through a psychiatric evaluation. At the same time, in order to gain their rights and dignity, they had to take their fight to the legal system because as George Chauncey, a professor of history at Yale University mentioned, “although most people recognize that gay life was difficult before growth of the gay movement in the 1970s, they often have only the vaguest sense of why: that gay people were scorned and ridiculed, made to feel ashamed, afraid, and alone” (290). However, discrimination and maltreatment were not the only reasons homosexuals had to take their struggle to the courts. An American professor of history at Yale University, who has testified in a number of gay rights cases, has exposed the ins and outs of the legal system in the second half of the twentieth century. During this time, a great number of states had created laws, which authorized the indefinite detention of homosexuals in mental institutions, and conditioned their release upon proving that they were cured from homosexuality (Chauncey 294). This past history, together with studies conducted by some prestigious institutions have lead society to understand that the right to homosexual marriage is economically, ethically, and morally correct, because it would benefit the economy and society by increasing the federal budget and creating a legal status for homosexual c...

    Read More

  • LGBT Equal Rights: It's Time to Legalize Sodomy

    2553 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Supreme Court has resolved, by a vote of five to four that the "Constitution provided no fundamental right to engage in homosexual sodomy." (Bowers v. Hardwick) This paper will show that the analysis behind the Bowers v. Hardwick decision was flawed and limited in scope. I believe that the government does not have the right to prohibit homosexual or heterosexual consensual sodomy. Anti-sodomy laws violate the right to privacy, equal protection, and provide no reasonable compelling state interest for these violations.

    Read More

  • The Danger of Homophobia in American Culture

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The acceptance of “abnormal” sexualities

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    The acceptance of “abnormal” sexualities has been a prolonged, controversial battle. The segregation is excruciating and the prejudice remarks are so spiteful that some people never truly recover. Homosexuals have been left suffering for ages. Life, for most homosexuals during the first half of the twentieth century, was mostly one of hiding: having to constantly hide their true feelings and tastes. Instead of restaurants and movies, they had to sit quiet in the dark and meet each other in concealed places such as bars. Homosexuals were those with “mental and psychic abnormalities” and were the victim of medical prejudice, police harassment, and church condemnation (Jagose 24). The minuscule mention or assumption of one’s homosexuality could easily lead to the loss of family, livelihood, and sometimes even their lives. It was only after the Stonewall riots and the organization of gay/lesbian groups that times for homosexuals started to look brighter.

    Read More

  • Critical Race Theory And Labeling Theory Essay

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Critical Race Theory in education recognizes that Race and racism are prevalent and significant in the American school system. This particular theory has been used to understand the oppressive aspects of society based on race, culture and language in order to generate transformation in schools as well as in society (Sólorzano & Yosso, 2001).

    Read More

  • Oppression In Gilgamesh

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oppression; something that has been around since the beginning of time; Mesopotamia. It is a cruel trait that takes advantage of others for the advantage to conquer and attain a goal in one’s life. From one of the first known literary works “The Epic of Gilgamesh” to William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” Acts 1 and 2, the theme of oppression has been playing out in societies. In relating to these two stories through postcolonial theory we will look at different aspect of oppression. Oppression has shown it is one of a self-sustaining system of power that is used to dis-empower, disregard, silence, enslave and eventually could lead to death.

    Read More

  • Civil Rights: Gay and Lesbian Rights

    1395 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Community Cultural Wealth Theory Examples

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    “An array of knowledges, skills, abilities and contacts possessed and used by Communities of Color to survive and resist racism and other forms of oppression” encompasses the main idea of Community Cultural Wealth. It is vital to understand that students will step foot into the classroom with a variety of cultures zipped up in their backpacks, and it is our job as educators to make sure that equality is instilled/taught in our classrooms. The second a student feels a sense of discrimination, whether from ourselves or their fellow classmate(s), is when the safe and comforting environment of the classroom begins to diminish. Here I will discuss just how important it is to see the differences amongst students as an advantage

    Read More

  • Oppression

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    Oppression is this and so much more than what Ben Harper wrote in his song. Oppression is an unjust or cruel exercise or action of power. Everyone experiences oppression at least once in his or her lives. We have only recently begun to fight the effects of oppression, to gain freedom in our world. Oppression divides us to keep us from maintaining our freedom, what little of it we have. Oppression is completely based on hatred and preys on you when you sleep, or when you are at your lowest point. It kicks you when you are down, and pushes you further down the rabbit’s hole. It forces you to fight when you are the weakest and will take your very last breath. It takes one problem and snowballs until you can not take it anymore. We can learn to fight oppression, if we only make ourselves aware.

    Read More

  • LGBT Subculture

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bawer, Bruce. A Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society. New York: Poseidon, 1993. Print.

    Read More

More about Oppressing the LGBT Communities

Open Document