Analysis on Background Information

The topic that I wrote about was gays and lesbians. The articles that I read about for journal responses were about the bowers vs. Hardwick (1986), marriage rights, Harvey milk, the stonewall riots, don’t ask don’t tell policy, gay rights, and gay and lesbian rights. These articles were all about how gay rights have become a higher importance today. In the 70’s and 80’s gay and lesbians were never talked about and when they were talked about they were referred to as people who had a disease, because there had to have been something wrong with them if they liked someone of the same-sex. These people who thought that gays had a disease or mental disorder had begun the controversy that was holding back the government from giving the homosexuals their rights. The first example of when gays and lesbians banded together and took action for what they wanted was the Stonewall riots. The stonewall riots took place at a place called the stonewall inn. The gay man was not allowed to be in the bar because there was already another gay man in the bar. The homosexuals thought that this was wrong, so they all banded together and protested outside of the inn. This rioting marks the week of gay pride week. Gay pride week has grown from 10,000 people marching to hundreds of thousands to millions. The stonewall riots brought notice to the mistreatment of homosexuals. As people started to take notice of the gays other issues came about, like allowing gays and lesbians to marry, everyday rights, and the right to be who they were in the army. Men like Harvey Milk who was a man in a place of government, used his status to bring notice to the unfairness that homosexuals had to deal with in everyday rights. Then there is the case of Bowers vs. Hardwick where a man named Hardwick was trying to not get convicted of the anti-sodomy laws made for gays that he broke with his partner. The argument that defended this case in court was that for straight people there were anti-sodomy laws so why were there laws for gays and lesbians? Many cases were brought up in court about the anti-sodomy laws and then that started to develop into the main focus that gays are fighting for today which is marriage rights. If American society stopped looking at gays and lesbians as people who had a problem and started looking at them as normal people, then we wouldn’t have this many problems in society today. Americans are always stereotyping people, from Jews to blacks to just normal people that they see on the street. The stereotypes that Americans have put on homosexuals are derogatory and are affecting how the government makes decisions on gay rights. People are afraid that if they give the gays what they want then they will have to give all of the similar minorities the same rights. And they also feel that if they don’t give the gays what they want that they will just go back to being invisible and disappear for awhile. Whether those people around them accept gays or not, they won’t go back to being invisible, if anything changes, they will only become more present, and less invisible.

Analysis on Literature

The book that I read is called “Am I Blue?”, and the short story that I read was called “Three Mondays in July.” The story is about a young man who feels that he is a homosexual, but he keeps quiet about it because of the society that he lives in today would not except him. He then meets a man who tells him that “just remember one thing-you’re not alone.” The idea that this story wants to convey is that there are people all over who are homosexuals and they feel uncomfortable in their own skin because being a homosexual is frowned upon in society. The book is trying to show that society needs to be accepting and loving of people, because even though someone may be different they are still a human. The perspective that the author took in writing this short story or the entire book itself, was to show that society is pushing gay and lesbian people aside and forcing them to become invisible, and they are so worried about the issue that they use it in a derogatory sense. The author points out in the story called “Am I Blue” that “straights are helpless at it. They’re always assuming someone is or isn’t for all the wrong reasons.” In the story the author tries to show that any person could be a homosexual, and that they could have the same interests, job, and similar lifestyle as someone who could be against it. The main message of the entire book is that homosexuals live among us, and whether people who want to recognize it or not, they could very well be someone you know, or the person that you least expect. In the story I am blue there is a little boy and his fairy godmother changed all of the gay people blue, to show the kid that he was not alone in the world. The child saw “the fat guy who ran the grocery store, looked like a giant blueberry – which surprised me, because he was married and had three kids. On the other hand, my Thomayke, the librarian, who everyone knew was a lesbian, didn’t have a trace of blue on her.” Society stereotypes gays as being graphic, and very open about sexual behavior, they slur their words, and they walk funny. All of these stereotypes have lead straight people to believe that other people are homosexuals when they are not. When stereotypes are created about a certain type of person, everyone characterizes them as being that stereotype. They wouldn’t just walk weird they have to be gay, they couldn’t have a speech problem they have to be gay. But really the gay person is the “normal” person who the judging people would never suspect.

Analysis on Current Events

These four articles that I wrote about were about gay marriage and whether it should be legalized or not. There has been a lot of controversy about this topic and this is what the article tries to convey. The topic of gay marriage is being debated all over the country. The voting is always a very close call from 38 to 28 or 24 to 20 to legalize gay marriage in there state. Most of the states that have legalized gay marriage have taken back that law at some point and have it be illegal again. The big discussion on whether to legalize the marriage between homosexuals is that it will affect children who will be raised by two homosexual parents. Another topic that people worry about with legalizing same-sex marriage is that we have to then give rights to polygamy (marring more than one person). The problem that people think will affect the children is that if they see that their parents are homosexuals then will that trigger them into being one too? And the government doesn’t want to legalize polygamy or many other things like that. The people who are against legalizing gay marriage are afraid that monogamy (being married to one person) won’t be the normal thing any longer, that everyone will be gay and be married to more than one person at a time (polygamy). Many people who are for legalizing gay marriage have a positive outlook on the debate. They think about how, “who remembers the outcome of the scopes trial? Evolution lost the battle, though it has largely carried the day," they believe that even though the world may not be ready for gay marriage now it won’t disappear and that it will be brought up again when more people are ready to except it. People are scared of accepting new ideas and change. They are afraid that if we legalize something as big as gay marriage that our society will change, and in their minds, not in the good way.

"The Massachusetts Ruling Endorsing Gay Marriage Is Misguided" - in favor

This article is about how deciding whether gay marriage should be legalized or not is up to the courts. The writer believes that gay marriages should be legalized and that doing so will cause no harm to society. the argument is that bringing up a child in a gay household will create an unstable environment in the country. But this article states that "it would bring stability, respectability, and legal benefits of marriage to millions of children who are already being raised by gay and lesbian couples." i think that this is a great point to make, because what about the children who are already being raised by same-sex couples, do they have anyone who is supporting their side. the article is implying that if the government votes in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage then it could only benefit the country and not harm it. the article points out that the courts are worried that if they sign something about legalizing gay marriage then that will directly effect the endorsement of polygamy (being married to more then one person) and adult incest (relationships with people who are closely related). the person in the article so plainly points out that there are all of these restrictions on gay relationships and punishments, but there are no such punishments or restrictions on heterosexual relationships.

http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252C%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528su%252CNone%252C16%2529For%2Bgay%2Bmarriage%2524&contentSet=GSRC&sort=Relevance&tabID=T010&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=DISPLAY_SUBJECTS&prodId=OVRC&searchId=R3&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=deer63488&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28ke%2CNone%2C16%29For+gay+marriage%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=EJ3010310214&docType=GSRC

"Same-Sex Marriage Opens the Door for Legalizing Polygamy" - Against

This article talks about how Legalizing same-sex marriages is the wrong thing to do. It talks about how that if we legalize gay marriage that will eventually lead to polygamy (being married to more then one person) being legalized. The person who wrote the article believes that marriage is a social institution, and that stable families are created and depend on it. they also believe that gay marriages will lead to ruin the stable families and create many issues later on. They believe that gay marriages will corrupt children and create unstable families, and children need stable families. The media is showing or telling people that if they are against same-sex marriages that they are homophobes (people who are afraid of homosexuals). the main point the the writer is trying to convey is that "gay marriage will almost certainly weaken the belief that monogamy lies at the heart of marriage." This person is worried that gay marriage will some how blur lines about what they believe is right and wrong. That gay marriage wont be seen as Gay Marriage, but rather as just a marriage between two people. the article is saying that if we as a country give into gay marriage being legalized, then that is just the beginning to many more issues with polygamy, and many other topics alike.

http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252C%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528su%252CNone%252C12%2529Gay%2Bmarriage%2524&contentSet=GSRC&sort=Relevance&tabID=T010&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=DISPLAY_SUBJECTS&prodId=OVRC&searchId=R2&currentPosition=2&userGroupName=deer63488&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28ke%2CNone%2C12%29Gay+marriage%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=EJ3010547208&docType=GSRC

"Gay Marriage Rests, and a Key Ruling Awaits"

This article is about the ruling of gay marriage becoming legal. The idea that the article is talking about is that when and if the court decides on legalizing gay marriage, during that time they want to work on getting the supreme court and every other higher power involved and on their side of getting same-sex marriages legalized. The problem with legalizing gay marriage is that there are still so many people who are against it. in the article it states that "The Southern Baptist Convention describes homosexuality as an 'abomination,'". If this is the opinion of all of the south or a large part of it gay marriage will never be legalized. then the article goes on to talk about how the lawyers who are on the case right now are going to try and convince the courts that the prohibitions against gay marriage is illegal under the constitution. the point that i thought was the best one in the article was when a person stated "who remembers the outcome of the scopes trial? Evolution lost the battle, though it has largely carried the day,". i think this is a great point in the article because it shows that even though people may disagree about the same-sex marriages being legal, this quote is saying that those relationships that people are so desperately trying to get rid of will still exist. If something goes wrong with the legalization of gay marriage nothing will change from what it is today, gays and lesbians will still exist, and civil unions will still go on. So if nothing will change from what is already going on today, then why can society not come to terms with what IS happening. America sees a change ahead so why not speed up the process?

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1957505,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

Short Story Response; "Three Mondays in July"

In the book "Am I Blue", I read a story called "Three Mondays in July". This short story was about a young boy who was unsure of his sexuality, but in the time that he lived he thought it better to keep this unsureness to himself. When one day he met a man named Allen who had the same questions that he did and he gave the boy named David some advice, "Just remember one thing - You're not alone"(24) i think that this is some of the best advice that another person can give to someone else when they are unsure about something in there life that is life changing. When David had thoughts that he might be gay he thought that he should keep it to himself because he thought that he was the only person that would understand, and that everyone else in the world would see him as a weirdo or something. When Allen said to him that he was not alone in the world, and that other people had some of the same feelings that David was having, i think that David began to feel a little more comfortable with himself. i think that because david thought that "he had a sense of fulfillment, of profound satisfaction...and maybe for the first time he didn't feel so alone." i think that this story is very powerful in the sense that there will always bee someone out there who understands what you are going through, and that everyone needs someone who supports them and is there for them when they need them the most.