FREE ESSAY ON SOCIAL MOVEMENTS- GAY RIGHTS

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS- GAY RIGHTS

The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More
accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling
of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change
existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that
the gay world was a community, distinctly organized (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly
out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World
War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began
to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them,
as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many
state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged
local police forces to harass gay citizens. Vice officers regularly raided gay bars,
sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night (Milestones). In spite of
the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including
leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of
time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the homophile (Milestones)
movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory
policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most
crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July
27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted
three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Riots, including the appearance of
numerous gay power signs. Almost overnight, a massive movement had begun, with
participants enthusiastically joining in.
By 1973, there were almost eight hundred gay and lesbian organizations in the United
States; by 1990, the number was several thousand. By 1970, 5,000 gay men and lesbians
marched in New York City to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots; in
October 1987, over 600,000 marched in Washington, to demand equality (Milestones)
Over the next two decades, half the states decriminalized homosexual behavior, and police
harassment grew less frequent and obvious to the public. Also in 1975, it became legal
for gays to hold federal jobs. However all this headway also made room for more
opposition. In 1977, Anita Bryant was so successful at obtaining a repeal of a recent gay
ordinance in her home state of Florida that by 1980, a league of anti gay clubs had come
together to make a force, led in part by Jesse Helms. The AIDS scare that began in the
eighties did not help the gay image either, but more citizens joined their ranks in order
to combat the oppression and fund a search for the cure, so in the end it actually made
the movement stronger. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2000), by 1999,
the anti-sodomy laws of 32 states had been repealed, and in 1996 Vermont granted its gay
citizens the right to same sex marriages. Gay rights has come a long way as a social
movement, and though it still has a long way to go, it makes a good topic to analyze the
process of the social movement.
The establishment that the social movement fights against in this case is the predisposed
beliefs of American people, and a way of life that has been unchanged for a long time.
There are of course establishments with anti-gay agendas, but the real challenge for the
gays in finding acceptance has always been convincing people that they are human too. The
standard belief that most Americans have had throughout history is that being gay is not
only immoral, but also not normal, and sac religious (Olinger). Many people believe that
being gay is a disease and should be treated, while others believe it is just sin, and
that they should be punished. There is no one establishment in this situation, but only a
large group of American citizens who do not understand the issue they are being faced
with. 
However, the goal of the gay rights movement is very clear. They want equality, much in
the same way that African Americans and women have wanted it in the past. Many gays
rights organizations have applied for the legality of same sex marriages in all fifty
states. Also, their fight is about protection from laws that once held them down. They
want to be protected by the police, not harassed by them. In the end, the ideology of the
gay rights movement is much like that of any civil rights movement. They believe that
they are equal and deserve to be treated as such, regardless of sexual orientation.
The agitators in the gay rights movement oppose the current system laterally, in that
they want to completely change the existing value system. Leaders in the gay rights
movement have issued several tactics in which they wish to gain acceptance in the general
public, to be seen as normal. (Olinger) One thing that they do is try and deemphasize
actual gay behavior in public, and try and get others to see them as normal people first,
not gay, which would automatically separate them. This is known as the plain folks
tactic. This is important because for people to listen to a persuasive message, they must
feel as if they can relate to the message, and they cannot do that if cannot relate to
the person relaying that message. Another tactic used is a sort of name-calling. Gay
rights activists refer to those who oppose them as homophobes, a term which implies an
irrational fear of some sort, or ignorance. This in turn makes opponents of gay rights
irrational, and therefore their opinions do not merit attention. The truth or relative
value of arguments is thereby completely sidestepped, and the issue becomes one of
emotion: the winner is the one who makes the most noise (Olinger). A third strategy used
by activists is liking. Gay rights activists consistently use well known gay celebrities
to deliver a message in hopes that their popularity will lead to a more wide spread
acceptance of the message. Take, for example, Ellen Degeneres, on her TV show Ellen. Many
of her shows discussed her sexual orientation in hopes that talking about it openly, as
well as using her as the source of the message would bring the public to greater
awareness. Also, artists like Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls play concerts for
Gay Rights Activism yearly.
One strategy used by the Establishment is the authority approach, using the Bible as the
main authority on the way we live our lives. They maintain that the Bible states that it
is a sin to be gay and that God does not condone it, so therefore neither should we.
Another tactic employed by the establishment is name calling. By referring to homosexuals
as fags or miscreants or sinners, people join the two terms until they are thought of as
one. The negative connotation these words carry is designed to turn people off from gay
culture. A third practice that the establishment employs is the theory of consistency.
The beliefs we carry throughout our lives are in large part handed down to us from our
parents and theirs, and our beliefs will in large part be transferred to our children.
The only thing we've ever known is the belief that homosexuality is wrong, so therefore
it must be correct. To change would require too large a leap from our original anchor
points or beliefs, so we assume that it is not correct, and continue believing the way we
did before.
The Gay Rights Movement has brought the idea and acceptance of homosexuals in American
Culture a very long way in the last thirty years or so. However, those who accept
homosexuality or those who encourage it are still the minority in comparison, and so,
there is a long way to go still before homosexuality is considered completely normal and
gays are treated just like everyone else. The great uprising of people has already come
and gone, and now the movement is in the maintenance stage, where it does not get much
media attention anymore. That could be the best way to go for the Movement though, as
their goal all along has been to blend in and be treated like everyone else. How better
to do that than to not draw attention to one's self.