The Evolution of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People - Research Paper Example

? LGBT community Evolution: lesbianism and homosexuality Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people have gone through an enduring journey as they struggled to achieve equality and ample civil rights in their societies. The concept of gay and lesbian sexual orientation finds its foundations in the very ancient civilizations. However, not many of the past historical events have affected liberty, interests and rights of bisexual, gay and lesbians as much as the incidents of the post-1960 era and therefore events which took place before the 1960’s do not contribute much to this debate. Although, there existed the term ‘bisexual’ and also the people who openly lived as bisexuals before the 1960’s, a properly patterned identification on the basis of this sexual orientation did not take its inception until after Stonewall was founded in 1989. According to Lillian Faderman, “lesbianism has no constants”, signifying the essential function it has played in the recent development of other-than-ordinary sexual orientation roles - of lesbianism - in the social world. (Faderman 1991) The bisexual movement, in turn, takes its roots from this feminism and lesbianism. (Beemyn et al 1996) The evolution of same-sex desires and the willingness to correlate with a person of the same gender largely links its roots to women rather than men. Although men have been closely linked to the bisexual liberation movement since its inception, most of the smaller bisexual groups have been in the past, and currently as well, led by women. These women also include those who were once identified as lesbian feminists. This difference signifies the way lesbianism was largely politicized within the feminist movement. Such politicization has not occurred in the gay male culture neither has male bisexuality been as politically problematic to gay men as female bisexuality has been to female homosexuals. The Growth of the LGBT Community Ten years after the famous Stonewall incident, in 1979, a coalition which was termed as the Moral Majority was formed by traditional and fundamentalist Christians, with their endeavors headed at the increasing popularity and growth of the LGBT community. The objective of setting up the coalition was to bring the religious beliefs of the constituent groups under a single political alliance. The essential and most significant point on the coalition’s agenda was to restrict the protection of rights of the bisexual, gay and lesbian community and families. Although the Moral majority dissolved in the fall of 1989, it resulted in many new political-religious groups and organizations being formed in the following two decades. American Family Association, American Centre for Law and Justice, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and the Traditional Values Coalition were the ones prominent among these. Gay men and lesbians worked together again during the AIDS crisis in late 1980’s and 1990’s when they endeavored to gain rights for the LGBT community and struggled to obtain federal recognition and financial support for HIV and AIDS. Many voluntary AIDS-specific organizations such as San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Gay Men’s Health Crisis were set up during that time. The continued endeavor resulted in the second national demonstrative walk in Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on 11th October 1987. A memorial to the people who died of AIDS was displayed at the National Museum on the following weekend. It covered an area larger than a football pitch and included 1920 panels. Two days later, what followed was perhaps the “the largest civil disobedience ever held at the US Supreme Court”, when nearly 600 Lesbian, gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals were detained by the police. As of July 2007, Massachusetts was the only state which did not prohibit same-sex marriage. Civil amalgamations were present in Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New Jersey whereas in California, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Maine, Washington, Hawaii and numerous towns and cities, registration for the domestic partnership was allowed for same-sex couples. But laws and statutes in none of these stated or cities provided benefits to the LGBT community at federal level, such as the eligibility to file joint income tax returns, social protection etc. This was because the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defined marriage as a union of a man and a woman, thus excluding same-sex marriages from the legal definition of marital bonding. DOMA was passed in 1996 and allowed authority for all states of America to refuse to recognize the homosexual marriages which took place in other states. A milestone: Stonewall A small team of men and women who had been energetic in the fight against Section 28 of the Local Government Act instituted Stonewall in 1989. The Section was perceived as being offensive because it was designed to restrain encouragement of homosexuality – gay and lesbian sexual orientation – in schools and colleges. Section 28 electrified the gay people as well as their locally set up identity groups and communities as a whole. The basic aim of setting up such a group was to protect the gay, lesbian and bisexual persons from such attacks on their rights and equality status in the future. Stonewall - which now controls offices in Scotland, Wales as well as England - has subsequently emerged as a group which has equality as its conventional political agenda. Amongst the vast list of accomplishments of Stonewall is the lifting of the ban on the gay, lesbian and bisexual people to get inducted into military, the equalization of the age of consent, the passing of legislation which allowed the adoption right to the same-sex couples and the repealing of the ‘offensive’ Section 28. Also, Stonewall collaborates with an extensive range of agencies in the attempt to address the needs of gay, lesbian and bisexual groups and individuals in the wider society. Stonewall’s Education for All campaign acts as an aid in educating students at schools regarding the negativity of homophobia and homophobic bullying at schools. Also, Stonewall has made a coalition with a number of groups outside Parliament to ensure that the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people are discussed in a bigger scenario of the society. Speaking of the awareness programs, Stonewall has contributed even more. Regular guides given to the employees as well as employers help them get aware of the changes in employment rules, legislatives and regulations regarding sexual orientation in order to protect the minority sexually oriented identity groups and individuals. In 2003, Stonewall was granted a charitable status. Stonewall raises money from the donations and sponsorships as well as through fundraiser events organized by it. Stonewall is also a member of the Equality and Diversity Forum, an association of national organizations which have their commitment to advancement on gender, age, race, disability, religion, belief as well as on sexual orientation problems. (Stonewall.Org.Uk) Also very relevant to the current discussion is, and perhaps the event which played the most vital role in the founding of the Stonewall charity organization, the famous incident which took place at Stonewall. In June 1969, the local police force raided the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village near New York. Stonewall Inn was a prominent gay men bar as it was the only bar which did not prohibit dancing. The Stonewall Inn attracted widely a diverse masculine clientele and mostly younger gay men in particular. At that time, the establishment and conducting of business of the gay bars was illegal in New York and bars like Stonewall Inn were operated underground by the owners largely by the paying of bribe to policemen who came to search for such places. There are many versions of the story of what actually happened at the Stonewall Inn in 1969 with some people suggesting the event as part of the cleaning up of the city campaign by the newly elected Mayor John Lindsay, whereas some see it as laying off hands by the local policemen on the Stonewall Inn, claiming it to be their territory. The clients, rather surprisingly, protested and retaliated against the raid which later turned into larger riots and protests on the streets of Greenwich Village, and which lasted for more than two long days. The streets during the violent protests and demonstrations portrayed the view of a battlefield, with constant fights between the gay protestors and the policemen. Well, whatever actually happened then, the remarkable part of the event was that homosexual individuals emerged for the first time as a united force, when they decided to take the issues in their own hands and retaliated. This prominent event later became perhaps the catalyzing force which further drove and strengthened the homosexual movement for the protection of their rights and interests and the demand for equality. As Kimmel recalls the initial riot date as Independence Day for lesbian and gay individuals, the stonewall riots indeed acted as a turning point in the entire history of gay and lesbian people who now looked for a major social reform benefitting them. Before the Stonewall incident, gay patrons easily accepted raids and arrests, but this was the first time they had reacted violently and with hostility. (Kimmel et al 2004) The Legislative impact on the LGBT community Many law reforms as well as prominent court decisions have taken place in the last couple of decades most of which have resulted in the increased strength of the LGBT community. This is the reason why it now has much greater rights than it used to have during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Some prominent judicial cases in this era are Hernandez vs Robles, Brown vs Board of Education, Braschi vs Stahl Associates, Nabozny vs Podlesny, Romer vs Evans and Baehr vs Lewin. These court cases formed the foundation of the strengthened LGBT community of the modern era as they declared decisions affecting same-sex marriages and their recognition, and the rights and interests of, as well as discrimination among, LGBT people on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. (Ball 2010) One of the major legislative reforms in the United Kingdom affecting the LGBT community and families was the enactment of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. The Regulations provided that any discrimination among employees by employers on the grounds of sexual orientation, perceived sexual orientation, age, religion, or belief was prohibited. (Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003) In the United States, efforts have been and are currently being made to afford increased protection of rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Through civil rights movements, domestic partnership registries and hate crime laws (laws protecting victims who are victimized because of their membership in or association to a certain social or ethnic group), local LGBT groups are forcing their respective cities and states to ensure protection of the interests of the lesbian, transgender and gay people. According to 1999 Legistating Equality, 11 states and the district of Columbia have enforced laws against the discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the public employment sector. Eighteen states and the district of Columbia prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in private sector of employment in the country. (Van, . M. W., & National Gay and Lesbian Task Force US 2000) Although civil rights protection movements at state and federal level are of significant importance, these movements at the local and municipal level have proved to be the best safeguard of interests of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender families, community and individuals. According to 1999 Legislating Equality, there were over 100 cities and 18 countries which did not allow discrimination on sexual orientation grounds in the private employment via their respective local anti-discrimination laws. (Van, . M. W., & National Gay and Lesbian Task Force US 2000) As of today, in the United States, same-sex marriages and marital bonding between homosexual individuals is recognized only at the state level. This is because the national law, Defense of Marriage Act explicitly excludes same-gender marriages from the legal definition of marriage. However, many states of the US over the last two decades enacted laws and statutes which now recognize the same-sex couples and provide for the protection of their rights as equally as for those of the heterosexual people in the state. Over these last twenty years, the LGBT community has managed to push the state governments of many of the American states to conduct voting in the Upper and Lower Houses as well as via the state-wide referendum. Moreover, laws regarding transgender people have also been enacted recently, for instance, permission has been given to transgender people, or those who have gone through or are to go through the sex change operation, to enter into military. Moreover, the rising recognition of homosexuality as a basic gender identity and the acceptance and acknowledgment of same-sex marriages in the US has led the spark to expand to Canada and Australia as well. Increasing debates have started to take place in these nations as well, and this fact signifies the importance of homosexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender and bisexual people as a recognized social community group and marks the admitting of theirs as a valid gender identity by the world today. References: Mizrahi, T., & Davis, L. E. (2008). The encyclopedia of social work. Washington, DC: NASW Press. Faderman, L. (1991). Odd girls and twilight lovers—A history of lesbian life in twentieth-century AmericaPenguin. New York. In Beemyn, B., & In Eliason, M. (1996). Queer studies: A lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender anthology. New York: New York University Press. Van, . M. W., & National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (U.S.). (2000). Legislating equality: A review of laws affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people in the United States. New York: Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 About us. (n.d.). stonewall.org.uk. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.stonewall.org.uk/about_us/ Kimmel, M. S., & Aronson, A. (2004). Men and masculinities: A social, cultural, and historical encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Ball, C. A. (2010). From the closet to the courtroom: Five LGBT rights lawsuits that have changed our nation. Boston: Beacon Press. Read More