New Guns for the Same Bullets
Prejudice against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) group is not a new issue in today’s modern world. Thanks to many media sources like the “It gets better campaign,” there has been incredible work reaching out to support the LGBTQ community and educating all communities on why rights are being violated and why they should care. The vast growing use of the internet has created a major outlet of education on the LGBTQ for everyone to learn from; however where there is a great good being put into the world, there will always be a great evil along with it. These same opportunities afforded by new media are also becoming an outlet for the very prejudice that digital activists are trying to be abolished.
Why It Matters To Me
I have the same approach to this subject that actor Josh Hutcherson has with his group “Straight, But Not Narrow.” I am a straight male, but when my sister by bond is denied rights and opportunities, it affects me personally. When my best friend in middle school is physically bullied and malevolently taunted, I take it very personal. I grew up in New York City, so I have met, like many other New Yorkers, a wide variety of people. Many of those people were of the LGBT community. They were friends and family who needed my support. When I went to high school, one of my most influential teachers was lesbian. These people in my life have made me better. These people have supported me in many of my struggles and still do today. That is not say they would be less worthy of rights if they were not supportive of me; rather, that these are regular people that helped me become better versions of myself. They just so happen to be of the LGBTQ community. Why wouldn’t I support a group of people who are still denied rights to many parts of the country?
My Sister and I |
Statistics
“The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, a sexual orientation law and public policy think tank, estimates that 9 million (about 3.8%) of Americans identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (2011)” (Johnson para.1).
According to a timeline written up by a website called, “Info Please,” in 1924 (pre World War II) The Society for Human Rights in Chicago is known to be one of the United States’ earliest organizations that advocate for gay rights. It was only twenty-one years ago today, according to “Info Please” that in 1973 homosexuality was removed from the official mental disorders list by The American Psychiatric Association. According to the website, “Pro and Con,” sixteen states have legalized gay marriage since Massachusetts first did in May 17 of 2004. The seventieth state, Illinois has put forward legislation that will make gay marriage legal in Illinois as of June 1 of 2014. |
My 3 Digital Justice Programs
The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property’s (TFP) official website is titled, “10 Reasons Homosexual “Marriage” is Harmful and Must be Opposed.” In this article, they present ten reasons why marriage should only be with a man and a woman. Many of their reasoning is Catholic-based, and since there is a freedom of religion in this country, many of their reasonings are obsolete. However, they do make a very strategic move where they include reasoning that does not involve their religion to appeal to a wider audience than just Catholics. The reasoning given is written as so: “If homosexual “marriage” is universally accepted as the present step in sexual “freedom,” what logical arguments can be used to stop the next steps of incest, pedophilia, bestiality, and other forms of unnatural behavior?” They attempt to give a sociological perspective that a universal acceptance of homosexual marriage would be a gateway to acceptance of pedophilia and bestiality. While this might a very compelling argument to some, it could be interpreted as hyperbole and not taken seriously. They use a red, white, and blue color scheme and a website banner that includes the American flag. This is a use of ethos where they are associating themselves with the “American way”. These websites are creating anti-gay agendas onto the American people.
In February of 2014, actress Ellen Page came out as gay during a Human Right Campaign conference. While every reporter and news source was all over the story, a particular mainstream media source did something different. MTV’s journalist Emily Blake wrote a very simple and short article. Emily Blake utilized the article to mainly quote Ellen Page’s speech in several places. She included a video of the entire speech, and that was mostly it. MTV and Emily Blake focused every bit of attention to Ellen Page and the importance of what she did. There are no digital artworks or any sort of natural visually appealing effects. Emily Blake wrote an article that solely empowered the act that Ellen Page did that day.
One of the most aggressive anti-gay organizations today would be the Westboro Baptist Church. This organization relentlessly uses discriminating terms, malicious accusations, and many have commented on various social media sites to say evil disturbing things about the LGBTQ community. The level this group has gone to damn those in the LGBTQ community and their allies is befuddling; however, using YouTube, a man by the name of Brick Stone has responded. Brick Stone is a vlogger on YouTube who instead of bashing the group, mockingly interviews them, with satirical questions, and sexual innuendos. Brick Stone recognizes that there is enough hate being presented by the Westboro Baptist Church, so he instead creates a setting where it is okay to mock them and even laugh at them. Brick Stone makes the point that the Westboro Baptist Church has such little ethics that anything they say can be immediately dismissed as unimportant, untrue, and even possibly hysterical.
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These online media sources are viral and their messages are as well. This issue is far from over when the majority of the states are still opposed to same sex marriage and nine-million people are being outcasted. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and so on are creating outlets for this type of information to reach many, but there are now new guns with the same bullets.
Bibliography
· Blake, Emily. MTV. (14 February, 2014). “Ellen Page Comes Out As Gay”. <http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1722412/ellen-page-gay.jhtml>
· Info Please. (2013). “The American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline”. <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html>
· Johnson, Roman. About. “Gay Population Statistics: How Many Gay People Are There?”. <http://gaylife.about.com/od/comingout/a/population.htm>
· Pro and Con. “17 States with Legal Gay Marriage and 33 States with Same-Sex Marriage Bans”. <http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857>
· Stone, Brick. YouTube. “Playlist: Westboro Baptist Church Hates Me”. <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpzHVVCHZMM08wdJa8Uv_A9egnso1lc0S >
· TFP Student Action. “10 Reasons Why Homosexual “Marriage” is Harmful and Must be Opposed”
<http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/politically-incorrect/homosexuality/10-reasons-why-homosexual-marriage-is-harmful-and-must-be-opposed.html>
· Blake, Emily. MTV. (14 February, 2014). “Ellen Page Comes Out As Gay”. <http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1722412/ellen-page-gay.jhtml>
· Info Please. (2013). “The American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline”. <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html>
· Johnson, Roman. About. “Gay Population Statistics: How Many Gay People Are There?”. <http://gaylife.about.com/od/comingout/a/population.htm>
· Pro and Con. “17 States with Legal Gay Marriage and 33 States with Same-Sex Marriage Bans”. <http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857>
· Stone, Brick. YouTube. “Playlist: Westboro Baptist Church Hates Me”. <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpzHVVCHZMM08wdJa8Uv_A9egnso1lc0S >
· TFP Student Action. “10 Reasons Why Homosexual “Marriage” is Harmful and Must be Opposed”
<http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/politically-incorrect/homosexuality/10-reasons-why-homosexual-marriage-is-harmful-and-must-be-opposed.html>