Second Response to Blog

The second project that I looked at was Zach's presentation on Immigration. I thought it was so interesting because I never knew how much heated debate this issue was causing. I knew it was an issue in our government and people are separated on it but people in America are so sensitive to this issue. There was one video in his presentation that really got to me. It showed to men talking about an illegal immigrant who was accused of manslaughter because he was drunk driving. One of the men was saying that this man needs to be deported because of what he did and that he doesn't have a right to be in this country. The other man was talking about how this isn't an issue of illegal immigration, it's about a completely different issue of drunk driving and has nothing to do with whether he should stay in the country. I really liked his argument because he showed that these immigrants are people first and we shouldn't be treating them like cattle. People in this country are taking the issue a little too far. Some were complaining because hispanic people in Springfield are "taking up space" in a public park. One man said that if it were up to him, he would keep all the illegal immigrants in confinement and then ship them all back to Mexico. In my opinion, this kind of narrow-minded thinking is what is causing the cultural deprivation going on in this country. People put stereotypes on all hispanic people, thinking they are automatically illegal. I was more interested in the moral part of it. It just seems like if people were more accepting and open to it, there would be less debate and less hatred.

First Response to Blog

I watched colleen's final presentation and I thought it was very interesting. Education is such a huge issue in this country and it affects everyone. I didn't know that segregation had a big impact on the issue of low-income education. Not much has changed since the civil rights movement when blacks were offered "separate but equal" rights as the whites. They were offered the same things but those rights were certainly not equal and this affected the school system as well. The blacks were denied the same quality education the whites were given so they were forced to have low-income jobs and live in low-income housing. The education system has affected almost everything in this country. The video she made talked about the differences today of schools with more minorities as opposed to schools with a majority of whites. The differences were shocking to me and it upset me because this issue still isn't resolved. I liked how she focused on the racial issue in education. I never thought about that aspect of it and it put a really interesting perspective on it for me. When she said "It is not that each person in America needs to have the same knowledge, but the same opportunity to have the knowledge needs to be offered. America currently does not offer that" it made so much sense to me. Equal education is not about each child being equally knowledgable, its about giving each child the same opportunities to be educated. To be successful in this country, you must have a formal education. Shouldn't every child in America be given the equal opportunity to be successful? America is known as the land of opportunity, not the land of opportunity only for privlaged people. This was such an interesting topic and it made me want to know more and research it even further.

Works Cited

1. Denizet-Lewis, Benoit, Charles Murray, and Susie Buffett. "Coming Out in Middle School." New York Times Magazine 27 Sep 2009: 36. SIRS Researcher. Web. 03 February 2010.


2."don't ask, don't tell policy." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .


3."gay rights." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .


4."National Gay and Lesbian Task Force." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

5. Noreen S Ahmed-Ullah. "Gay rights effort spurs an uproar in Oak Park :How much should kids be taught about same-sex relationships? In a diverse suburb, a dispute rages. " Chicago Tribune 7 Feb. 2010,Chicago Tribune, ProQuest. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

6. Lipkin, Arthur. "Children Should Be Taught in School to Understand Homosexuality." Opposing Viewpoints: Homosexuality. Ed. Cindy Bily. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 22 Feb. 2010 .

7. "Stonewall riots." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb.2010. .

Current Events Analytical Essay

At the AMA’s in November, Adam Lambert gave a very graphic performance, including him kissing one of the dancers and simulating oral sex on stage. This occurrence immediately became a very heated topic and created a lot of controversy. His invitation to sing on “Good Morning America” was rescinded. According to him, his performance was no more vulgar than what female artists do all the time in their performances. For example, Lady Gaga, at the AMA’s threw beer bottles on stage and Britney spears wears revealing outfits in all of her performances. Most of their actions on stage go unacknowledged and unpunished. The reason Adam Lambert’s performance brought up so much controversy was that it was a representation of homosexuality and that was offensive to many people. For those who spoke out against his performance, their argument was that there were children watching and it was too inappropriate. This seems a little hypocritical because if they were really worried about what their kids were watching on T.V., they wouldn’t let them watch at all. This event stood out to me because it seemed that this was a double standard not only for men and women but also for gay people and straight people. Lambert’s actions were open and very sexual but not any more than what most women do on stage. This was one example of the gay and lesbian movement breaking the silence. Before the 1960s, gay rights were not protected under the constitution. After much hard work and a very long struggle, most of their rights are protected but what about in pop culture? Why is it not okay for gays and lesbians to be open on television? This shows how much improvement our society needs to make in handling this issue.
Another issue that is being brought up today is the question of whether or not schools should be teaching students about homosexuality in health class. There are many benefits to having kids learn about gays and lesbians in schools. First of all, those children who are homosexual might feel less isolated and insecure about who they are because they learn that it is not wrong to like someone of the same sex. Another benefit of teaching about homosexuality is that there would be a huge decrease in ridicule and hate crimes against homosexuals in high school and middle school. Children would be more open-minded about the issue and more tolerant of people who are different. The opposing idea is that if parents believe homosexuality is morally wrong and sinful, they would be undermined by the school system and it could get confusing for kids who are hearing opposite views on the same topic. This argument is based on an idea that schools will be teaching kids that homosexuality is right and should be tolerated in society. What the teachers would actually be doing is giving kids the facts about gays and lesbians that it is not a choice; it is just sexual preference and doesn’t define a person. Children don’t deserve to be manipulated even if it is by their parents. The schools have a responsibility to give kids all the facts so they can form their own, educated opinions.

Literary Analytical Essay

The short story “Rain” by Christina Chiu is about a 17 year old chinese girl (narrator) who is talking about her sister Rain. When they were young, they were inseperable They shared everything together. As they grew older and went through middle school, Rain was always the one getting straight A’s while the narrator was not. This caused the twins to grow apart and to stop talking altogether. Their parents were very strict about grades and boys and getting into college. They gave Rain an ice cream every time she got straight A’s on her report card. The narrator was furious with her parents and decided to rebel by getting a boyfried who she sneaks out to every night and stop caring about her grades in school. It seemed so easy for Rain to do well in school. She got a scholarship to college. Her only friend was her best friend Jade with whom she went every where.
One night, the narrator was sneaking out as usual and when she was outside, she saw Rain kissing someone in a baseball cap. The narrator was so shocked by this at first but then was even more stunned by the fact that this boy she was kissing was actually Rain’s friend jade. That whole night, while the narrator was with her boyfriend, she was thinking about why Rain hadn’t just told her about it. Not only was she surprised that Rain was a lesbian, but she was also confused why Rain wouldn’t tell her. She understood why Rain wouldn’t tell their parents. They were conservative chinese people who weren’t even okay with them having boyfriends. The narrator became disappointed in herself because she thought that it was something she did that caused Rain to keep it a secret.
This connects to the gay and lesbian issue for the obvious reason but also because it talks about the idea of having to keep one’s identity a secret in fear of not being accepted in society. Rain was so ashamed of who she was that it meant having to live a completely separate life, away from her family. This adds a personal viewpoint on the issue because for someone who didn’t go through that, they might not understand why gays and lesbians feel invisible all the time or why there is a day of silence every year. This story teaches that this issue is something that affects society as a whole but also effects individuals on a very intimate level. This story also connects to the idea of being the perfect child. Rain was expected to be the perfect student and get a scholarship to college. There was so much pressure from her parents and her teachers that she felt they wouldn’t unerstand her lesbianism or maybe not even care. This shows that being a lesbian doesn’t define a person. She was still a good student and a good person but was ashamed of that part of her because of the standards people set.

Background Information Analytical Essay

From the articles on the history of the gay and lesbian issue, it seems that this issue wasn’t brought up or fought over until the late 1960s. In fact, on January 27, 1969 the stonewall riots occurred which was the turning point for the gay and lesbian movement to fight for their rights. These riots occurred at a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. Up until then, police had been raiding different gay bars all over big cities because of prejudices that were going around about gay people. Before the Stonewall riots, people in the bars were compliant and never resisted arrest. At Stonewall, people were resisting by throwing bottles and fighting back which resulted in four police officers dead. This event is so significant in our history that cities all around the U.S. have the gay pride march every year to commemorate it. This event also represents liberation for the gay population. They were forced to be silent for so long about their identity and this even was their breaking point. It was the time for them to just say “enough” to all the discrimination and hate crimes.
Another event that greatly affected gays and lesbians in our country was the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy created by President Bill Clinton to allow gays and lesbians into the military. This policy stated that gays were not allowed to talk about their sexuality and people were not allowed to ask. Discussion on their sexuality would result in their removal from the military. This was a good short term fix for the issue but in the long run it only created more discrimination against gay people. Clinton’s intentions were good because it allowed gays to enter into the military but it also forced them to keep their true identity a secret. This was another example of the silence they had to endure to fit into the standards of society. This policy clearly violates the constitution. It violates the citizen’s right to freedom of speech. It limited people to what they could talk about. Laws are supposed to be made to secure the civil rights for every individual living in the United States. Not only did this law not do that but it also created more hatred and discrimination toward specific individuals.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is an organization committed to ending all discrimination and acts of hate towards homosexuals. It emerged in the 1970s in New York. One of its first acts as an organization was that they removed homosexuality from the APA’s declared mental disorders. This fact just shows how close minded people were back then. This idea was so foreign to them that they decided it must be some kind of disorder like depression or multiple personality, that needs to be treated by medication.

This article is about the discussion in congress about abolishing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that was implemented in 1993 by President Clinton. Members of congress who were (at the time) for the policy have now changed their minds saying that allowing gays to be open in the military would be the right thing to do. "The nation's top uniformed officer said Tuesday that he supports allowing gays to serve openly in the military, providing a powerful voice of support for President Obama's call to lift the legal ban on their service." Top officers in the military are acknowledging the issue saying that the policy is only causing more controversy within the military. In my opinion, it is violating the right to freedom of speech. The policy was restricting normal conversation and limiting what people were allowed to reveal about themselves. To me, that is a clear violation of their rights as citizens. I do not like this policy at all because it only enforced and encouraged silence within the gay population This was yet another way to keep homosexuality out of our culture. Finally authority figures are beginning to realize that we cannot fight the gay culture anymore. Either we embrace this change and give them the rights they deserve or fall victim to an eternal struggle in society. The "dont ask, dont tell" policy was not a "compromise". It was just another way to put off dealing with the issue.

This article is about Adam Lambert's performance at the American Music Awards in November. Appararently his performance was very graphic, including him kissing one of his male dancers and simulating oral sex on stage. This immediately became a controversial topic and Lambert's invitation to sing on "Good Morning America" was rescinded. According to him, his performance was no worse than what most women do on stage for their performances such as Lady Gaga or Britney Spears. Most of their vulgar actions go unacknowlegded and unpunished. The only reason his performance became such an issue was because it was a gay man doing it. It is very unusual to see gay actions on television nowadays because it is such a heated issue. "But while gay sexuality is discussed and joked about plenty, rarely are the gay characters shown having sex or kissing passionately." This is another example of the silence gays are forced to adhere to in order to fit into the standards of society. If parents are arguing that they don't want their children witnessing sexuality on television then they shouldn't let their kids watch tv at all. Sexuality is everywhere on television, even in kids shows there are always subtle hints to it. People are not comfortable with gay openness at all. Some people still believe that that it is offensive and should not even exist. People were not offended by Lambert's performance because it was graphic. They were appalled by how open he was about being gay on stage. This is not only discriminating against gays but it is also a sexist issue. In my opinion, everything about this controversy was hipocritical.

This article is about a documentary that was made about how elementary schools shoud teach about homosexuality and should be able to give kids all the facts about gay people to tell kids that homosexuality is right and completely acceptable. What the movie showed was that most children at an early age are open minded to controversial issues and usually take a more liberal stance on the issue. One 7 year old boy even went as far to talk about homophobic parents. "And a second grade boy in Cambridge, Mass., says an adult who is opposed to lesbianism is not very 'open minded' and in fact is downright 'prejudiced'." This just shows how kids today are being corrupted by their parents ideas. Children don't start out being prejudiced and "homophobic", ideas kids get to make fun of kids who are different usually come from their parents' ideas of what is right and wrong. What the article was arguing was that parents should not be underminded if they believe that is what they should raise their kids to believe. This would also not be good for the children if they are being told two completely different opinions at once. What I got from this article is that kids should be given all the facts in school about life and different people of different cultures and beliefs. School should not be biased and have a responsibility to give kids all the facts in order for them to make their own educated opinions. Parents can still talk about what they believe about homosexuality but children should have the right to look at both sides of this issue.

Including Homosexuality Offers Benefits

This issue is very close to my heart because I strongly believed that children should not be manipulated in any way. They are human beings just like everybody else and deserve to form their own opinions. With that in mind, they also have a right to all of the facts about a situation. In no way should children be deprived of information just because they are children. This article is about how teaching about homosexuality will be beneficial for children in the long run. For one thing, it will make gay children feel more open and make them more willing to be open about their identity. Another reason why it should be taught is that it will reduce the amount of ridicule and hate crimes that occur in high school against gay and lesbian students. Children will be more open minded about the gay culture and know that it is not something to be afraid of. Also, the mindset of tolerance could be spread throughout society. If the next generation is more open minded about homosexuality, they could influence their peers, parents and others to not be prejudiced or discriminitory against people who are different. I believe if we don't allow homosexuality to be talked about in schools it will only make the controversy worse. Kids won't understand what it is and in turn, when they are in college and out in the real world, will be less tolerant of it when they are presented with a situation. The problem won't go away if we just choose to ignore it. Gay people were silent for long enough and now that they are more open about it in society and the issue has been brought up in many different lights, we have a responsibility to acknowlegde the it and teach about it to the next generation.

Short story response

I read this short story called "Rain" by Christina Chiu. In the story, a 17 year old chinese girl was talking about her sister Rain. As children, they were really close and did everything together. Over time, they grew apart because Rain was always praised by her parents for getting straight A's while the narrator never got straight A's and was always scolded by her parents for not being like her sister. Their parents are very conservative people and are very strict on the twins. The narrator felt distant from Rain so they stopped talking. One night, when the narrator was sneaking out of the house as usual, she saw Rain kissing her best friend Jade. She was shocked by what she saw at first but then after thinking about it, realized that she was more shocked by the fact that Rain didn't tell her about it. Rain was so caught up in being the perfect child that she was ashamed of who she really was. This connects to the gay and lesbian issue for the obvious reason but also because it connects to the struggle kids have every day in middle school and high school. Rain felt that she had to keep her true identity a secret because no one in her family or friends would understand. Kids today feel trapped because there is no one in thier lives to talk to about what they are going through. They would be made fun of at school and parents might not understand. It's extremely difficult to be a homosexual kid in high school and middle school. I can't even imagine what it would be like to know who you are but to deny it to everyone you know. Rain's situation is similar to what kids have to endure everyday in America.

Overview on Topic

So far Ive found that this topic has a lot of different elements to it. Because this conflict started out so late in history, it is still very revelant today and still creates a lot of conflicts in our society. It was very interesting for me to read about the history of the gay struggle and everything civil rights groups had to go through to diminish hate crimes and discrimination. The element of this topic that I am most interested in however, is how children today are effected by it. It's kind of a broad topic right now but I find myself more intrigued by kids who are adopted by gay couples or kids in middle school and high school who are struggling to come out to their friends and families. To me, they seem like the silent ones caught up in this whole conflict and they have the most interesting stories to tell. I would like to pursue this element of the topic in much more detail so I think that that will be my main focus from now on.

"Coming Out in Middle School" article response

This article is about how kids nowadays are starting to "come out" earlier than they used to. It seems that middle- school age kids know who they are earlier and feel comfortable expressing that to their peers at an earlier age. The article talked a 13 year old boy named Austin who just came out to his friends a month ago and was going to a dance for gay kids at his church. He has a 14- year- old boyfriend who's afraid to come out to his dad and Austin's mom just found out a week before the dance. His mom was fine with it but his sister was upset and kept saying it was just a phase. When I read this article I was surprised by the maturity that these kids portrayed. When we think of middle school, we usually picture immature children who don't have a clue what the real world is like. One kid from the article said that he knew he was gay at eleven and his sister asked him how he knew that if he hadn't ever kissed anyone or had a relationship. The boy said that he didn't need to have sex with a girl to know that he wasn't interested. I think that was such a mature way to think about it. When I think about this issue and how gays had to be silent for so many years, I would think that people would be hesitant to come out and want to experiment before really knowing for sure. These kids were confident in who they were and didn't feel the need to prove it to anyone. I was definately impressed by the way they handle their situation. For most kids who come out in middle school, it means having to endure harrassement and torture. It takes so much courage to open up when you have everything at stake and I really admire these kids because they were able to do that. In some ways they are lucky because they know who they are at such an early age. Most people, even in high school, don't know themselves very well.
Denizet-Lewis, Benoit, Charles Murray, and Susie Buffett. "Coming Out in Middle School." New York Times Magazine 27 Sep 2009: 36. SIRS Researcher. Web. 03 February 2010.

"don't ask, don't tell policy" article response

This policy was very confusing to me. How can the president make a law, restricting people on what they can talk about. Does this mean that if you accidently tell someone about your partner back at home, you go to jail? I believe Clinton's intentions were good when he established gays and lesbians' rights to serve in the military but in the long run, it only created more discrimination and hatred toward that group of people. It forced a separation between homosexuals and heterosexuals. It made it seem like homosexuality was a disease that was to be ashamed of and never spoken about. It's like hiding what your favorite food is in fear that people won't like you. To me, this policy was very juvinile, like the teacher telling the kids to stop playing that game because it makes someone feel uncomfortable. This policy was created to make "homo-phobics" feel more comfortable. It only caused more problems for gays and lesbians. They felt more invisible and outcasted because they felt uncomfortable with who they really were and that's not fair. I connected this to the Plessy v. Ferguson case when the dissenting opinion talked about the constitution being "colorblind". Laws are supposed to be made to secure the civil rights for every individual living in the United States. Not only did this law not do that but it also created more hatred and discrimination toward specific individuals.
"don't ask, don't tell policy." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

"Stonewall riots" article response

The stonewall riots occured on June 27, 1969 at a gay bar called Stonewall Inn. Since 1965, gays and lesbians had been working toward their liberation and fighting for their individual rights. This caused the police to raid gay bars and arrest those inside. At Stonewall, when the police raided, they expected the gays to comply. Instead, the people inside faught against the officers and resisted arrest. This resistance resulted in four policemen injured. When the officers returned the next night, people threw bottles at them shouting, "gay power". I think this was the turning point for the gay and lesbian movement. This even started the gay parade which commemorates the stonewall riots every year to this day. It was a symbol showing that the gays weren't going to be compliant anymore and they were going to do everything they can to get the same, equal rights as everyone else. "The Village Voice newspaper called the events 'a kind of liberation, as the gay brigade emerged from the bars, back rooms, and bedrooms of the Village and became street people.'" When I read this I thought of the day of silence that we have every year at school. Before researching this topic, I didn't really understand the symbolism. After reading about how this event was their "liberation" I understand that this was the moment that they weren't compliant and didn't feel like they had to take all of the discrimination. They were not silent for the first time in history. They didn't feel invisible because they were fighting for rights that should have been given to them a long time ago. This is a sensitive issue for me because I was shocked by how late in history all of this occured. The day of silence is about commemorating how long the gays and lesbians had to stay silent about their individuality. This is upsetting because, to me, democracy is about representing the individual and not just following the majority opinion. It obviously took us a while to figure out how to enforce that.
"Stonewall riots." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

"National Gay and Lesbian Task Force" article response

The NGLTF is an organization committed to ending all discrimation and acts of hate towards gays and lesbians. It emerged in the mid-1970s from the GAA in New York. The article stated that one of the organizations first noted accomplishments was banning homosexuality from the APA's list of declared mental disorders. I was shocked by this statement when I first read it. I can't even imagine how brain-washed society must have been to actually believe that homosexuality was a mental-disorder. To me, it's a genetic quirck just like anything else. It has nothing to do with the intelligence or mental capacity of a human being. I don't understand how the American Psychiatric Association would declare that as a mental-disability. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
"In November of that same year, Kevin Berrill, the director of NGTF, and James Creedle of Black and White Men Together testified before the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice that Congress needed to intervene and stop the abuse wrought by police officers against gays and lesbians because of sexual orientation" I thought it was so interesting that the black civil rights organizations, having nothing to do with gay rights, took part in this movement. Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, to this day, help secure civil rights for gays and lesbians. I liked reading this section of the article because It's comforting to know that different unions and groups can join together and help with issues that don't necessarily have anything to do with their specific cause.
"National Gay and Lesbian Task Force." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .