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.

"Gay Rights"article response

This article is about the fight for gay rights throughout history in the United States. According to this article, prior to 1960, gay and lesbian rights were not protected under the constitution. During the early 1900s, gays and lesbians started to become more open with their sexuality because of the urbanization of big cities like New York and Chicago. With this, state governments decided to create laws restricting sexual behavior within same-sex couples. Government officials and policemen saw homosexuality as an offense to American culture and a specific social problem that needed to be taken care of. Homosexuality became linked with crimes such as prostitution, child molestation and murdering. They were outcasts of society and started to be targetted for the AIDS virus that came out during the 20th century. Courts and governments used this as justification for not givint them equal rights. They claimed that gays were the sole carriers of this disease and they threatened the health of everyone around them. In addition to being discriminated against and targetted for spreading disease, during the 1950s gays and lesbians were being barred from employment in the government, in the military and teaching in public schools. They were also denied custody and visitation rights for their children on the basis that their behavior would corrupt innocent minds. This mentality extended even more into the world of entertainment. Gays and lesbians were prohibited from performing in live venues and homosexual behavior was even banned from movies. With these changes in society, hate crimes against homosexuals started to become more prevelant forcing the courts to create laws against sexually biased hate crimes. Even though these laws were created, many hate crimes still occured and punishment for crimes against gays and lesbians seemed to be less severe than punishments for other crimes. For example, in texas, a judge sentenced the murderer of two gay men to 30 years in prison, effectively giving him parole in seven years. In 1969, after the stonewall riots "during which gay men at a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn defended themselves against a police raid, more homosexuals were willing to come out to the public and be more open about their sexuality. Government officials such as Harvey Milk were very big motivators for the gay and lesbian community. These riots and motivators created a huge wave of the gay movement to fight for their equal rights.
This was interesting for me to read because after we finished our civil rights unit, it seemed a little ridiculous that this issue would be so controversial. It was the same thing with the African- Americans. People deserve equal rights no matter what and it baffles me that society didn't wasn't willing to do the same thing for gays and lesbians.
"gay rights." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .

First Thoughts on Topic

My topic for the research project is Gays and Lesbians. This topic is interesting to me because its such a heated issue today and it affects everyone in the U.S. I did a research speech on adoption rights for gays and lesbians in eighth grade and I immediately was intrigued by this issue. During my research, I read many stories about the hardships people have to endure everyday just because of their sexuality. Nobody should have to feel discriminated against based on what's in their DNA.
It states in the Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution that everyone, no matter race, color or creed has equal rights. The constitution is blind to any social class or sexual orientation and therefore, shouldn't discriminate based on anything other than whether you live in the United States and whether you follow the law. When I first read about this topic on Monday, I saw that this issue wasn't really brought up in courts until the 70s and 80s. This really surprised me because it shows how invisible people must have felt not being able to express who they really are for so long. The issue was not only brought up, but people also had to fight extremely hard for equal rights. This shows how close-minded our society is. We refused to even acknowledge that Homosexuals were part of our society and when they finally came out, we tried to ignore them. This is just so disturbing to me and that is why I want to learn more about this topic.