Stephanie Perez

Poli Sci 1
Professor Lawton
5/5/14
LGBT Community
Have you ever wondered what the colors on the rainbow flag meant? The colors
on the flag stand for the different facets of the gay community: red signifies life, orange
is for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, blue for harmony, and violet is for spirit.
All of these things come together to help unify the community, sadly the same cannot be
said for a lot of Americans. There has always been a lot of judgment about those who
are in the LGBT community. The union of two people who are of the same sex is still not
recognized as a marriage but as a partnership. I dont know about you, but when I hear
the word partnership, I think of work and not a happy household. A lot of changes
have occurred to help make the LGBT community more equal, but discrimination is still
going on.
In society, people who identify with being a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are
part of the LGBT community. Lesbians are women who are attracted to other women,
gays are men who are attracted to other men, bisexuals are attracted to both genders,
and transgender express a different gender than their assigned gender. Throughout the
years our society has been more and more accepting of this community, but we still
have a long way to go. Coming out, is still a very tough process for some of these
individuals, especially for those who are in high school or even younger. Families and
friends are sometimes not very accepting of the situation and completely disown that
individual. Teens tend to be very cruel to those who are different, so as you can imagine
coming out opens up the opportunity for bullying. The bullying can push some to commit
suicide because they feel like they dont belong and the torture from their peers is just
too much for them to handle. In 2010, after quite a few bully related suicides the LGBT
community created a holiday known as Spirit Day, where you wear purple on October
17 to show support for the LGBT youth.
There has also been a lot debate on whether or not same sex couples would
make good parents. Arguments for that say that two parents, no matter the gender, are
better than one. They also say that there are less and less heterosexual couples who
are willing to adopt children, so you might as well let them do it. Arguments against the
aforementioned say that a child needs a balanced household with a parent of each
gender so that the child has better role models. As much as wed like to believe that
church and state are separate, they are not. America is a Christian dominated nation
and some still believe our values should reflect that. Another struggle is the association
between homosexual and bisexuals with HIV/AIDS. In the early 80s HIV/AIDS was
considered to be a gay mans disease. Some types of discrimination would include
being expelled from school, being denied housing, having to pay extra rent, and getting
fired from a job.
In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the issue at hand was that marriage was to only be
legal between a man and woman in the state of California with the passage of
Proposition 8 in 2008. A gay and lesbian couple both argued that this law violated their
Fourteenth Amendment of equal protection. The court ruled in a 5-4 majority that
Proposition 8 was unconstitutional and same sex marriage became legal in the state
once again. Another court case that took place was United States v. Windsor in 2010.
Under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that was passed in 1996 the words
marriage and spouse only refer to a man and a woman. In 2007, Edith Windsor and
Thea Clara Spyer got married in Toronto, Canada and their marriage was recognized by
the state of New York. Sadly, Spyer passed away in 2009 and left her estate to
Windsor. Since federal law did not recognize their marriage her estate was imposed for
$363,000 in taxes. If their marriage would have been recognized it would have qualified
for an exemption and wouldve had no taxes imposed on it. Windsor filed a suit to
declare DOMA unconstitutional. In a 5-4 majority the court declared DOMA to be a
violation of the Fifth Amendment which grants everyone equal protection.
A lot of great things have happened over the years that have helped the LGBT
community become equals with everybody else, but there is still a good amount that
needs to be done. Only 17 states have legalized same sex marriage and 33 states have
just outright banned them. This gives the LGBT community the feeling that their love is
not as important as straight couples. Just because you may feel that falling in love with
a person of the same gender is wrong doesnt mean your opinion should be imposed on
others. America is, after all, where one is able to have individual freedom and who you
choose to love shouldnt be an exception. Lastly, another struggle is that people really
have to stop thinking one chooses to be gay. Why would anybody want to experience all
the negativity that some homosexuals go through?
As you can see the LGBT community has been through a lot and still has a lot
left to fight for. Living in a world that doesn't discriminate might seem unattainable, but
more understanding for those who are different should be easier now in the 21st
century. Just because you don't think a certain lifestyle is acceptable doesn't mean your
beliefs should be imposed on other people's lives. Love should not only be for straight
couples, but for everyone. A handful of states have recognized this and its time for the
remaining ones to do so as well. We also have to encourage the LGBT youth to be
proud of who they are and not be scared of being rejected by their peers or being
bullied. How would you feel if you were discriminated against for being different?

















Works Cited

"HOLLINGSWORTH v. PERRY," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law,
accessed May 9, 2014, http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2012/2012_12_144.
Pros and cons of gay adoption, Last modified October 25, 2013,
http://www.theweek.co.uk/welfare/35575/pros-and-cons-gay-adoption.

Should Gay Marriage Be Legal?, last modified April 17, 2014,
http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857.

Struggle continues for LGBT community, Last modified October 16, 2013,
https://thebutlercollegian.com/2013/10/struggle-continues-for-lgbt-community/.

"UNITED STATES v. WINDSOR," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of
Law, accessed May 9, 2014, http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2012/2012_12_307.