Final Paper

Here is my final final paper.

John McCain at it Again

Once again John McCain backs up his stance on the policy, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", even when majority of the Senate, House, and the military say that the ban is unconstitutional and unAmerican. John Steward made another episode bashing McCain for his beliefs. In the episode John Steward shows three Senators who are in approval of removing the policy while McCain strongly holds his position to keep the policy. So when will McCain give in?? Will he ever give in?

Gay Right Statistics

All of the work by LGBT movements have led them to the point we are today, which is an increase of openly gays throughout the states. The graphs on this website show where they have increased and by how much. What was interesting but not surprising about the graphs was that in states that already had a good number of openly gays were more likely to get more openly gays because of how commonly accepted it is getting in those states. This is not the case though for states with a low population of openly gays because they increase only a little, which is probably due many anti-gay feelings in those areas. Just thought it was interesting. Thoughts?

Gay Rights Info

This information is off the website titled speakout.

Gay Rights

Family and Relationships
• Adoption: 19 states allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt children in a complex and expensive two-step process, in which one parent first adopts and then the second can petition for joint rights.
• Ceremonial Marriages: Same Sex Marriages may be officiated by church officials, or anyone else, but ceremonial marriages in and of themselves involve no civil laws and carry no legal benefits or responsibilities.
• Domestic Partnership Registration: is a means by which some cities allow opposite- and same-sex couples to go on public record as a non-married couple. The major benefit is used to establish legal responsibility for debts after a relationship ends.
• Domestic Partnership Affidavit: Many private employers and municipalities offer domestic partner benefits to their workers, based on signing a legal affidavit that defines an economic relationship.
  
  Civil Unions
• In Dec. 1999, the Hawaii Supreme Court reversed a 1996 ruling, and defined marriage as between different sex couples.
• In April 2000, the Vermont House of Representatives gave final approval to same-sex marriages. Gays and lesbians may join in "civil unions," which are no expected to be recognized by other states and will not entitle the partners to federal benefits. The Vermont Supreme Court had ruled in December that gay and lesbian couples denied the right to marry were suffering from unconstitutional discrimination.
• In June 2000, the Supreme Court let stand a New Jersey ruling that allowed the Boy Scouts to ban gay scoutmasters.
• In July 2000, Vermont began offering a separate form of marriage, conferring about 300 spousal rights to same sex couples.
• The Civil Union license is obtained from town clerks. There is a $20 fee. The Unions are "certified" either by justices of the peace, judge, or willing member of the clergy. Civil Union couples also have the right to dissolve their unions through a "dissolution" process in Family Court.
  
  Civil Unions Benefits
• Definitions: Use of State laws that confer benefits or rights to people based on their marital or family status, such as family landowner rights to hunt and fish, or definitions of family farmers.
• Adoption: Entitled to all the protections and benefits available when adopting. Same-sex couples already are allowed to adopt, but laws would reflect that those couples would now be treated as spouses.
• Compensation: Use of victims' compensation and workers' compensation related to spouses.
• Discrimination: Use of laws prohibiting discrimination based on marital status.
• Health Care: Able to make medical decisions for incapacitated partner. Able to visit hospitals visitation and be notified of a partner's condition.
• Insurance: State employees are treated as spouses for insurance or continuing care contracts.
• Lawsuits: Able to sue for wrongful death, the emotional distress caused by a partner's death or injury, and loss of consortium caused by death or injury.
• Property: Entitled to joint title, transfer from one to the other on death, and property transfer tax benefits.
• Probate: Use probate law and procedures.
• State Tax: Treated as an economic unit.
• Testimony: Not be compelled to testify against one another.
  
  Federal rights NOT Covered by Civil Unions
• Immigration Rights: Cannot have a non-U.S. spouse become a full citizen.
• Social Security: Cannot collect benefits upon death of a spouse.
• Federal Taxes: Cannot file jointly as a married couple 

Here is a basic overview of some of the benefits that same-sex couples get and don't get. While civil unions do give couples some benefits, there some rights, listed above, that the couples do not get. So if civil unions do not offer the same rights as marriage how can you refer to it as on the same level as actual marriage?

Beware of the Homosexual

This video on Youtube made me think if people really felt this way back in the day because not only was this a commercial, but it is an actually warning against homosexuality. It is in support of homosexuality being a disease and that all LGBT are dangerous and out to get young children. Just listening to the things the narrator says gets a person thinking about if how children look back and see the commercials against same-sex marriages and get the same feelings I feel towards this video, which is wow were people back then really that unintelligent. Thoughts?

Final Paper

Here is the link to the rough draft of my final paper.

Church and Condoms

While I was surfing the web I found this interesting article involving the church. Everyone knows that those in power within the Catholic Church do not approve of homosexuality because it goes against their beliefs. One of the arguments that the church uses against the LGBT community is that marriage is for procreation, and since LGBT couples cannot reproduce without a third party they should not be allowed to get marriage. How can the church keep pushing for this argument when they are supporting condoms? This is what the article brings up. The church first says that male prostitutes can use condoms to protect from HIV, but then later clarifies that everyone including men, women, and transsexuals to use condoms to prevent HIV. Even though the church’s stance is pushing the use of condoms for the prevention of HIV, it is still interesting to see that the church supports them in any way because it prevents procreation. Just something to think about. What are your thoughts?

John McCain and DADT

The other day my roommate was watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and after the episode was done he asked me needed more blogs. I, of course, said yes and he then showed me this video.

Jon Stewart follows John McCain as McCain continues to fight removing the ban known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and even brings in John McCain’s wife to show how questionable their beliefs are. It's obvious to see that John McCain is still stuck in the 40's or 50's because the fight is already over and it's just a matter of time before the ban is lifted. Watch for yourself.

Glee and Divorce

During this week’s episode of Glee, Kurt and Blaine were discussing equal marriage rights for gays and were while on the subject Blaine mentioned that if marriage is so sacred why not outlaw divorce.

This for me is new way of looking at marriage. Many state and higher courts all put marriage on this pedestal about how it’s so sacred that they have to keep LGBT from being able to take part in the benefits of something so “sacred”. So the question that can come up is if marriage is so sacred that must mean that when people get married they will never break it off because of its “sacredness”.

This, however, is not the case. In America, the divorce rate is about 50%, so pretty much 1 out of 2 married couples will eventually get a divorce. A lot of the anti-LGBT would use the argument that if the LGBT were allowed to marry then the divorce rate would increase and would not help our economy. This article has figures showing that when equal marriage is introduced to an area the divorce rate actually decreases instead of increasing. Having more married couples usually ends up in more children either through adoption or artificial insemination. Despite the ways of getting children there will be more kids, which is one of the state and government’s goals.

So what does this say about marriage and why would the state and government not see the benefits of equal marriage? Could equal marriage benefit not only the LGBT, but also the economy? What are your thoughts?

Spartacus Blood and Sand/Homosexuality

I have just recently finished watching a show that aired on Starz called Spartacus Blood and Sand and after some research I found this article . The article talks about one of the characters that happen to be gay. (The show is based around gladiators during the Roman period when same-sex relationships were an every day occurrence.) The actor’s character, however, does not fit into the normal stereotype of a gay man portrayed on television and happens to be the complete opposite. Many would think that the other gladiators in the show would not accept him, but this is not the case. He is one of the top gladiators in the group and the question of his homosexuality never comes up.  The show freely shows his sexuality through scenes in the show involving the character’s lover. Another thing I found interesting is that the show is directed to male viewers because of the amount of gore and sex presented in the show. One would think because of the homosexuality displayed on the show that it would ruin viewer rating, but that never happened because I believe the media and its viewers are ahead of the game and have accepted homosexuality as part of an every day society. So now it’s up to rest of society to accept this change and put the issue of homosexuality behind us.

Race Defines Us All

In the first article by Ian F. Haney Lopez, I was introduced to a new way of looking at race and how it defines us. The article showed me that no matter what we do race will always play an important part whether this part can be seem or not. Through the stories in his article Lopez brings up the fact that many of us judge each other just from looking at the color of their skin and their different facial features. He uses Mexicans as an example to show racial formation and the upbringing of Mexican from a nationality to a race during the 1800's. All in all, Lopez explained that deciding race is subject to the opinions of individuals and their communities.