My internship at the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona has been time well-spent this semester. Not only did I create valuable professional relationships and work in a real-world office setting, but I also was able to experience what it was like to work in a field related to my major. Every day at my internship I learned something new about LGBT studies and after work every day I felt satisfied and accomplished. This past semester I was also enrolled in Introduction to LGBT Studies with Professor Galarte, and I feel that course complimented my internship very well. The intersections between my internship and Introduction to LGBT Studies were often perfect, with the course material coinciding on a weekly basis with …show more content…
Every time I was introduced to a new concept in class, I was immediately able to utilize it when listening to a Deep Dish lecture or at a QUARTZ event. From the beginning of the semester it was clear that my internship and this course would work well together and enhance my understanding of what I learned in both settings.
One of my favorite Deep Dish Lunch Lectures was with Professor Fenton Johnson in February. His Deep Dish lecture topic was “Where Have We Come From, What Are We, Where Are We Going? LGBT Publishing and Activism in the 21st Century.” I feel that this lecture had several clear connections to my coursework that I recognized in the moment and some connections that are now more obvious to me after completing the course. Professor Johnson described his endeavors as an author at a time when the LGBT community wasn’t as widely accepted and represented in mainstream media as it is now. Professor Johnson’s lecture was inspiring and insightful. He discussed LGBT representation, LGBT history (especially during the AIDS epidemic), and touched on the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage.
Professor Johnson’s lecture sparked conversation about whether or not the Supreme Court ruling accomplished enough for the LGBT community. At the time, I was unaware of how the ruling could be something that wasn’t an all-around win for the community, but after being introduced to queer politics
Lawrence v. Texas: The Justification for the Decision and its Significance for the LGBTQ+ Community
The history of LGBTQIA+ rights in the United States is long and complicated. The identities within the LGBTQIA+ community that are accepted have shifted over the years as the majority of the population comes to understand some identities to be commonplace and struggles to understand others. However, the gaining of rights and acceptance by the LGBTQIA+ community has nearly always been tied to legal recognition. Lawrence v. Texas questions whether or not a Texas statute that bans homosexual sodomy is constitutional. Although LGBTQIA+ rights issues are controversial, the statute that convicted John Lawrence and Tyson Garner for having private, consensual gay sex as well as the means of conviction are clearly unconstitutional on several grounds,
From the 1950’s to 2012, gays and lesbians went from the, “closets to corridors of political power”
From miniscule protest to continental approval the LGBT community made a mark and changed america forever. In “ A glimpse into 1970’s Gay Activism” Rosen says “Edward Koch, then serving in congress became one of the first elected officials to publicly lobby on behalf of homosexuals of Greenwich Village”. This shows that the LGBT people were making a great impact to get one of their own in a congressional office position. They also presented great change when it came to discrimination. In the article “ Gay Rights Shaping Up Miami” Clarke writes“ On March 27, 1977 Dade County, Florida, passed an ordinance banning the discrimination of gay people in instances such as employment and housing”.
As far as knowledge learned from lower level courses are concerned, I used this information every single day while on my internship. Although most students see them as merely the basic classes that we just need to get through, they come to be extremely relevant over the course of working in the field. Everything from estimating to materials and methods come into play and it is always exciting to see the knowledge learned in those classes come to life in the real world.
In the United States, LGBT rights have been expanded by landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Between 1996 and 2015, the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws, Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), allowed protected class recognition based on homosexuality and made same-sex marriage legal on a federal level. Justice Kennedy played a pivotal role in expanding the rights of gays and lesbians over the years through specific legal rationale that insists upon protection of LGBT rights. On the other hand, Justice Scalia’s dissenting opinions oppose expanded constitutional protections for gays and lesbians. In order to understand the evolution of LGBT rights, it is crucial to analyze the opinions from Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas,
America has a long and complicated history, some of which has been forgotten or almost hidden away until recently, specifically LGBT history. The history of LGBTQIA+ people as a whole is something that has only been written about since the 1970s. Considering the fact that queer people have been around for much longer than that, their history is still not as developed as it should be. Michael Bronski, a cultural critic, independent scholar, progressive activist, and college professor, has been writing extensively on LGBT issues for four decades and has accumulated his knowledge into A Queer History of the United States. Publishing this “queer history”, his goal is to educated those who are willing to listen on the buried and forgotten LGBTQIA+
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on a major case that will affect millions of Americans in one way or another. This ruling has been decades in the making and was certainly going to be controversial no matter how it turned out. The key issue is whether or not gays and lesbians had the same constitutional right that heterosexual people do in regards to marriage. Not too long ago the concept of this even being considered by the high court would’ve been unfathomable. The 5 to 4 court ruling favoring the plaintiffs has shocked many generations of religious and conservative people.
Since the beginning of time, people have been living in a world full of hatred, violence, and hostility towards one another because of physical or social differences. While we strive to create an ideal world for future generations, people still tend to discriminate against others on a daily basis simply because of their skin color or gender. One of the most despised groups of individuals in the past has been the gay and lesbian community. Gays and lesbians were not socially acceptable to society at one time, but over the years they have made significant breakthroughs in history that have opened up the doorways of gaining the same rights and opportunities as others. Along with the many triumphs of the Gay Rights Movement, there have also been many setbacks. Bottoms v. Bottoms is one of the most renown Supreme Court cases that further demonstrates the struggle for equality for gays and lesbians.
By quoting the Constitution, the Bible, and any other important documents that could prove that all American citizens are worthy of all types of happiness, I plan to construct a precise discussion as to why the government should rightfully award the LGBTQ+ community gender-neutral restrooms, adoption rights, same-sex merriage, and education in private schools. Additionally, I intend to argue as to why laws should be set in place to eliminate LGBTQ+ workplace and housing
The issues surrounding sexuality and gender nonconforming individuals in the United States have played an increasingly large role in modern politics since the mid-20th century. These issues, commonly referred to LGBT rights, directly affect the lives of a vast number of American citizens and, as such, any legislation addressing these issues is public policy. The growing demand for equality among the LGBT community has resulted in a number of Supreme Court cases and legislation addressing commonly debated issues such as marriage and employment discrimination. Though these particular issues have received attention from Congress, there are still other problems within the LGBT communities that must be
In the wake of Trump’s election the LGBTQ community faces uncertainty about what protection the U.S. government will provide. Last week’s Supreme Court ruling of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission displayed that a majority of the Court support discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for the sake of religious neutrality. While refusing to bake a gay couple a wedding cake is not inherently harmful, the arguments used to justify segregation or refusing services can be detrimental when applied to other queer discrimination cases. In the recent months Trump’s administration has been rolling back protections that the Obama administration put in place provide transgender people with adequate healthcare and humane treatment
reflections gave me the drive to apply for this internship because I want to teach others about the
The past eight years have been the most amazing in LGBT+ history. From the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to the overturning of DOMA, there’s no denying that the Obama administration has made huge strides for LGBT+ people in the United States (Obama Administration Record…, 2014). Although these advances in policy have made the United States a better place for the LGBT+ community, there is still a lot of work that has to be done to ensure that discrimination is prevented around the country.
The article discusses the potential creation of a Restatement of the Law treatise which is devoted to various legal issues affecting LGBT people in America as of 2014, focusing on the American Law Institute (ALI), efforts to decriminalize sodomy, and the promotion of LGBT rights. Same-sex domestic partnerships and the legal rights of same-sex couples are mentioned, along with state marriage laws and remedies in the U.S. Social marginalization is examined in relation to women and minorities.