5 News/Scholarly Articles

The first article presents the speech "Be on the Right Side of History," delivered by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on International Human Rights Day at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on December 6, 2011 in which she discussed human rights violations related to sexual orientation, equal rights and dignity for LGBT people, and activism that leads to political change. She talks about how the acceptance of homosexuality is a sensitive topic for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest deeply on held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs.

 

The second article talks about the history of the LGBT community and sexual minorities.

An example of the history in the LGBT Communities would be that By the eighteenth century, there was considerable legislation in Europe, and enormous social stigma, concerning homosexuality and transvestitism (cross-dressing). The laws against homosexuality pertained almost exclusively to male behavior; sodomy was considered a serious crime, punishable by beating, lengthy prison terms, and sometimes by execution. The writer also write about some not so historic landmarks such as the speech President  Obama gave addressing the nation, the president said that "our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law." The ceremony included the recitation of a new poem by Richard Blanco, making him the first Hispanic, openly gay, and youngest poet to read at a U.S. presidential inauguration.

 

 

My third article talks about LGBT issues and caregiving.

It takes the position that until LGBT individuals no longer experience the discrimination and social isolation that create barriers to receiving competent care, service providers and other professionals need to increase not only their understanding of the issues LGBT caregivers face, but also their competence in service provision to these family caregivers. It also takes the position that LGBT-identified individuals are members of a minority community with unique needs that in turn shape the development and delivery of competent services for its informal caregivers.

My fourth article is about reconsidering the gender-equality perspective for understanding LGBT rights.

The points brought up in this article are as follows; The Gender-Equality Concept, Deconstructing the Gendered Basis of Sexuality-based theories or “Sexual Orientation”, Gender Equality Arguments in Employment Discrimination Law, Gender-Equality Arguments in Family Law, and Why the Law Must Recognize the Gender-Equality Paradigm. Another subtopic that it focuses on is Children.

 

My fifth article is from ABC News and talks about how corporations painted their brands red for LGBT Rights.

It talks about how thousands of people are taking to social media to voice their personal support for gay marriage, but individuals are not the only ones supporting the cause. Corporations and public figures are using their branding to ride the trend as the Supreme Court argues two pieces of landmark legislation regarding same-sex marriage. Political supporters of the gay rights initiatives are donning icons based on the Human Rights Campaign equality symbol with shades of red instead of blue and yellow on their personal Facebook pages. As politicians and consumers alike have altered their social media pages, so have brand names such as Absolut Vodka, Expedia, Amazon, and Bud Light.

Bud Light altered the standard Human Rights Campaign equal sign to make it a little more brand friendly, by replacing the equal sign lines with Bud Light beer cans. This is not the first time that Bud Light has publically announced its support for gay rights. In fact they have sponsored a number of Gay Pride festivals across the U.S. This past June, Bud Light hosted Bud Boyz at Chicago's Pride festival, a gay, male modeling contest. Kenneth Cole, Target and JC Penney created gay-inclusive advertising. A Target ad promotes wedding registration for same-sex couples with the slogan "Be Yourself, Together." Similarly, a Kenneth Cole ad shows a male couple holding hands and a statistic that reads, "52% of Americans think same-sex marriages don't deserve a good reception. Are you putting us on?" Equality branding has not only been limited to social media. Companies are using television advertising to broaden their support for marriage equality, too. Recently Amazon released a television ad for their reading tablet, the Kindle, which shows straight and gay couples bonding on vacation.

 

 

Bibliography:

13 Law & Sexuality: Rev. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Legal Issues 605 (2004) Reconsidering the Gender-Equality Perspective for Understanding LGBT Rights; Farrell, Sandi

 

Coon, David W., Ph.D. "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Issues and Family Caregiving." Www.caregiver.org. N.p., Aug. 2003. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://caregiver.org/jsp/content/pdfs/op_2003_lgbt_issues.pdf>.

 

Fama, Jilian. "Corporations Paint Their Brands Red For LGBT Rights." ABC News. ABC News Network, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.

 

"Free And Equal In Dignity And LGBT Rights." Vital Speeches Of The Day 78.2 (2012): 45. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 5 Apr. 2013

 

"Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Rights." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Global Issues In Context. Web. 5 Apr. 2013