Do Gays and lesbians deserve the same rights? Many people can agree that gays and lesbians deserve the same rights to participate in society without legal, social, or political restrictions. Carmen Vasquez who is active in the gay and lesbian movement gives examples of people who were mistreated due to their preference choice, or beaten because of the way the they dressed or presented themselves to the public. In the movie "In and Out " a man named Howard Brackett is treated differently by his family, students, and the rest of the towns people when they found out Howard was gay.
In the essay "Appearance" Vazquez talks about a 20/20 special, and how because one persons comments lead to another persons death. Vasquez says," The clearest expression I heard of this sense of gender betrayal comes from Doug Barr who was acquitted of murder in an incident of gay bashing in San Francisco that resulted in the death of John O' Connell, a gay man.
Howard Jones @ Indigo
Is that Howard PSAT 04.15.2007
Three stripesBarr is currently serving a prison sentence for related assaults on the same night that O'connell was killed. Barr was interviewed for a special report on homophobia.
When asked what he and his friends thought of gay men, he said," We hate Homosexuals. They degrade our manhood. We were brought up in a high school where guys are football players, mean macho. Homosexuals are sissies who wear dresses. I'd rather be seen as a football player." It's not right that people judge gay people. There are people who are gay and yet they still play football, and do manly stuff.
In the same essay Vasquez talk about a couple named Tom and Jan, and how a couple of guys wrongfully stereotyped them as being gay because of the way Tom and Jan dressed, and the...