Megan Padilla
Mon/Wed
Megan
Separate but Unequal: It's Time to End Discrimination
Fighting for equality is something that gay people have had to deal with for many years. Gay equality movements have dates all the way back to 1924. The society for Human Rights in Chicago became the country's first gay organization. No progress had been made until the 1960's. According to Life in the USA (the American People Lifestyle Distinctions) "In 1962 Illinois became the first US state to decriminalize private homosexuals acts between consenting adults, and the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War protest off the 60's left many gay activists with the desire to create an organized movement.
The amount of hate crimes against gay people have increased throughout the years. In 2011 the number had reached up to 30, and that's 3 higher than the previous years. The sad thing is that most of the people affected by these crimes sometimes don't report them.
These crimes vary from stabbings, and just getting beat to death just because they're different than the norm. People have been wanting to end the hate crimes and do something about it, but then some people don't think gay people deserve the support they need. According to the book Same Sex, Different Politics: Success and Failure in the Struggles Over Gay Rights "The debate focuses on widely shared values such as, public safety, tolerance for diversity, equal treatment before the law, and freedom of expression, rather than upon gay rights and whether gays and lesbians deserve protection specially". This debate shows that tolerance is a problem that directly affects that safety of the homosexual population.
In the following 32 states and the District of Columbia: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New...