Hi USHAP friends!
We have touched very briefly on LGBT issues throughout the year, so I thought I would write a post about how the social role of the LGBT community in the US have changed over the past 17 years, give or take. As many of you know, this is a topic that I am very passionate about. About 17 years ago, Ellen DeGeneres came out. It was a quite a big deal: before Ellen, there was an unspoken don't-ask-don't-tell rule in the the entertainment industry, especially for women. Ellen broke a boundary, and she did so fabulously. She used her sitcom at the time as a venue to further discuss LGBT issues, and she went on to become a much-loved talk show host, proving that an out gay person can make it on TV. Ellen coming out is often seen by the LGBT community as a major turning point. A landmark in time, if you will. In fact, the LGBT website afterellen.com is titled after this idea that Ellen changed the game.
A few months ago, another Ellen came out -- Ellen Page. Thanks to the road paved by Ellen (DeGeneres), Ellen (Page)'s coming out was well received and felt more "normal" to many Americans. So what changed in those 17 years between the Ellen's public coming outs?
The country began to have a conversation that it was put off for much too long.
In 1998, in Laramie, Wyoming, a gay college student named Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered by two men for being gay. The tragedy sparked a nationwide conversation about hate crimes and gay rights. We owe a lot to Matthew Shepard. In the wake of the tragedy, his parents became strong advocates for the LGBT community, and progress ensued.
President Bill Clinton is an interesting example of how times have changed in the last 17 years. In 1996, he signed the Defense of Marriage Act, but in 2013, he wrote a Washington Post op-ed saying that he believed DOMA should be overturned. In this article, he said that he decided to sign DOMA in 1996 because if he didn't, conservatives might have been able to push through a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. That a president would so publicly go back on a decision he made 17 years prior shows that a lot has changed, and for the better.
This isn't a full account of what has happened in the past 17 years for the LGBT community. Prop 8 was passed. Prop 8 was struck down. More on more states have been legalizing same-sex marriage. We're moving towards equality in terms of same-sex couples, and we are beginning to have more much needed conversations about trans* rights (pro-tip: check out next week's Talon for an article about Laverne Cox and trans* activism).
Of course we haven't achieved equality, but looking back, I would have to say the last 17 years have life better for Ellens (and other LGBT people) of the world. We seem to be on an upward slope in terms of reaching equality. Let's keep going, friends.
To read President Clinton's op-ed: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bill-clinton-its-time-to-overturn-doma/2013/03/07/fc184408-8747-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html
This is a nice recap of the current improvements regarding the LGBT community. I liked how you incorporated celebrities to serve as microcosms of the many more people who are coming out due to decreasing hostility. I think that these improvements along with the appointment of the first Native American Federal Court Judge definitely suggest that the United States is on an uphill slope and is encouraging diversity in all ways possible.
ReplyDeleteMaya, this is a really interesting article. I have to confess I don't know a ton about the history of the LGBT movement except for DOMA and Prop 8, so this was enlightening. It's really interesting that Clinton said he thought the act should be overturned after he'd signed it himself, and I agree that it shows how much has changed. There is still a lot of progress to be made but it is pretty cool to see how much difference has been made within our lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteI also like the Talon promo embedded in the post :)
I really like how you focus the changing environment for LGBT+ by calling out specific people who changed the movement's scene or who changed, themselves. President Clinton's disclaimer really called out to me. The fact that he feels comfortable admitting that he did not want to renew DOMA is a testament to how far we've come.
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