Reflection of LGBT Pride.

This blog has been a very great experience for me. It allowed me to represent the LGBT community and convey my messages of equality and acceptance for the gay community. This blog was difficult for me to make since so many citations were necessary for each post, and finding the different sources to quote was fairly tough as well. The gay rights movement is a topic of heavy discussion, and has been gaining momentum in the past few years. It has been a great time for me to share some information, as well as my thoughts on the matter. By doing this blog I have learned so much about people's opinion on the matter while I was looking up the facts about homosexuality. I've also gotten greater insight on the LGBT community's fight for equality and the problems that they face. The posts that were my favorite to do were Gay Bullying and Suicide, as well as Stop Gay Hate Crimes! I enjoyed doing each post though, even though it was time consuming on certain ones.

I'm really hoping that people enjoyed my blog, and possibly learned something new. I also hope that this might allow for more support for the LGBT community as well as more of an understanding of the topic and the things that people in the LGBT community goes through. I made this blog although the majority of people I know aren't supportive of the LGBT community, whether they're against it or neutral. I decided to actively support it, and by making this blog I managed to really show my support for the gay community. I believe that homosexuality is not a horrible perversion like many others, and I also believe in equality for everyone. Love has no boundaries, and no harm can come from a homosexual relationship.

The Gay Rights Movement to me represents change and progression. Throughout history people have been persecuted for either being gay, or supporting homosexuality. Luckily in this day and age people have the right to speak about their opinions, and openly love the ones they want in some areas. Although there are a lot of people who are against gay pride, there are more people than ever who support the cause. The LGBT community has really come such a long ways, from being a completely persecuted group with all the odds against them, to a community that is finally getting the sympathy that they deserve. That in this day and age there is a chance for people in the LGBT community to marry the person they love, and be who they want to be. Throughout my childhood I have heard so many negative and hateful comments towards the gay community, but nowadays I'm starting to hear more positive and loving comments be made.

But, the LGBT community has a long ways to go. The Gay Rights Movement has to keep trying as hard as possible and fight for equal rights. Although society is overall more accepting of homosexuality, there are still many groups out there who are opposed, and some wish to do harm to the LGBT community. Many countries in the world still persecute homosexuals, and have laws against a homosexual lifestyle, so the LGBT community has a lot of work to do and must keep moving forward. I'm hoping that my blog will bring more hope to the cause, and to tell people that although there are many opposed to it, there are many that support it. Whenever someone feels like there's no hope, I want them to think about how incredibly far the LGBT community has come, and how much further they still can go.

           (The Gay Rights Movement, taken from www.youtube.com by RyanJamesYezak)
Here is an outstanding video that has everything that this blog stands for. This is a video created by RyanJamesYezak to outline the Gay Rights Movement. He is currently making a documentary about the Gay Rights Movement, and this video serves as a sort of preview for it. I recommend that everybody watches this video, and if you're interested, take part in his documentary. Visit his Youtube channel and contact him directly if you would like to participate in his documentary.

For so long the LGBT community has been made to feel like they are worthless and unwanted. But now there is hope that one day we will live in a world where people are accepted for who they are, and can lead their lives without worry. That the people in the gay community can finally be with the one they love and lead a happy, peaceful life without any inequalities or injustices from the country they are governed in. 

                    (It Gets Better: Dan and Terry, taken from www.youtube.com by itgetsbetterproject)
This is a video made by Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller to convey a message of hope to the gay community. Dan made this video for his It Gets Better Project which is an online project where people make videos of themselves talking about how life will get better for the LGBT youth who are being bullied, or are told they aren't worth it or that they are wrong for their sexual orientation. Videos like these represent hope, and love to the LGBT youth. The It Gets Better Project has been hugely successful and there are hundreds of videos online that the LGBT youth or anyone can view when they feel like they don't have hope. The It Gets Better Project to me, represents the hope that someday there will be total equality for the gay community and that love really does prevail.

Homosexuality debate.

Many people have their own thoughts about the LGBT community, and whether or not they should be accepted. Many people oppose, as well as support this community and their lifestyle. Homosexuality has been a topic of heavy debate throughout history, arguments ranging everywhere from the origin of homosexuality, to the morality of it have been discussed by various groups for centuries.
One online source that is against the LGBT community is: http://conservapedia.com/Homosexuality
One online source that is with the LGBT community is: http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=194&srcid=-2

Opposing arguments:

• Legalizing same-sex marriage would destroy the traditional values of marriage, which is seen as a courtship between a man and a woman. More people would see being homosexual as the right thing to do. This would weaken the definition, as well as respect for a marriage.
• If gay couples are allowed to raise children, then that will cause great turmoil and pain to the child, since they need a parent of each gender to lead them through life. Without one of the necessary biological parents to lead them it will leave them traumatized, and teach them that being gay is the right thing to do. Making them at-risk children and increasing their likeliness of having relationship problems later on in life.
• Legalizing gay marriage would open doors to legalizing, and polygamy. That it would allow for other perverse relationships to be looked upon with normality. Edward Brongersma was a gay rights activist who also supported . He said that parents should not view a "as a rival or competitor, not as a thief of their property, but as a partner in the boy's upbringing, someone to be welcomed into their home..." A prominent homosexual activist named Frank Kameny was also a supporter of , he wrote, "But it seems to be a harmless foible or idiosyncrasy of some people. So, as long as the animal doesn’t mind (and the animal rarely does), I don’t mind, and I don’t see why anyone else should."
• The gay community has a gay agenda to gain acceptance and approval. To do this they want to destroy religious freedom, and take away the freedom of people to criticize gay people, thus ruining freedom of speech.
• The Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, and unnatural. A gay couple cannot procreate, so they shouldn't be allowed to get married since their marriage won't further the existence of the human species. Leviticus 18:22 says- "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." Romans 1:26-27 says- "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error."
• Homosexuals have a very promiscuous lifestyle, spreading many different diseases throughout the population. Bisexuals are actively sexual with both genders, so they could easily get the AIDS virus from a and pass it on to a female and it will continue to spread. Their lifestyles are unhealthy and increase the spread of AIDS and other diseases.
• Homosexuality is a psychological disease, in males it is caused by overbearing maternalism and hostile paternalism. This like any other disease can, and should be treated. The treatment for this disease would be conversion therapy.
• Even if homosexuality does happen in nature it should still be condemned. Humans have higher morals than animals, animals are not in control of their actions and rely on instinct. People should choose to be straight since it benefits society as a whole. Homosexuality in nature doesn't make it right for humans, and should not be condoned.

Supporting arguments:

• The legalization of gay marriage and gay adoption would increase adoption by a substancial amount since there are more couples, and would give many orphaned children a home to live in. It would also give gay couples the same marital benefits that straight couples have.
• Homosexual behavior has been seen in up to 1,500 species of animals, 450 of these species, including the dwarf chimpanzee and bottlenose dolphin have been closely analyzed by scientists for their sexual behavior. It is not completely know why species of animals participate in these activites,  that animals participate in homosexual activity, but it is thought by scientists such as Petter Boeckman that it can be a way of resolving conflicts, showing dominance, or improving relations. Petter said, "One fundamental premise in social debates has been that homosexuality is unnatural. This premise is wrong. Homosexuality is both common and highly essential in the lives of a number of species."
• If gay people aren't allowed to marry because of their inability to reproduce, then by that logic sterile and elderly people should be denied the right to marry as well. This would be incredibly cruel, and unjust, because people deserve the right to be with the one they love regardless of their ability to reproduce. Even if homosexual behavior is unnatural, that doesn't prove that it is wrong. If unnatural things should be illegal, then that means that people shouldn't be allowed to drive cars or live in houses that have electricity because those are unnatural acts as well.
• No credible studies have shown that children raised by a gay couple are at risk of becoming homosexual. Although they may question the origins of where they came from and why they don't have both a mother and father as a parent, it doesn't necessarily put them at risk of being depressed or turning gay. The reasons why they might be depressed are because of society's view on children raised by gay parents, and the constant criticism and bullying that they would acquire as a result of these hateful views on homosexuality. The children would only be at a higher risk of being gay if the parents force their homosexual views upon them. "For instance, Kirkpatrick and her colleagues (1981) found no differences between children of versus heterosexual mothers in toy preferences, activities, interests, or occupational choices." Studies like these have shown that the sexual orientation of the parents, and the gender of the person they are dating doesn't affect the outcome of the child's behavior, rather the way their parent influences them with their individual parenting skills.
• Nobody can choose who they're attracted to, sexual attraction is completely subconscious. Nobody actively chooses who they like, so ostracizing and criticizing a group of people for being the way they are, when they didn't even have a choice is wrong. Especially when it isn't harmful to anybody.
• AIDS infects anybody regardless of sexual orientation, so it is more of an issue that accounts for society as a whole. Although the gay community has a high AIDS level, this could be changed with proper education on the topic of STD's.
• Attempting to cure someone of homosexuality through conversion therapy has shown to have drastic negative effects. Among these effects are higher risks of depression, sexual dysfunction, failed marriages, harm to children, and suicide.
• Legalizing same-sex marriage is perfectly harmless and won't open doors to bestiality or pedophilia. Pedophilia has been shown to be traumatizing and harmful to children, who are much too young to be involved with sexual activities. Bestiality has no chance since there is no way that an animal can agree to get married with a human, or to say for sure if they are in love with a human. Sex with animals is also very risky and can lead to many sicknesses and diseases in the person, as well as the animal in some cases. Just because some gay rights activist groups support things like bestiality and pedophilia, doesn't mean that all gay rights activists agree with it.
• According to tests done by Simon LeVay the inside the hypothalamus the third interstitial notch of the anterior hypothalamus two to three times smaller in homosexual men, compared to heterosexual men. He concluded that “homosexual and heterosexual men differ in the central neuronal mechanisms that control sexual behaviour."

Those are some of the main arguments that debaters bring up to one another about the topic of homosexuality. Regardless of whatever "proof" somebody may have on the origin, or righteousness of homosexuality the topic is still being argued by many different skeptics. It is clear that regardless of the origin of homosexuality, people will disagree on whether or not it should be accepted by society.

(Gay Pride March in New York, taken from www.flickr.com by MichaelTapp)

(Westboro Baptist Church Protest, taken from www.flickr.com by ericbowers)