LGBTQ Rights
The various civil rights movements over the past 30 to 40 years, including movements to end racial discrimination and discrimination against women, have given birth to a new movement — the protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Recently, several countries around the world and several states in the United States have taken measures to ensure fair treat ment under the law for LGBT people, including the rights to marry, adopt children, and serve in the armed forces.
Read the following article by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) for some background on the legal basis for LGBT rights and prepare answer to the Questions for Discussion that follow for class.
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Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender Project
The LGBT Project works for an America free of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This means an America where LGBT people can live openly, where our identities, relationships and families are respected, and where there is fair treatment on the job, in schools, housing, public places, health care, and government programs.
The mission of the ACLU LGBT Project is the creation of a society in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people enjoy the constitutional rights of equality, privacy and personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association.
The ACLU has a long history defending the LGBT community. We brought our first LGBT rights case in 1936 and founded the LGBT Project in 1986. The ACLU’s LGBT rights strategy is based on the belief that fighting for the society we want means not just persuading judges and government officials, but ultimately changing the way society thinks about LGBT people. To end discrimination, the ACLU seeks both to change the law and to convince Americans that sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination is wrong. The ACLU carries out this work in five priority areas: Basic Rights and Liberties, Parenting, Relationships and Marriage, Youth and Schools, and Transgender Discrimination.
Read the rest of the article here:
https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights
PDF File here:
LGBT Rights | American Civil Liberties Union
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Prepare for the next class by writing your thoughts on this issue (minimum 250 words) in the Leave a Reply section below, considering the following DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) What sorts of difficulties do LGBTQ people face in society?
2) Why do you feel discrimination still persists with respect to LGBTQ people?
3) How would you compare the rights of LGBTQ people in America and Japan? What do you think accounts for these differences?
4) What positive suggestions can you make to promote the rights of LGBTQ people?
5) Do you believe total equality for LGBTQ people can be accomplished in our lifetimes?
* ALSO *
Research one article each on LGBT rights as regards Japan and the United States and prepare a short one minute summary of the articles for presentation to the class.
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