In this weeks lecture our main focus is on Gay and Lesbian rights. This is a very current topic and an ongoing debate. Recently the state of Maryland just passed the law for marriage equality for everyone. As of January of 2013 nine states have legalized gay marriage. This is a huge step for the gay and lesbian movement. Lady Gaga is a huge supporter of the gay and lesbian rights movement. Her song "Born This Way" represents a lot of things to many people. According to her song she believes that you are born gay and it is not something you chose to be. In her song she repeats this concept over and over to get the point across. Because she believes you are born gay there should be no discrimination against people for that reason. Sexuality is a way we oppress people like what we have done with race and gender in the past. You should not be discriminated against because of the person you fall in love with or who you date, and you should be able to get the benefits of being married to someone you love. There are so many benefits when it comes to getting married. For example tax benefits, housing benefits, government benefits and many more.
In the graphic novel Fun Home By, Alison Bechdel she discusses many issues involving gay rights and her life story. In her graphic novel she uses pictures and her words to describe her life story and her relationship with her father. She had always felt different as a child and never wanted to do all the girly things that other girls had wanted. Her parents also put her in many positions that young girls would never be put in. Her father and her had a very complicated relationship he had a lot of issues and didn't know how to show his love for his children. When Alison realizes that she is gay she is very open about it. She wanted to tell her parents right away and hope they would understand. When she does this though she is very wrong her mother takes it the hardest and tells Alison something that she never knew. Her father had been having affairs with men all of his life. Throughout the book Alison talks about her father's mannerisms and how they were complete opposites. Alison had always wanted to dress up like a boy and have muscles like one and her father wanted to be more of a girl. He always dressed her up in dresses and made her put clips in her hair. Two weeks after Alison had come out to her parents her father had passed away. There is a lot of speculation about how he died and if it was an accident or not but Alison realizes that her parents lives were very abnormal. Alison's story relays the message that you should always be who you are no matter what. Her father pretended to be something and someone else his entire life and in the end he couldn't handle it anymore. Alison had always known that she was different and she embraced it in her life. Thats all you can ever do is be yourself and hope others will accept you for who you are.
Jaimee's view of the novel "Fun Home" really sparked the idea of the inner battle that people who come out have to face in the real world. There was obviously a lot of internal conflict for Allison's father due to the speculation of his death. It says a lot about the world today that people maybe that uncomfortable to be themselves in this world they feel it is best to take their own lives. I feel that because Allison's father's sexuality has been repressed inside of him, she had more of a reason to be open about her being a lesbian.
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