'Glad To Be Gay': The Stggle for Gay Liberatn Beyond Legal Rights — Unpublished

Contents:

• 'GLAD TO BE GAY': THE STGGLE FOR GAY LIBERATN BEYOND LEGAL RIGHTS
• GLAD AND GAY
• GLAD / SYNONYMS / GAY
• GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)
• GLAD TO BE GAY
• MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY
• GAY

'GLAD TO BE GAY': THE STGGLE FOR GAY LIBERATN BEYOND LEGAL RIGHTS

Typilly, for those who intify as queer, the terms lbian, gay, and bisexual are perceived to be too limg and/or ght wh cultural nnotatns they feel do not apply to them.

Also known as SGL, this is a term ed by some Ain Amerin people as an Aocentric alternative to what are nsired Eurocentric, or whe, inti like gay and lbian. Biphobia may be exprsed ments that reflect doubts about the legimacy of bisexualy as an orientatn, accurately implyg that is not real, “jt a phase” or a ver for someone not ready to e out as gay.

GLAD AND GAY

Note, the terms “gay marriage” and “same-sex marriage” should be avoid, as they n suggt marriage for same-sex upl is somehow different or ls equal than other marriag. Bee of the clil history of the word “homosexual, ” is aggrsively ed by anti-LGBTQ activists to suggt that people attracted to the same sex are somehow diseased or psychologilly/emotnally disorred – notns discreded by the Amerin Psychologil Associatn and the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn the 1970s.

GLAD / SYNONYMS / GAY

Intifyg a same-sex uple as “a homosexual uple, ” characterizg their relatnship as “a homosexual relatnship, ” or intifyg their timacy as “homosexual sex” should be avoid. As a le, try to avoid labelg an activy, emotn, or relatnship gay, lbian, bisexual, or queer unls you would ll the same activy, emotn, or relatnship “straight” if engaged by someone of another orientatn. Sexual orientatn is the accurate scriptn of an person’s endurg physil, romantic, and/or emotnal attractn to people of the same genr and/or people of a different genr, and is clive of people who are lbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and pansexual, as well as straight people.

The phras “gay liftyle, ” “LGBTQ liftyle, ” “homosexual liftyle, ” and “transgenr liftyle” are ed to nigrate LGBTQ people by accurately suggtg that their sexual orientatn and/or genr inty is a choice and therefore n and should be “cured” or “changed. Anti-LGBTQ Terms Mastream Media Should Avoid“fag, ” “faggot, ” “dyke, ” “homo, ” “sodome, ” and siar ephetsWhile some the muny have reclaimed and e the words to scribe themselv, the creria for mastream news media g the rogatory terms should be the same as those applied to vulgar ephets ed to target other groups: they should not be ed except a direct quote that reveals the bias of the person quoted or if a LGBTQ person the term to scribe themself. So that such words are not given credibily the media, is preferred that reporters say, “The person ed a rogatory word for a lbian/gay/bisexual/transgenr/queer person” except when a LGBTQ person the term to scribe themself.

GLAAD, formerly Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn, anizatn created 1985 that is voted to unterg discrimatn agast lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ) dividuals the media and promotg unrstandg, acceptance, and equaly. The anizatn that later would be named GLAAD was formed November of that year when members of the cy’s gay and lbian muny met to discs their dissatisfactn wh the suatn— particular, the portrayal of AIDS the New York Post—and the need to take a stand agast the famatory and sensatnalistic media verage. They ially anized unr the name the Gay and Lbian Anti-Defamatn League but changed 1986 to the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn (GLAAD) after pyright issu were raised wh the origal name.

GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)

Issu that have drawn signifint GLAAD attentn clu the media’s portrayal of the gay marriage movement, hate-motivated crim, antigay advocy, the hate lyrics found the songs of some mil artists, dulent advertisg found ads om the “ex-gay” movement, and the bullyg of LGBTQ group prents annual media awards at ceremoni generally held New York Cy, Los Angel, and San Francis. The first GLAAD awards were prented 2013 the anizatn chose to disntue the e of “Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn” and elected to stead e s longtime acronym, GLAAD, as s official name.

This is reflectg the extremely recent history of the stggle for gay liberatn; equal legal rights were reluctantly granted to gay people, yet whout acpanyg methods of rercement or tn, such legislative chang the UK did not immediately lead to equaly for gay people. Contrary to the school curriculum’s prcriptive narrativ that wh legal gay rights me equaly, the stggle for gay rights, an end to rampant homophobia, or the btal police treatment of gay people, did not end wh legal chang.

GLAD TO BE GAY

Growg up wh gay parents, I know this to be te om my personal memori, and whilst I nnot attempt to entirely unrstand the experience of growg up gay ten, twenty, or thirty years ago, I n touch upon my recent experienc as the dghter of a gay uple to give some sight to the suatn.

‘Glad To Be Gay’My spiratn for this article was origally Tom Robson Band’s song, first released 1978, lled ‘Glad To Be Gay’ which, after listeng to first several months ago, ntued to echo my md for some time. Inially misguid by the happy notatn and tone of the mic, the lyrics h me hard; still, when I listen to this song I feel emotnal, and grieve for everyone who grew up durg a time – not so long ago – when beg gay was not socially accepted by most.

MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH

The song opens wh a thls illtratn of the state of Bra regards to homophobia and the treatment of gay people, spe the legalizatn of homosexualy the Sexual Offenc Act of 1967, (albe wh an unequal age of nsent pared to heterosexualy). The openg l offer a sarstic nial of the homophobic police btaly that was rife Bra; police equently raidg gay bars, physilly assltg, and verbally harassg gay people.

This led me to thk about the experienc of my own parents such s, and realize what a urageo thg was to be openly gay a time when homophobia was not only socially accepted, by actively perpetrated by the police, stutns, and employe. Yet the chos, wh the eponymo lyrics, ‘Sg if you’re glad to be gay, sg if you’re happy that way’ remds of the empowerg value beg open and standg proud, the face of jtice–every person who openly intified as homosexual or who volly supported this ntributed to the materializatn of progrs. Robson’s lyrics expose the hypocrisi popular media pani nmng homosexualy for beg explic, whilst simultaneoly slappg hyper-sexualized imag objectifyg women all across their pag.

The fal verse turns to the realy of beg gay the UK the 1970s, addrsg the persecutn of gay people, the unequal age of nsent, and the qutn of rponsibily not only for those who were gay but also for iends and alli. This is bee foc on the monplace cricism of gay people beg aquate parents, a sentiment which has been voiced by criqu, policians, and even everyday people teractns throughout my life. The homophobic crique agast lbian women beg mothers, a crique of the basic right to motherhood, only dit how enormoly brave each lbian who beme a mother mt have been – the odds were fely not their favor.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

The first time I realized this was primary school; the word ‘gay’ was flung about abundantly as an sult, although I did not ially rrelate this to my parents’ sexualy.

Fortunately, our school was que progrsive, wh a diverse mixture of children om a variety of backgrounds: workg class, middle class, Mlim, Christian, ternatnal… At this time, any discsn of homosexualy was sentially absent om curriculums, yet our school ma an active effort to enforce equaly and did not tolerate discrimatn any form.

I soon realized that this playground lgo was imative, and not ually tend as homophobia cricism - most children were too young to even know what beg gay meant. I learned to disnnect om such vert stanc of homophobia when younger, however as I grew olr, I learned to pot out that was wrong to e such terms, and I gradually learned to be open and vol about havg gay parents.

GAY

If anyone readg this was brought up by gay parents, you will unrstand what I mean when I talk about that awkward, advertent, slightly-unnecsary-feelg ‘g out’ to your iends, not about you beg gay, but about your parents. She even remarked that if my parents pretend, for the sake of her own prejudic, to be two sisters, then she would sell the ticket– was explicly homophobic behavr, hdsight. My siblgs and I were serly embarrassed by the cint, which attracted some hant looks om people nearby, but I now look back wh pri, that my parents stood up for their sexualy, for their rights, and for our fay– is people like them that we have to thank for the crease acceptance for beg gay, and the tolerance of homophobia at least publicly the UK and much of Europe today.