Abstract. Social class is an important nstct for unrstandg lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) issu. In this chapter, the thors provi an overview of
Contents:
- LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR PERSONS AND SOCENOMIC STAT
- LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR HEALTH
- HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
- LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER MUNY
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
- GAY CLASS
- SOCIAL CLASS, GAY MEN AND AIDS PREVENTN
LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR PERSONS AND SOCENOMIC STAT
* gay and social class *
Gays and lbians, pecially the last 20 years, have actively sought to end what they perceive as prejudice and discrimatn agast them based on their sexual orientatn.
They have worked at all levels of society to change laws, fight job discrimatn and harassment, elimate homophobia and gay bashg (that is, vlence directed toward homosexuals), lobby for fundg to fight the AIDS vis, and te the public about homosexualy and homosexuals. Although many gays and lbians believe they have e a long way toward achievg their goals, others believe they still have much work to do before achievg te “gay liberatn.
The cint prompted the formatn of numero gay rights groups and the anizatn of march, monstratns, and yearly memorative paras and activi, cludg the Gay Pri March.
LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR HEALTH
Gays and lbians, pecially the last 20 years, have actively sought to end what they perceive as prejudice and discrimatn agast them based on their s * gay and social class *
Many people rrectly assume that the gay rights movement began wh the Stonewall rt, when fact more than 40 gay and lbian anizatns were already place at that time. After the Stonewall rt, gays and lbians anized to such polil groups and service agenci as Act Up, the Gay Liberatn Front, Gay Activists Alliance, Gay and Lbian Advot and Defenrs, Lbian Rights Project, Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force, Natnal Gay Rights Advot, and Queer Natn, to name only a few. Fally, on the topic of gay and lbian polil activism, Warren Blumenfeld and Diane Raymond their 1993 book Lookg at Gay and Lbian Life (published by Bean Prs) noted that beg polilly active is risky, and people wh few or promised rights equently nnot afford to take risks.
Neverthels, to fe activism more broadly, any open affirmatn of homosexualy a predomantly heterosexual society is a polil act. And the variety of openly lbian and gay anizatns, polil groups, and service agenci existence monstrat the movement's succs, as well as the velopment of a sense of inty and muny, a “nscns of kd, ” that has grown out of this movement, dramatilly improvg the qualy of life.
HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
Durg Prohibn, gay nightlife and culture reached new heights—at least temporarily. * gay and social class *
Bullyg and vlence agast adolcents and adults thought or known to be gay or lbian nstute perhaps the most ser maniftatn of equaly based on sexual orientatn.
Acrdg to the Feral Bure of Invtigatn (2011), 1, 277 hate crim (vlence and/or property stctn) agast gays and lbians occurred 2010, although this number is very likely an unrtimate bee many hate crime victims do not report their victimizatn to the police.
LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER MUNY
Lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer muny (LGBTQ muny), any untry, regn, cy, or other loly, a group of persons who intify as lbian, gay ( the narrow sense of beg a male who is sexually or romantilly attracted to other mal), bisexual, transgenr, or * gay and social class *
An timated 25 percent of gay men have been physilly or sexually asslted bee of their sexual orientatn (Egan, 2010), and some have been murred. Gay teenagers and straight teenagers thought to be gay are very often the targets of tntg, bullyg, physil asslt, and other abe schools and elsewhere (Denizet-Lewis, 2009). Survey evince dit that 85 percent of LGBT stunts report beg verbally harassed at school, and 40 percent report beg verbally harassed; 72 percent report hearg antigay slurs equently or often at school; 61 percent feel unsafe at school, wh 30 percent missg at least one day of school the past month for fear of their safety; and 17 percent are physilly asslted to the pot they need medil attentn (Kosciw, Greytak, Diaz, & Bartkiewicz, 2010).
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Durg that perd, three male teenagers California, Indiana, and Texas killed themselv after reportedly beg victims of antigay bullyg, and a male llege stunt also killed himself after his roommate broadst a live vio of the stunt makg out wh another male (Talbot, 2010). This ndlelight vigil honored the memory of Matthew Shepard, a gay llege stunt, who was tortured, tied, to a fence, and left to die Wyomg 1998. The study found that 25 percent of gay or lbian teens and 15 percent of bisexual teens are homels the state, pared to only 3 percent of heterosexual teens.
Send, the children that same-sex upl do have through adoptn or artificial means experience var psychologil problems bee their parents are gay or lbian and/or bee they do not have both a father and a mother. Bee more than a has passed sce this notable event, is rmative to exame how, if at all, legalizatn has affected the liv of gays and lbians and the stutn of marriage self the Netherlands.
As Vera Bergkamp, a gay rights lear the Netherlands said, “Gay marriage is Holland’s bt export bee we have shown that is possible. As the first openly gay member of the Dutch parliament who played a key role legalizatn wryly scribed s oute, “Heterosexual upl did not turn away om the stutn of marriage, and nor did the world isolate my untry. Moreover, several stat require that a uple mt be married to be adopted; the stat, a sgle gay or lbian may adopt, but not a same-sex uple.
GAY CLASS
Still, adoptns by same-sex upl have bee more numero recent years bee of the number of children wag for adoptn and bee public opn about gays and lbians has bee more favorable.
SOCIAL CLASS, GAY MEN AND AIDS PREVENTN
If they remaed the closet (hid evince of their sexual orientatn), of urse, they uld serve wh impuny, but many gays and lbians the ary were given dishonorable discharg when their sexual orientatn was disvered.