Your blog assignment here, discussion of which will begin next week, is to find your own specific source of information and write a summary of what you have found, why it is important. Be be sure to include link to article or video.
This assignment will help us begin discussion for your final research project on the history of gay rights in America.
You should be looking for key moments where rights of homosexuals were challenged, abused, fought for. An example in NYC would be the Stonewall Rebellion in Greenwich Village in 1969 where gay protesters were beaten and arrested; in California the story of Harvey Milk, made into a film, shows the fight for recognition and equality that took place. Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in the U.S. in the 1970's.
Here is an excerpt from Oberlin College's LGBT History Website that shows how difficult it was to be gay because that orientation was considered a mental illness:
Especially in the late 1950s and early 1960s, many male narrators recalled being so disturbed by their attractions to other men that they sought psychological help. Mental health professionals, as well as the general public, considered homosexuality to be a mental illness at the time, and it was listed as such by the American Psychiatric Association in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders.
The website goes on to give cases of individuals who testify that they did not want to be gay and tried to go through conversion therapy; others became extremely depressed. The general campus consensus at Oberlin at that time was that "homosexuals were “sick, unnatural, [and] perverted,” recalled one student of that era.
Finally, this is not a particularly authoritative source but I like this summary of the situation in the 50's to the 70's from yahoo.answers.com
No, no one could be openly gay to their friends let alone in public, even
into the 1970s. But in the 1950s, people had to hide their homosexuality
because they could get fired from a job. They had gay bars but these places
were raided by the police just because they were there, and people were
arrested. Being gay was illegal in a lot of states and there were no laws to
protect them. They were considered mentally disturbed, they had to hide their
sexuality and frequently got married and pretended to be straight just to be
accepted in the community. They got attacked and beaten up regularly. It was
considered shameful to be homosexual and Lesbian and people spent their lives
hiding it. (Yahoo Answers.com)
During the 1950s and 60s gay people were not out at all. Many people did not want to even know about a women being with a women or a men being with a man. Looking up this topic i saw how in this time poeple believe that they can so call"cure" gay people. This here shows us the hard times and also brainwashing they did to gay people which i dont believe that it was right at all. I feel that knowing that during this time people really think that there is a cure for beeing gay is crazy and thats why i believe that this is important.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3258041.stm
the idea of the "cure" still goes on today--though some of these institutions have been banned--worth researching?
Deletehttp://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/chris-christie-gay-conversion-therapy-new-jersey-95666.html
Deletethis website shows us that Chris Christie did sign a bill that barring licensed therapists from trying to turn teenagers straight. Many places like California and even Russia did ban therapists from trying to "cure" gay people.
Timeline: Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/stonewall/
??? your thoughts?
Deletehttp://www.gvsu.edu/allies/a-brief-history-of-homosexuality-in-america-30.htm
ReplyDeleteThrough the early 1970s, gay and lesbian communities pushed for anti- discrimination laws, and they were successful in a few cities. By 1977, California even had its first openly gay elected official; Harvey Milk was elected San Francisco City Supervisor from District 5. Nevertheless, it was also in 1977 that Anita Bryant began her anti-gay campaign in Dade County , Florida , which was calculated to repeal Miami 's legal protections for gay citizens. Throughout 1977, there were successful referendum to repeal gay rights laws across the country-in St. Paul Wichita, and Eugene.
this sounds like a direct quotation--what are your thoughts about this information Amanda?
Deletehttp://1967andallthat.blogspot.com/2007/05/gay-life-in-1950s-and-1960s.html
ReplyDeleteThis is another blogspot that talks about the gay community in the 1950's and 60's. it was interesting because as i read it, it says the mostly men were always targeted and faced the most punishment and humiliation while females weren't always punished but was looked down upon on. Which is very interesting because in our mordern time, there is a lot of places who go through the same thing. In my community being gay is more looked down upon on if you are a male then it is for a female. they says for us females, we are "confused" or it's just a "faze"and we will eventually grow out of. which is so insulting because it's making it seem like as females don't know what we want or just too stupid to figure it out unless we have a man in our lives, which is bull.
the question would be why is it less threatening to a community for a woman to be gay than a man? good focus on this side of the issue
Deletehttp://1967andallthat.blogspot.com/2007/05/gay-life-in-1950s-and-1960s.html
ReplyDeleteThis article explains that being a gay man in the 1950's was illegal. (Being lesbian was ignored) and a common way gays were threatened was by blackmail. Victim of 1961 was a film that brought attention to the topic which to me seems like a step towards gay movements. In this time period, it was believed that homosexuality was an illness which some gays sought help through therapy. While other gays joined gay rights groups to empower who they are instead of try to change it. This has brought us where we are today.. one of the groups were The Minorities Research Group (MRG) was formed in 1964.
interesting that you found an early group that created solidarity, protection? worth researching that group?
Deletehttp://www.oberlinlgbt.org/content/Behind-the-Masks/1950s/early-1960s/a-gay-theater-circle-camp-sensibility-and-the-boy-friend-early-1960s.html
ReplyDeleteI found an article that talks about a gay theater circle in the early 60s, at the Oberlin College. The Circle was described as a “secret underground society.”
While the world perceived homosexuality as a mental illness; the circle was able to capitalize on the public’s naïveté and find the “positive side to the oppression”. Perhaps because many started to associate homosexuality with sophistication and artistic talent and not with mental illness. I find it very interesting how they saw a positive side in their oppression. In fact their deeds make me remember the saying "Good is coming out of evil" (from The Laramie Project). They overcame whatever people were saying and enjoyed themselves through art and other likewise activities.
-Sarah Mindana
interesting connection to artistic talent, sophistication--not sure about good coming out of evil because that would mean that homosexuality was the evil?
ReplyDeletehttp://io9.com/5792346/a-documentary-about-fredric-wertham-who-nearly-destroyed-the-comic-book-industry-in-the-1950s I found this to be interesting. People were scared of anything that could popularize homosexuality- especially towards their kids. The fear people had of homosexuality can be compared to the likes of the ''flu'' and the common cold.
ReplyDeleteBeing gay in the 1950s and also 60s were not right at all to people at all. Many people try to fine cures to help gays turn back. i found i website that state different things they use to do to people when they found out that they were gay. Many of these were very hard punishments in different places and this also shows videos to help you understand more.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ranker.com/list/7-worst-capital-punishments-for-being-_illegally_-gay/joanne
http://1967andallthat.blogspot.com/2007/05/gay-life-in-1950s-and-1960s.html
ReplyDeleteThis article states that in 1950s being gay was not tolerated nor aceepted in that time period ,Police activity against gay men was mainly throughout the 1950s. Many homosexuals were blackmailed and scared to show there personalties, although only a fraction came to the attention of the police. Being gay was basically not normal for most people in the 1950s. Alot of people related it to being an illness which was really messed up because that made people uncomfortable with being gay, basically being themselves.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/may/13/running-gay-bar-1950s/
ReplyDeleteSo this link leads to an interview between a writer and a reporter. The book they are speaking about is called Gay Bar. It was written, and published in 1957 by Helen P Bransen. The book speaks about what she had to do to keep her bar open, and make it safe from police raids. It is also significant because it depicts the lives of the gay community in a positive light.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/58649/russia-s-anti-gay-law-spelled-out-in-plain-english
ReplyDeleteIn Russia they have an act not allowing "nontraditional sexual relations" to be displayed in public. Although Russia has protective laws for homosexuals they went around the law to "protect" children from being "exposed" to the life styles of homosexuals.
http://www.oberlinlgbt.org/content/Behind-the-Masks/1950s/early-1960s/homosexuals-as-mentally-ill-late-1950searly-1960s.html
ReplyDeleteI found this website that explains how gays in the 1950s how when male had an attraction to the same sex they thought they had a psychological problem.Gays wanted to be 'fixed'. They wanted to be 'normal' like everyone else they didnt want to be the person they were or becoming in sense. I find this sad because no one in the world is normal , everyone is unique. Just because majority of the people are straight doesnt , mean you have to be straight too.
http://www.davidmixner.com/2010/07/lgbt-history-the-decade-of-lobotomies-castration-and-institutions.html
ReplyDeletein the 1950's being gay was a crime, some open gay people were in danger to be put in jail for maybe a lifetime. in the facility the gay men and women would be in danger of castrations and brutal treatments practiced at that facility. some people looked at being gay as a link to treason
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91751
Even though some people are more open to gay people now and some accept them , there still are people out there that carry great hate still.Judge Connie Wilkerson from Mississippi wrote a letter saying that gay people should look for help with their "disease" in the bible. Greg Nevins, attorney in Lambda Legal's southern district office, said that gay people should be locked away in a mental istatution instead of having a law for them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5m6u9hYMLU
ReplyDeleteThis is a video about the inside look of a gay and lesbian club in the 1950s and early 60s. In the video you can see how free and alive the people were. It was like their escape from the rest of the world since they were always being judged. Girls with girls, guys with guys.
http://www.oberlinlgbt.org/content/Behind-the-Masks/1950s/early-1960s/homosexuals-as-mentally-ill-late-1950searly-1960s.html
ReplyDeleteIn this reading it discusses the fact that in the late 1950' early 1960's homosexuality was considered a mental illness by the general public and health professionals. Homosexuality was even listed by the American Psychiatric Association in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders. The general public was led to believe that homosexuality could be cured through psychotherapy or other extremes. I think it was easy for people of that time to believe that because being straight was considered "normal" so for on to not be straight was something that people wanted answers or solutions for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5m6u9hYMLU
ReplyDeletethe video I just watched with Celene it was an inside video of homosexual clubs in the 1960s where gays and lesbians can be, free and be themselves with people just like them. They show gay males dancing salsa having a good time , girls joking around just having a good time because they couldn't be like that in public.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jun/24/communities.gayrights
ReplyDeleteThis site mentions how homosexuals lived back in the 1960s. Homosexuality was illegal at the time and a large number of gay men were afraid to walk around because they would get stopped and arrested if they were seen out in the open. It states that if people loved one another of the same sex, that they were considered a criminal. I could imagine how people lived back then, with no freedom and always being judged about who they were and what attracted them.