Current Event Entry

The topic of gay and lesbian is a topic that has continued to progress ever since it first emerged in the early 20th century into today's society. It is a topic that is still working in today's society to gain equality because there are still various areas in society that gays and lesbians are denied equal rights. For example, the military is one area. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy of 1993 that prevented homosexual troops to be openly gay while in the military still applies today, where gay advocates are trying to repeal that ban. Other, however, want the ban to remain because they believe that it preserves the military's foundation of unity and organization. They believe that allowing homosexuals to be openly gay in the military would disrupt that unity and organization, which the military cannot function without. Advocates of lifting the ban, in contrast, believe that it's time to give homosexuals that right because they claim that it wouldn't negatively affect the military's unity at all. Instead, it would give perfectly capable, determined troops the privilege to not have to hide that part of their being and risk becoming discharged. A new aspect of this issue is that some activists also question the president's commitment to repealing the ban as he promised he would do. So now the government becomes involved and their role is extremely significant because they are the ones who make the final decision. The same thing goes with legalizing gay marriage. Legalizing gay marriage is also a difficult topic to discuss because, again, people have their own opinions and beliefs about it and there is always going to be disagreement. One author, Samuel G. Freedman, believed that legalizing gay marriage would improve social stability. His reasons showed another aspect of why gay marriage should be legal everywhere. He said, "As imperfectly as we practice it, marriage nonetheless connotes responsibilities and obligations beyond those of the unattached individual or of the couple, whether gay or straight, who simply live together." He believes that marriage brings along the responsibilities and obligations that the couple must have and that it should be everyone's right, regardless of their sexual orientation, to have the privilege of being able to get legally married. He explains how their is a difference between being a couple and being legally married together. That being married brings all of the responsibilities that everyone should have the chance to experience. In contrast to Freedman's opinion, Kate Burns, author of another article, believes that gay marriage would harm society by compromising the "true nature of marriage." Burns believes in keeping tradition and that changing something that has been the foundation of society for so many years would destroy society itself. She says, "Ultimately, the reason to protect traditional heterosexual marriage is to prevent the alteration of fundamental unwritten laws that organize human society." Burns believes that the reason of why it is so necessary to protect traditional heterosexual marriage, is to preserve these essential, already understood laws that keep society in order. Another one of Burns reasons for preventing the legalization of gay marriage is because she thinks that it would compromise the happiness of children because they wouldn't have that support and guidance of a mother and father figure that is essential to the children being happy.
There exists a main obstacle that gays and lesbians need to overcome. And that is the "fear of the unknown" that society has. There is no possible way of knowing whether or not legalizing gay marriage or gays in the military will destroy the foundation of society. No one can predict the future. The only thing that people can do is experience and learn to accept.