The contemporary LGBT movement began in 1969, but the fight for their rights has been going on for centuries, only the way of protesting and displaying his grievances changed over time. The legalization of same-sex marriage was only recently achieved and the road to it has been slow. This essay will first discuss the history of the gay rights movement and the circumstances before 1969. Then, it will discuss important events that took place after the start of the contemporary LGBT movement and how it led to the eventual legalization of this movement. sexual marriages. Finally, the factors that led people to protest for the LGBT community will be discussed and how this specifically contributed to the legalization process. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original Essay “A gay rights movement, also called the gay rights movement or gay liberation movement, is a movement for civil rights which advocates equal rights for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people; seeks to eliminate sodomy laws prohibiting homosexual acts between consenting adults; and calls for an end to discrimination against gay men and lesbians in employment, credit lending, housing, public accommodations and other areas of life. The population of the United States had been aware of homosexual activity for centuries, but it was frowned upon to the point that any form of homosexual activity was criminalized. Those caught engaging in homosexual activity were executed, whipped, and fined by the court. In the 17th century, even wearing clothing of the opposite sex would lead to public humiliation. The situation was so serious that sodomy committed by women or men became punishable by mutilation rather than death. But humans are creatures of rebellious nature, many letters and writings have been found from times when people openly admitted their love for a person of the same sex or men secretly dressed as women and vice versa. Additionally, “joya” (a man living as a woman) was common in local villages in the 18th century. Later, in 1948, a study on sexuality was conducted by Kinsey in the United States and found that 28% of American women and 50% of American men had "homosexual tendencies", which shocked the American public. Eventually, after years of struggle, the first organization in the United States advocating tolerance of homosexuality was founded in Los Angeles by Harry Hay in 1950, and in 1962, Illinois became the first state to decriminalize sexual acts between people of the same sex. Initially, women were largely left out and the movement was dominated by men, focusing solely on gay rights. However, influenced by the feminist movements of the 1970s, lesbians formed their own collectives, record labels, bookstores and newspapers. Eventually, the gay rights movement became known as the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) movement. However, the June 1969 "Stonewall Riots" in New York are considered the starting point of the modern LGBT rights movement. Police raided a bar, called the Stonewall Inn, that served as a sanctuary for the city's lesbian, gay and transgender groups. Such raids were common on the basis of operations without a proper liquor license. However, that night, the public decided to fight back. While the bar employees andthe transvestites were loaded into the police vans, the onlookers outside began to insult the police and throw coins and even bottles at them. People resisted arrest and started attacking the police. Gay activists took advantage of this moment and gathered at Stonewall after the riots to raise awareness of the LGBT movement and in 1970 the first Gay Pride parade began at Stonewall. Over time, the movement gained support and most people demonstrated for LGBT rights. “In the last decade of the 20th century, millions of Americans watched actress Ellen DeGeneres come out on national television in April 1997, heralding a new era of gay celebrity power and media visibility. " Then came the 21st century and there has been a marked emphasis on transgender activism and an increasing use of terms that challenge binary gender identification. Images of transgender women have become more prevalent in film and television, as well as of same-sex couples raising children, for example on the show "Modern Family." The Internet has played a huge role in the popularity and awareness of the movement. The LGBT movement is a perfect example of both a movement for personal change and a movement that seeks institutional change. Personal change because he wanted to change the system of human values, their way of thinking by emphasizing the importance of giving their rights to gays, trans and lesbians and institutional change because they wanted to change the laws that criminalized homosexual acts and, once, the fundamental principles When the rights were acquired, they wanted to legalize same-sex marriages. Regardless of the overwhelming support for the LGBT movement, many people in all 50 U.S. states were still against same-sex marriages. In 1993, “Hawaii's highest court ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage could run afoul of the state's constitution. The state's voters disagreed, however, and passed a law in 1998 banning same-sex marriage. Even as the right to marry has gone backwards, gay rights advocates have won other victories, such as allowing judges to impose harsher penalties on people who commit crimes on the basis of of the sexual orientation of the victim and the abolition of the anti-sodomy law. . It took a few years for the majority of people to be convinced to grant the LGBT community equal marriage rights, as activists and movement leaders created the scenario that the "movement represented a effort to make the democratic and revolutionary ideals of the nation more real.” It was a deeply patriotic struggle. » This was important because citizens of the United States are mostly liberals and the state is known for its open-minded ideologies. Furthermore, in a democracy, all citizens are supposed to have equal rights, regardless of their ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. Therefore, calling the movement a patriotic struggle gained it great support. Additionally, many cases have been brought before the Supreme Court regarding the issue of same-sex marriages. There have also been many cases that the Supreme Court has not heard, for example; United States Department of Health and Human Services v. Massachusetts, Office of Personnel Management v. PEDERSON, and Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives v. WINDSOR. Although the Supreme Court heard four casesmain ones that led to the legalization of same-sex marriages, the main one being "United States versus Windsor". This case challenged the legality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman and allowed states to refuse to recognize the union of same-sex couples. There have been eight other cases that have questioned the same legality of the Defense of Marriage Act, but fortunately, this particular case has made it through the lower courts all the way to the Supreme Court. After hearing this case, Justice Kennedy issued his opinion on June 26, 2013. He concluded that the Defense of Marriage Act entrenched inequality throughout the United States Code and demeaned legally married people between people of the same sex. Therefore, same-sex marriages were not fully legalized, but it did prohibit state oversight in state matters involving same-sex marriages. It was finally on June 26, 2015, exactly two years later, that the United States Supreme Court overturned all bans on same-sex marriages and legalized them in all 50 states in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. Now coming to the factors that led to the legalization of same-sex marriages, or in broader terms, the legalization of same-sex marriages. Basically what caused the people of the United States to protest and demand the legalization of same-sex marriages. Above all, marriage is an individual choice for each person, and by restricting the right to legally marry, the government was violating the human rights of gays, transgenders and lesbians. Many states allow gay people to marry, but this is not legally recognized. This meant that in the event of a divorce, property would not be fairly divided between both spouses or the divorce laws would not apply to them, leading to greater grievances. In the 21st century, almost every aspect of life is widely recognized and the Internet has facilitated the flow of information from one part of the world to another. People protest even for things that don't directly affect them, just because they are important human rights. A recent example would be the occupation of Kashmir by Indian forces, who took control of Kashmir and tortured Kashmiri citizens, violating their basic human rights. human rights and United Nations protocols. Thanks to the Internet, almost everyone in the world was aware of these violations and the smallest details of what was happening there. People around the world protested this occupation and forced the Indian government to lift the curfew, even though they were not directly affected by the Indian government's actions. Similarly, in the United States, many people, who were neither gay, lesbian, nor transgender, demonstrated for LGBT rights, even though it would not directly affect them, because they realized that refusing to someone's right to marry was contrary to their fundamental rights. . Furthermore, the American state “traditionally does not impose many obstacles or restrictions on marriage, apart from age and blood relationship; This is one reason why the Defense of Marriage Act and other explicit limitations on marriage stand out so clearly in the American legal lexicon. studying the role of emotions in why people protest. Obviously, gays, lesbians, and transgender people protested because it directly affected them, but they gained support for the movement by using emotions as a tool to attract people. In this case, the emotions did not come biologically but wererather been created by the social context. However, different emotions were at play in different people; most were protesting because they felt sympathy towards the LGBT community as they were being discriminated against. Furthermore, as the movement's leaders had described the movement as a kind of patriotic struggle, many were motivated by this and wanted to maintain their country's tradition of never denying an individual's basic rights. Others were angry at the government for the same reason: it discriminated against a particular community. Some might even use LGBT movement protests as a way to express their anger and grievances, about something else, at these protests. Likewise, being a democratic country, American citizens can easily gather in the streets to protest or participate in rallies and parades, unlike people in authoritarian countries like the Middle East, where same-sex marriages are still not legalized. . Because of the cultural context and the ability of people to come together and gain more support for the movement, collective action was easier. The LGBT movement is a great example of the success of collective action; the massive number of people protesting for one thing led to its success. A criticism of collective action theory is that people have difficulty aligning their goals and cooperating with each other. This is why protests generally fail and "members are more likely not to act in the common interest of the group unless motivated by personal gains." Perhaps this is why it took years of protest to finally legalize same-sex marriage, but such changes in the law and in human value systems take years to break down and change. Furthermore, another factor is that the exclusion of gay men was not only in terms of marriage, but also in other aspects of life, such as in the workplace. Individuals could not openly announce their sexual orientation for fear of being fired from their job or higher position. People who had concealed their identity were mostly discriminated against compared to those who kept it disclosed. Waldo (1999) found that “those who experienced discrimination had higher levels of psychological distress and health problems as well as lower levels of job satisfaction.” It also found that those who revealed their sexuality were more likely to experience direct forms of discrimination and harassment. There are also many cases where people who revealed their sexual orientation were paid less than other employees. However, as the movement gained more support, many people began to "come out" in the workplace, regardless of their status. consequences, as a means of achieving social change. A still passive form of discrimination remains a problem from other employees and senior managers. Furthermore, “silence (by gay men) was used as a form of exclusion, creating significant barriers in how gay men could make themselves visible and have their voices heard within organizations. » This definitely adds to people's grievances, not being able to be yourself in your daily life is challenging and affects a person's mental health. Finally, the Citizens' Initiative Law is an obvious trend that has legalized same-sex marriages. "According to the Initiative and Referendum Institute website, out of the five./148694965