The Big Picture

Why’s this important?  Hmmm, let me see. Well, we are not giving equal opportunism solely based off who we love! How, in any way shape or form, does who we love determine human abilities on anything other than what they do in the bedroom? People continue to demean or degrade because they don’t understand. Weird, much like politics.

We all have different views on what is right, and we all fight like hell to prove why we are right, with hard facts.  College students, specifically, are at a time in their lives when many of them feel they can be open and be honest. We’re at a new place with all new people who don’t know that much about each other.  So, we can be who we have always felt that we are, or we can shy away and fear the truth just because some people can’t “get with the times.”

We all feel differently about certain things; that is why we are divided into different subgroups (cultures, religions), but like most things, we all disagree on what we agree to disagree on, and move on. LGBTQ rights is something you have to understand, even if it doesn’t seem to affect you.

What is the Issue?

What does LGBTQ even mean? Many people don’t even know what the actual letters stand for and believe it just means “gay people.” Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning is the meaning of the acronym.  LGBTQ helps centralize the people as a unit who have been looked down upon from pretty much the beginning of time.  People have evolved a little and become more accepting about who people love, but not all political parties agree with the severity and problems that LGBTQ people face.

What do the Parties Say?

The Democratic Party platform designates an entire section on their views of how they support LGBTQ rights. Democrats applaud the right to marry by Supreme Court, and they will fight for the continued development of sex discrimination law to cover LGBT people. The party will also fight for comprehensive federal nondiscrimination protections for all LGBT Americans, to guarantee equal rights in areas such as housing, employment, public accommodations, credit, jury service, education, and federal funding. The Democrats oppose state efforts discriminating against LGBTQ people. They support religious freedom that respects pluralism and rejects the misuse of religion to discriminate. The Democratic Party will combat LGBT youth homelessness and improve school climates. They will support LGBT elders, ensure access to necessary health care, and protect LGBT people from violence— including ending the crisis of violence against transgender Americans. They will also promote LGBT human rights and ensure America’s foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people around the world. So clearly the Democratic Party is willing to do any and everything to make sure that everyone is looked at and treated the same, unlike the Republican party.

The Republican Party Platform states that all families should be “traditional,” meaning one man and one woman. They also mention a part about condemning the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, which wrongly removed the ability of Congress to define marriage policy in federal law.  Personally, they just sound ignorant to me, but who am I to say, I’m not a rich white man, so I barely even have a say at all, right?

To continue with the party platforms, the Libertarian Party Platform touches on sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws.  Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships. So, here we have another group who knows what they are talking about.

Lastly the Socialist Party Platform section on Human Rights recognizes the human and civil rights of all, without regard to sexual orientation, they call for the end of all anti-gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBTQ) restrictions in law and the work place, the repeal of all sodomy laws, and the legalization of same-sex marriage. They call on all schools to adopt policies and procedures to address and prevent student violence and to ban discrimination against GLBTQ people throughout the educational system. They call for a federal ban on all forms of job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Socialist Party is committed to confronting the heterosexism that provides the fertile ground for homophobic violence, and support all efforts toward fostering understanding and cooperation among persons and groups of differing sexual orientations.

What Do Our Candidates Say?

An article written in LGBTQ Nation mentions an instance with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In July on the last day at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Gay News invited both presidential candidates to speak about LGBTQ and only Hillary Clinton decided to speak on the topic. Clinton stated, that we need to stop the violence and protect LGBTQ lives. She goes on to talk about how LGBTQ is now the most common group for hate crime, and as a country we shouldn’t discriminate on who people love. With Donald Trump not responding to LGBTQ, one can infer that he is completely against what they stand for.

Why does this matter?

I read another article in LGBTQ Nation about a man believing that same sex marriage is going to lead to mass killing and chaos. It’s people like him and Donald Trump that are going to lead to mass killings and chaos because they are so ignorant. There are no facts or validity behind the statements that they make; it’s just pure ignorance. There needs to be a separation between not only the Bible and the law, but all religious and cultural groups and the law. Until haters take the hate out of their hearts, Americans will continue to live in this unfit world.

But times are changing. Many people are becoming more accepting of the LGBTQ community because they are starting to realize that who you end the night with and want to spend your days with has no effect on anyone but the people in the situation.