Racism & Sexism paper #2

Reaction Paper #2
Buena Vista University
Phil 361

Introduction:
The history of gay and lesbian legal status in the United States is a patchwork of delayed, denied and precarious rights affected more by bigotry and sexism than by Constitutional law. Beginning with the case of the Stonewall Inn raid in 1969, to second grader Marcus McLaurin being punished in 2003 for saying he had two moms, to the lawsuit filed by Nancy Wadington for the harassment she suffered in her high school, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) individuals have been at the mercy of a legal system that has slowly and inconsistently recognized their right to be considered equal with their hetero-normative peers.

The Movement Begins at the Stonewall Inn
In 1969 the New York City police raid on the Stonewall Inn targeted the establishment’s gay, lesbian and transgender patrons for arrest based on their sexual orientation and their public gathering, which was considered illegal. But Paula L. Ettelbrick points out that what made this case different from hundreds of others was that the customers refused to go quietly, leading to what was called the Stonewall Rebellion. (Ettelbrick 2007) She shows that this active resistance came on the heels of decades of open discrimination, where states had laws on the books making sodomy, even in the privacy of one’s own home, illegal, where landlords and employers could freely deny accommodations and the right to make a living on the basis of sexual orientation, and LGBTRQ people were officially considered mentally ill (Ettelbrick, 2007).

Marcus McLaurin and Lafayette, LA Parish Schools
In 2006, while the court case was going on, Associated Press reported that on November 11, 2003 second grader Marcus McLaurin was disciplined for explaining that he had two mommies because his mother was gay. According to a scanned copy filed with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) he was directed to fill out a Student Behavior Contract addressed to his mother which stated in his own handwriting that his behavior violation was saying “bad wurds” for saying his mother was gay and what that meant, and that next time he should “cep his mouf shut” (ACLU, 2003). According to the AP article, Marcus’s mother, Sharon Huff, said she was shocked that her son had been told his family was a dirty word.

Nancy Wadington and the Holmdel, NJ School District
According to a 2005 story in the Newark NJ Star Ledger by Judy Peet, beginning in 2001 when as a freshman in high school Nancy Wadington was outted as a lesbian teen, she was subjected to horrific emotional and physical abuse. Despite pleas from Ms. Wadington’s mother, the principal did nothing even when the abuse culminated in the teen being shoved down a flight of stairs. Rather than deal with the perpetrators, the school classified her as “emotionally disturbed” and reassigned her to a private high school for special education students (Peet, 2005). The case was eventually settled by mediation through the efforts of Lambda Legal, with Ms. Wadington bound not to disclose the terms of the settlement (Lambda Legal, 2008).

Conclusion
It is obscene that in the 21st century LGBTQ individuals must still face these battles for basic human rights and dignity. Ettelbrick makes a convincing case for progress, citing the United States Census Bureau now enumerating same sex households (2007), but points out how very far there is still to go. Overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act should be a high priority, as should enacting laws which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, which are still lacking in 75% of states (Ettelbrick, 2007).

Gays and lesbians are gagged by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Rule” which keeps them from serving openly in the military, even at a time when the Unites States is fighting two wars and the armed services are terribly understaffed. While the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts have removed the prohibition against same sex couples marrying, dozens more have passed constitutional amendments enshrining discrimination in the supreme laws of the states. Californians recently passed Proposition 8, which rolled back the state Supreme Court’s ruling that same sex couples were entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as opposite sex couples, and attempted to invalidate all marriages performed under the earlier ruling.

The intent of the authors of these pieces is to show that these are only a few of the indignities to which LGBTQ individuals and their families are subjected, and also to issue a call to action. It is the responsibility of every individual to work for the recognition of the full humanity of every member of our community, irregardless of race, sex, age, disAbility, national origin, faith or lack thereof, and sexual orientation.

References
American Civil Liberties Union (2003) McLaurin Behavior Contract, retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://www.aclu.org/FilesPDFs/mclaurin%20behavior%20contract.pdf

Associated Press (2006) Paula S. Rothenberg (Ed), Boy Punished For Talking About Gay Mom in Race, Class, And Gender In the United States (seventh edition) (p. 319)

Ettelbrick, Paula L, Paula S. Rothenberg (Ed), Lesbian and Gay Rights In Historical Perspective in Race, Class, And Gender In the United States (seventh edition) (pp 586-590)

Lambda Legal press release (2008) Wadington vs. Holmdel Township Board of Education, retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://www.lambdalegal.org/our-work/in-court/cases/wadington-v-holmdel.html

Peet, Judy (2005) Newark New Jersey Star Ledger, Paula S. Rothenberg (Ed), Lesbian Sues School District Over Harassment in Race, Class, And Gender In the United States (seventh edition) (pp 317-318)

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