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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1992)
Queer Culture 101 i . r. — Making headway against discrimination Good morning class. Welcome to Queer Culture 101. I know you are all excited about the upcoming semester. We will be discussing a wide range of subjects — from the politics of outing, to homosexual identity as a social construction. Before weean discuss such com plex issues, 1 think it is important that we hit on some of the current issues facing gay, lesbian and bi sexual people in our'sociely One of the major issues would be that of anti-gay discrimination. There arc currently seven slates that have enacted laws that outlaw anti-gay discrimination. W isconsin, Massachusetts, I la waii,Connecticut, Newjersey, Ver mont and California all have poli cies to prevent anti-gay discrimina tion in housing or employment or both. On the negative side, Colorado and Oregon will be voting in the general election on anti-gay rights initiatives that would pre-empt any attempt to ban anti-gay discrimina tion in their stales. There isalsoabill on Capitol I lill that would enact a federal anti-gay discrimination policy if passed. This bill currently has more than 100 sponsors in Congress but has not been introduced onto the floor of the 1 louse or Senate. In Nebraska ibis pasl year, an anti-gay discrimination law was introduced for the first time i nto the legislature. Legislative Bill 1270 was intro duced to the Judiciary Committee by Sen. 1 tail of Omaha. There was an open hearing on the bill with testimony from many people but the bill never left committee. The bill is slated to be reintroduced again next year. Another issue of importance to gays and lesbians is the criminalization of our sexuality in several slates. Currently 25statesstill have anti sodomy laws on the books. These laws outlaw consensual gay sex by individuals in the privacy of their own homes. Though seldom enforced, these laws are still constantly used to legitimize discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual people. These laws were upheld as consti tutional in 1987 in Bowers v. I lardwick when the Supreme Court relied on the Bible to justify its decision. Nebraska docs not currently have ananii sodomy law. It was removed during the 1970s. Another important issue: Queer families are seldom recognized as legitimate families In 1989 Den G L S A A E T S IY S U S B D O OCTOBER | E O 21st-Relationships /\ fvj 28th-Lesbian and Gay Kl ~T A Assertiveness I " NOVEMBER 4th-Parents of Gays and Lesbians g-^ 11th-Bowling ^ I8th-Multicultural Panel N l3th-Dlscussion with other VV-\- Gay and Lesbian Groups \ / ?Oth--Roller-skatlng n g ti-Gay/Lesblan Parenting 3rd-No meeting (Film Festival) - - 10th-Self defense // ^17th~Hotnosexuality 101/History of Lincoln 24th-Legai Issues \ \ / Jg MARCH . t g 3rd-Bisexuality \ Jg 10th~Rellgious Spiritual Topics 17th--Movie N$ht J 24th--Lesblan Inclusion In the feminist Movement 31 st-The TWo Types of Activism APRIL \\ fJg 9th-Gay/Lesblan Prom 1 Alb-Chancellor's Office oh Gay/Lesblan Issues 21 st-Gay/Lesblan Suicide 28th-Pot Luck y - a Because same sex couples have no auto matic rights with each other, gay, les bian and bisexual people must make expensive legal ar rangements to take advantage of rights that heterosexual people take for granted. -ft - mark became the first country to recognize gay and lesbian partner ships. Sa me sex cou pies are gra n ted all the rights of married couples with the exception of the right to adopt children. I n the United States there arc just a few cities where people can reg ister their domestic partnerships, but this doesn’t necessarily grant these couples any rights. This failure to recognize queer families as legitimate creates many problems for gay, lesbian and bi sexual people. If your partner is in the hospital, you can be denied acceisslfo visiting him or her because you are not considered immediate family. If your partner should die, the person’s family automatically has more control over the funeral ar rangements even though you may have been with that person for 20 years. because same sex couples have no automatic rights with each other, gay, lesbjan and bisexual people must maketjxpensive legal arrange ments to lake advantage of rights that heterosexual people take for granted. Well class, we have talked about the enactment of anti-gay discrimi nation laws, the criminalization of same-sex sexuality and the legiti macy of queer families. These are only a few of the issues most gays, lesbians and bisexuals must deal with on a daily basis. 1 hope that this information has provided you with some sort of framework that will enable you to be more aware of the conditions of queers in our society. — Paul A. Moore is an openly queer Senior, speech communication major and Diversions Contributor. Internalized homophobia Self-discrimination worst of enemies Many gay, lesbian and bisexual people must combat a hidden en emy before they are able to come to an acceptance of their same-sex orientation: internalized homophobia. Judy Allen, a psychology profes sor at Drake University, in a presen tation at the Iowa Bisexual/Gay/ Lesbian SludentConfcrcncein Feb ruary 1992, presented research on the effects of internalized homophobia. Her research found that most people had few good things to say about homosexuals. It was hard for people to associate positive terms such as trustworthy, lawful and creative with the term homosexual. She said that growing up in a hetcroscxually dominated society, we are bombarded, from an early age, with negative terms and feel ings that society associates with homosexuality. Thiscausesus to create a schema in our thinking process that makes us associate these negative terms with homosexuality. As we mature and our natural homosexual tendencies begin to surface, the only experiences or schemas we have to draw knowl edge from arclhedistortcd, twisted, sick images that our parents, media and religions have given us. We begin to see ourselves as wicked creatures that will never be -44 We begin to see our selves as wicked creatures that will never be happy and are destined to bum in hell We are forced into hiding, hoping that these feelings will someday disap pear, yet knowing that they will forever be an important part of us. -*t - - happy and are destined lo burn in hell. We are forced into hiding, hoping that these feelings will some day disappear, yet knowing that they will forever be an important part of us. Given this information, it is easy to see why, according to a report by the Department of I lealth and 1 lu man Services, teens questioning their sexuality commit suicide at three times the rale of their straight counterparts. Combatting these negative im ages accredited to homosexuals will not be easy. We must encourage integrity within the lesbian, bisexual andgay community. We must show people that being homosexual isn’t just sex, the way you dress, or the 1 way you talk. We must demonstrate to the public that homosexuals can have a healthy sense ofself, lead produc tive lives, and be an asset to the community. We need to set healthy role-models for our youth, letting them sec homosexuals in positive terms. - By doing this we can hope that someday when people hear the word homosexuality, they will draw from their schema the many posi tive aspects of what the word mea ns. — David Holkovac is a sophomore soci ology major and a Diversions contribu tor Brian Shellito/DN I AM stand whoiam A Poem By I AM Paul Moore love, commit ment 1 AM honesty and who i am truth why can’t i why can’t be they accept who i am who i am I AM I AM news, movies catholic, books from lutheran libraries all organized why can’t religions they be why must who i am they con 1 AM demn choice, who i am preference I AM just a phase father, parent ■/ -* -o* ’ — (hey believe children who i am why can’t this I AM be ’queer, faggot who i am the medical; I AM homosexual caring, loving why must wouldn’t hurt they label anyone who i am why can’t I AM they respect walk, talk who i am appearance I A\1 of “man” rejection, why must i violence hide loss of life who i am why must i I AM fear excellence, who i am perfection I y\M highest of mother, expectations father why must i will they call prove why can’t who i am they love I AM whoiam friends, I AM family who i am society of why can’t i oppression be . . . why can’t they under- I AM *