11. November 2009 by student.

The issue of gay rights is not one of minimal importance, affecting only gays or small communities. Rather, it is a topic concerning American society as a whole. The issue spans from marriage laws to hate crimes. The homosexual community, generally accepted as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) has been fighting for equality for many years. Their efforts and goals affect not only them, but also their friends, family, communities, and networks.

            The struggle for gay rights parallels the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In both cases, people were denied basic rights based on who they were, something they could not and cannot change. The gay community is a minority, and is discriminated upon as such in the professional field, real estate, and many other various aspects of daily life.  Throughout American history, accepting a minority group has always taken time. Negative attitudes and conflict between groups is common. However, it is appalling to me that these negative attitudes are reflected and encouraged by our legislation.  Although Florida is one of many states that has not legalized gay marriage, it is one of only two states that has not legalized gay adoption. Why are we not doing more to change this? One prime example of these unfair laws that always comes to mind to prove how unjust they truly are is a case in Florida in 1996. An eleven year old girl was taken away from her lesbian mother and custody was given to the father, a convicted murderer and accused child molester. The judge ruled that this man was a better-fit parent than a lesbian. How could this happen?

            The solution to the issue of gay rights is simple: equality. Homosexuals should not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. They are a minority group that is not receiving equal rights. The solution to this problem is to give them the rights they deserve. Allow them to serve in our military, legalize marriage that includes the benefits that heterosexuals receive in marriage, include violent acts against homosexuals in hate crime laws and subsequent punishments. Just as people of various races should not be judged based on their skin color, people should not be judged or discriminated against because of who they love. Sexual orientation is part of a person, but it does not and should not define them, and thus they should not be treated differently than anyone else.

            Research proves that sexual orientation is not a choice, hence why it was changed from sexual “preference” to “orientation” in 1982. The common reasons for discriminating against homosexuals include religious reasons and beliefs that homosexuals molest children or have an agenda that includes taking over the country. Although the Bible does say that laying with a man as one lays with a woman is an “abomination,” it says the same about eating shellfish. People who eat shrimp are not prevented from getting married or discriminated against in any apparent way. There is also no evidence that suggests there are any more homosexual child molesters than heterosexual, and there is no evidence or claim by homosexuals that they have an agenda that involves anything other than equal rights. Research also shows that although gays have been continually discriminated against throughout history, the have been gaining support and momentum as time goes on. Studies show an increasing acceptance of and comfortableness with homosexuality. They also show that interaction with homosexuals positively correlates with acceptance. The numbers supporting gay marriage are also increasing.  As many fighters in this battle have said, including politician Harvey Milk, if every homosexual came out, the battle would be over. So for all of those that are still in the closet, we need to open our mouths for them and fight for their rights. America was built on freedom and the pursuit of happiness, so we should all want to fight to get back to these ideals. For justice and equality.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Convicted+killer,+not+lesbian+mother,+awarded+custody+of…-a018341036

http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/hww/results/results_single_ftPES.jhtml

Gallop Poll News Service May 27, 2009

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11. November 2009 by student.

The United States is a nation pulling apart to a degree unknown in the last twenty-five years. A decade of strong national economic growth in the 1990s left many of America’s communities falling far behind median national measures of economic health. Despite the investments in transportation and public facilities infrastructures, massive movements of capital and people, and the expectations of most regional economists over the past forty years, the nation’s regional development patterns are becoming more uneven. Income inequality is on the rise. The number of communities falling behind the national economic average is increasing. This trend has been most pronounced in recent years, when trade liberalization and globalization have greatly opened the American economy. In 2003, it is estimated that almost 25% of the nation’s counties had low per-capita incomes below one half the national average or less, high unemployment, low labor force participation rates, and a high dependency on government transfer payments-all measures of economic distress. Poverty is a complex one that includes communities and individuals who, through no fault of their own, find themselves unable to make ends meet in this globalizing, information-intensive world. People at risk are women, children, and people of color, single-parent families, and the elderly. Large numbers of the nation’s citizens live at or below the poverty threshold, which means each month is a struggle to pay the bills and provide the basics, including food, clothing, and shelter, not to mention access to health care and simple comforts. How can the richest country in the world still have more than 12% of its total population, and al-most 20% of all children under the age of 18, unable to meet, let alone be guaranteed coverage of, basic needs? Today, we are significantly different than we were in 1960, when more than 20% of the population was visibly poor and lacked basic goods, including food, clothing, proper shelter, clean water, heating, health care, and access to decent schools. We are a more diverse population and a more dispersed population; we are older and remain divided by race, income, and location. Certainly, progress has been made over the intervening forty years in terms of an overall minimum standard of living as measured by material conditions.  The lived experience of poor people is starkly different from that of individuals and families who enjoy some degree of economic security as measured by income levels that pro-vide comfortable, worry-free circumstances. However, the gap between the economically secure and the poor is more severe than it was four decades ago. Increasingly, the nation is composed of persons who look to a future in which circumstances include the expectation of more wealth, security, and opportunity; and the alternative, those who struggle to make ends meet. In many families today, children cannot say they expect to be better off than their parents. This is perhaps the greatest challenge now facing our society. About, forty years ago, public officials took a stand against economic deprivation. For a short period of time we made huge strides in reducing economic insecurity. America is again facing this serious challenge. Finally, we can make a difference if we choose to look this issue in the eye and invest in people and communities.

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11. November 2009 by student.

Nowadays it seems that divorce is a common action taking place in America.  When a couple gets married they have a 50% chance of getting divorced in 2009.  This rate keeps rising over the years.  When people get married now everyone wonders if they will stay together, many years ago once you got married you were married for life.  As I mentioned 50% of people get divorced if it is their first married, your second marriage is a 67% rate of getting divorced.  If you get married for a third time then your chance of getting divorced goes up to 74%.  These statistics are very shocking; it shows that marriage isn’t taken as literally and seriously as it used to be.  Another factor to this is age when you get married, the older you are your risk of getting divorced goes down, ages from 20 to 24 have the highest percentage of getting divorced, which is ironic because those are they ages many people are starting to think about marriage. 

                Another issue with divorce is there maybe children involved in the family.  Statistics show that those couples that have children have a little less percentage of getting divorced then these without children.  I’m guessing this is so because the couple with children know that if they get divorced then if doesn’t just affect the couple it affect the children dramatically, so they may try to work it out a little more. 

                Is it better to stuck it out when it isn’t going to change?  Although I think that couples should try to make it work, and not look for the easy way out.  When a problem comes up because it is guaranteed to happen then the couple should look at it and a challenge, and find ways to fix it rather than act defeated.  When something comes up in the marriage the first answer should never be divorce.  With this being said I don’t think a family is considered a happy functional family when the couple is fighting constantly.  In some cases divorce is necessary because some people change and it doesn’t work out, but it takes time and patience to be involved in a marriage and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.  People should go into it and know what they are getting into. 

Divorcerate.  http://www.divorcerate.org/. November 10, 2009.        

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