- March 26, 2012
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Sample essay papers
LGBT movement, the gay movement, the movement for the rights of sexual and gender minorities ”“ is the civil social movement that seeks to bring about changes in legislation aimed at promoting and protecting human rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) to contribute to social adaptation of its representatives in the community.
Opponents of the movement for human rights in regard to sexual and gender minorities are a variety of political and religious organizations and movements, collectively referred to as anti-gay movement.
In most modern countries, homosexuality or homosexual activity is not considered a crime. In several countries in Africa and Asia, homosexuality, the manifestations of homosexual activity or even hint at it leads to the criminal offense, which is punishable by imprisonment (in the former Soviet Union) or the death penalty in modern Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, and Mauritania. In such countries, while an open struggle for the rights of sexual and gender minorities is not as involved in it, can pose a threat to freedom and life, as stated in Your Rights Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Workplace. However, many of these countries lobbied by softening the criminal law against homosexuals. Lobbyists are the reformist and moderate liberal forces in the leadership of these countries. In addition, these countries are under international pressure to compel respect for human rights, and among other issues on the agenda (but not the first or most important) costs and the abolition of criminal and administrative penalties for homosexuality or for acts of homosexual activity. As a fact, Middle East does not perceive transgender, lesbians, gays and bisexuals as something normal. Today, around the world (particularly in Western countries) against sexism are favored many political and cultural currents of society. Against sexism are also marginalized social groups and movements such as hippies, anarchists, anti-fascists.
At the same time in many states are still strong and gaining strength the position of religious and secular social movements, organizations and leaders at the position of sexism.
In recent years, there has been a growing movement in support of gay marriage. The registration of same-sex marriage establishes a family rights such as: the right to joint property, the right to alimony, the right to inheritance, social and health insurance, tax rebates and credits, the right to name, the right not to testify in court against a spouse, the right to act confidant on behalf of a spouse in the event of his incapacity due to health, the right to dispose of the body in case of death of a spouse, the right to joint parenting and foster care and other rights, which is denied for the unmarried couples. This movement has reached considerable results in United States, but Middle East still remains against all that.
Opponents of gay marriage argue that by tradition and religious norms in marriage may enter only a man and a woman, but because the requirements of gays and lesbians to recognize them the same right is absurd, and it is not about equal rights of homosexuals and heterosexuals, as homosexuals to provide new unprecedented rights.
Supporters of same-sex marriage indicate that the registration of marriage is the legal effect, regardless of religious norms (in most modern states the legal and ecclesiastical registration of marriage take place separately), and that the law should follow the social changes that lead to the elimination of inequality between people ”“ as it occurs during the last centuries, when the phase out pre-existing ban on registration of marriages (for example, between spouses belonging to different religions or races).
Among countries, reporting same-sex couples that have full marriage rights, are the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland and Argentina. Alternative marriage has legalized same-sex partnerships in many countries (Andorra, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Britain, Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Colombia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Ecuador). In various countries, these same-sex unions may be called by different names. Varied is also the list of rights enjoyed by members of such unions (from the complete set of marital rights to a minimum). In the United States and Mexico at the moment, some regions have legalized same-sex marriages, which led to the heated debates in society and the confrontation of opponents and supporters in the courts, as described in Sexual orientation.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people form a community are called LGBT. LGBT organizations have also advocated the inclusion of the explicit mention of sexual minorities in anti-discrimination laws (or the adoption of specific anti-discrimination laws for sexual minorities). They also sought an explicit reference to sexual orientation and gender identical in the relevant articles of the Constitution guaranteeing equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, age, religion or nationality, as stated in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Equality.
The law on homosexuality in the world, encompassing also bisexual, transgender, transsexual and transvestite, varies according to each country’s culture. Currently there are a variety of laws affect the scope of homosexuality in the world. These differences in the duties relating to homosexuality were present throughout the history of human civilizations, continuing up to modern times. Since there are countries that criminalize homosexuality with the death penalty, such as Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Yemen, in contrast to those countries that have legalized marriage between same sex, such as Holland, Spain or Canada.
The major world health organizations, including many of psychology, no longer consider homosexuality a disease, disorder or perversion. Since 1973, homosexuality is no longer classified as such by the American Psychiatric Association. In 1975 the American Psychological Association adopted the same procedure, failing to consider homosexuality as a disease. In Brazil, in 1985, the Federal Council of Psychology does not consider homosexuality as deviant and in 1999 established the rules for the performance of psychologists in relation to issues of sexual orientation, stating that “homosexuality is not a disease or disorder nor perversion” and that psychologists do not collaborate with events and services proposing treatment and cure of homosexuality. 17th May 1990 and General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO acronym) removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD acronym). Finally, since the 1991, Amnesty International regards discrimination against homosexuals “a violation of human rights”.
The reversal of the understanding of homosexuality as a mental illness to a numerically less common sexual orientation is okay, but it was irreversibly identified with the anthropological point of view, and also, the fact that some studies have shown the differences between the brains of homosexual persons and heterosexual persons was crucial for many countries to revise laws that punish homosexuality, in some cases guaranteeing the same rights as heterosexual couples.
Works cited
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Equality. 2010. Web. 17 November 2010.
<http://www.humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/lgbti/index.html>
Sexual orientation. 2010. Web. 17 November 2010.
<http://www.madufflaw.com/discrimination/orientation.html>
Your Rights Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Workplace. 2010. Web. 17 November 2010. <http://employment.findlaw.com/employment/employment-employee-discrimination-harassment/employment-employee-gay-lesbian-discrimination/>