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Are Homosexuals Oppressed?

Are Homosexuals oppressed in America?

  • Yes, homosexuals are oppressed in America.

    Votes: 44 69.8%

  • No, homosexuals are not oppressed in America

    Votes: 19 30.2%

  • I don't know

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    63
ThePlayDrive said:
There's a difference between a heterosexual couple being denied by the adoption service and state bans on gay adoption. The former happens on an individual basis. The latter is institutional discrimination whereby one class of people is made subservient to another - the definition of oppression in the OP.
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I lived in California where gays could easily adopt. If there is a problem in much of the rest of the USA then it should be addressed and changed.

I'm not sure what you mean by "workplace discrimination happens to everybody" since I'm pretty sure that's not true on its face.
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My point is what is discrimination in the work place? It is not that they are oppressed since women, blacks, latinos, whites, gays, etc. all face discrimination and it equally sucks. My white mom faced discrimination as did many other whites at her school and was threatened and chased out of her job when a Mexican principal took over. There is a court case going on now over it so I am not sure how you can say that it isn't true. Stuff like this happens all the time.

HUD Addresses LGBT Housing Discrimination | The White House
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19% of LGBT have claimed to have been "homeless" due to housing discrimination? Homeless? 1 out of every 5? I find that extremely hard to believe.
 
katiegrrl0 said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/world/americas/08iht-congress.4.8252596.html


Gay and Transgender Discrimination Outside the Workplace
There are still cases of job and housing discrimination against gays. They are far more limited than they once were. Jobs have been more normalized due to legislation.
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Yeah, I know that it happens... it just also happens to lots of other "groups" as well and I don't see anything in there that contradicts what I was saying.
 
Bodhisattva said:
My point is what is discrimination in the work place? It is not that they are oppressed since women, blacks, latinos, whites, gays, etc. all face discrimination and it equally sucks. My white mom faced discrimination as did many other whites at her school and was threatened and chased out of her job when a Mexican principal took over. There is a court case going on now over it so I am not sure how you can say that it isn't true. Stuff like this happens all the time.



19% of LGBT have claimed to have been "homeless" due to housing discrimination? Homeless? 1 out of every 5? I find that extremely hard to believe.
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Discrimination in the workplace is something like not getting hired or promoted because your LGBT.

And its actually 19% of transgendered/gender non-conforming Americans not LGBT Americans.
 
Bodhisattva said:
Yeah, I know that it happens... it just also happens to lots of other "groups" as well and I don't see anything in there that contradicts what I was saying.
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I never state that other groups are discriminated as the gays. It's sad that we are so closed to difference that we do discriminate. There is rarely a good rational for it. It's all learned behavior as well. Such a shame.
 
Wake said:
Currently, do you think homosexuals are oppressed in America?


Google
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Depends. According to James Cone, black liberation theologian, blacks will always be oppressed by the mere fact that they are black. I think some homosexuals will always feel oppressed by the mere fact that they are homosexual and they have convinced themselves that they are being oppressed because of it. I think the end to oppression would be limited government and personal freedom/responsibility. But then I am told that freedom and personal responsibility are oppressive to the poor. Frankly, I'm not sure we even know what that word means anymore. At any rate, I refuse to be oppressed, therefore I am not. But if I wanted to, I could be.
 
Wake said:
Currently, do you think homosexuals are oppressed in America?


Google
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If any homosexual, or anyone who supports "gay-rights" can come to this thread in support of homosexuals and NOT be executed within 24hrs, then homosexuals are not oppressed in this country.
 
Omgitsme said:
Discrimination in the workplace is something like not getting hired or promoted because your LGBT.

And its actually 19% of transgendered/gender non-conforming Americans not LGBT Americans.
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I've seen that stat for California, although it is a little different: "1 in 5 respondents have been homeless since they first identified as transgender."

http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/pdf/StateofTransCAFINAL.pdf

This is different than saying 1 in 5 are homeless at any given time.

As a transitioning male, I can tell you there are a lot of financial challenges. Many of us lose their familial support. College can be a refuge but not all TGs are college material.

It's a rich trans/poor trans dichotomy. The same report says that TGs are twice as likely to be below the poverty line but twice as likely to have college degrees.

It is a diverse group which does face discrimination. Note that this study is in California which has some of the most protective laws for TGs in the country.
 
Jerry said:
If any homosexual, or anyone who supports "gay-rights" can come to this thread in support of homosexuals and NOT be executed within 24hrs, then homosexuals are not oppressed in this country.
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Silliness.
 
Jerry said:
If any homosexual, or anyone who supports "gay-rights" can come to this thread in support of homosexuals and NOT be executed within 24hrs, then homosexuals are not oppressed in this country.
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The definition of oppression is not "fearing for your life."
 
Joni said:
It's a rich trans/poor trans dichotomy. The same report says that TGs are twice as likely to be below the poverty line but twice as likely to have college degrees.
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This is fascinating...is there any speculation as to what causes this reverse bell curve in terms of income/education?
 
Jerry said:
If any homosexual, or anyone who supports "gay-rights" can come to this thread in support of homosexuals and NOT be executed within 24hrs, then homosexuals are not oppressed in this country.
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Certainly not a realistic view or reality.
 
Wake said:
Homosexuals are not placed in subservience or hardship by an unjust exercise of authority.
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Do you know this about all homosexuals? What about those who have lost their jobs because they are homosexual? Is that not a hardship, to lose your job? What about the fact that they cannot get equal marital rights, despite wanting them, and therefore facing legal and financial issues because of not having those marital rights (such as automatic hospital visitation, spousal inheritance, adopting rights, etc.)? Those all sound like hardships to me.

Wake said:
Definition #2 would mean that pretty much anyone is oppressed, because they fee distressed/anxious/unconfortable about something that slights them.
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Homosexuals all around this country are made to feel distressed and uncomfortable simply because of their sexuality everyday, particularly by Christians and other highly religious people. That sounds like oppression to me. And if other groups fit into that definition, so be it, they fit. Doesn't change the fact that homosexuals do fit said definition in the US.

Wake said:
You should probably look up the definition of "Godwin's Law." We're actually talking about oppression; Nazi Germany is a great example of actual oppression, as well as American slavery.
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But you posted your definitions of oppression in the OP, which fits homosexuals in the US. You can't then claim that oppression is only that found in Nazi Germany or American slavery.

A question for you, were blacks oppressed in the fifties, by segregation? What about interracial couples who could not legally get married? Was that not oppression?
 
Yes, I'd say homosexuals are oppressed in this country for not being allowed to have the same rights as heterosexual couples and consistently being marginalized and ridiculed in the greater society. To those who say that homosexuals are not oppressed, I will quote TacticalEvilDan:


TacticalEvilDan said:
Pretty much anybody can point to somebody else in the world who has it worse than them. Pretty much everybody can point to North Korea. North Korea can point to Somalia. Somalia can point to ... Antarctica?

My point is that telling someone they're not oppressed because someone else has it worse is a bullsh!t argument, because it's perfectly reasonable to complain about your plight or that of someone else when comparing it to the plight of others in the same or a similar society. Done in that way, you're not saying, "I have it worse than anybody else on the face of the Earth" (which is literally true of only one person), you're saying, "Hey, by the standards this society claims to live by, or by the standards of my own awesome society, or by the standards of this awesome society over there, this situation totally blows and needs to change."

Taking the "someone has it worse than you, so STFU" approach is nothing more than an argument in favor of injustice.
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Wake said:
Oh come on.

So merely opining that it's a sin is oppressive? OMFG. I suppose prostitutes are oppressed as well because some believe it's a sin.

Give me a break.
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I agree. Prostitutes are being oppressed as well. Glad we got that worked out. Hell, prostitutes go to jail for being who they are. And it was only 10 years ago that gays could be sent to jail as well for just being who they are.

(And yes, I am being serious.)
 
My guess is that many TGs are highly motivated to become educated because they know the grim alternative. Counseling, hormones and surgery are expensive and flipping burgers isn't going to make that happen. Unfortunately, not everyone is college material.

Some young people turn to prostitution to finance their transition.
 
Joni said:
I've seen that stat for California, although it is a little different: "1 in 5 respondents have been homeless since they first identified as transgender."

http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/pdf/StateofTransCAFINAL.pdf

This is different than saying 1 in 5 are homeless at any given time.

As a transitioning male, I can tell you there are a lot of financial challenges. Many of us lose their familial support. College can be a refuge but not all TGs are college material.

It's a rich trans/poor trans dichotomy. The same report says that TGs are twice as likely to be below the poverty line but twice as likely to have college degrees.

It is a diverse group which does face discrimination. Note that this study is in California which has some of the most protective laws for TGs in the country.
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Yeah the study Katiegrrl0 posted earlier states about 1 in 5 have been homeless since transition and the survey was from all 50 states.

HOUSING DISCRIMINATION AND HOMELESSNESS
• Respondents reported various forms of direct housing
discrimination — 19% reported having been refused
a home or apartment and 11% reported being evicted
because of their gender identity/expression.
• One-fifth (19%) reported experiencing homelessness
at some point in their lives because they were transgender
or gender non-conforming;

http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf

Yeah the financial problems are pretty bad with the cost of hormones/surgery/random accessories. That stuff isnt cheap and to be honest I dont know how some trans people can afford to go to collage at all without some sort of financial help. Im trans as well btw although havent been able to start transition yet due to certain personal issues.
 
Ockham said:
Referendums are majority rule. Congress is majority (or better) rule, politics is majority rule, jury system is majority (or unanimous) rule. Our system is built on public opinion of the majority.

This is different because.... ?
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So then we can have referendums that prevent interracial or interfaith marriages and have those made into laws that will pass Constitutional muster then?

I don't think so.
 
Wake said:
I guess when you're able to audition at American Idol you know you're oppressed.
.
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Thanks for playing REALLY BAD ANALOGY.

One of the biggest criticisms of AO is that they will not allow anyone to admit being gay on their show. But hey, they aren't oppressing anyone? :spank:
 
Omgitsme said:
Discrimination in the workplace is something like not getting hired or promoted because your LGBT.
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Yeah I know. This happens to people of all groups because the integral factor is who is in charge, not who is employed.
 
We could cull 80% of these posts by rewording the poll.

Are homosexuals discriminated in America with respect to (insert as precise a definition as possible of the areas of discrimination)?

I really have no interest in debating the meaning of the word "oppression."
 
You know who should be oppressed?

Homophobes and bigots.

They don't get oppressed enough, IMO.
 
roguenuke said:
So then we can have referendums that prevent interracial or interfaith marriages and have those made into laws that will pass Constitutional muster then?

I don't think so.
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Whether a referendum happens via public vote, assembly or congress... it still occurs. If there's enough of an issue with either interracial or interfaith marriage... that's what happens. So far neither of those issues have required such a thing, and I don't expect they will in the future.
 
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