Final Summary/Reaction

My survey got an overwhelming response of 71 people.  I also received a large range of people as I had hoped from ages 15-65 and of all the religions I put on my survey.  Because of the large age range I did not expect my results to be so close to unanimity on the subject of gay marriage with 92% being for it.  Only 89% of participants were for civil unions, but I believe this question may have been confusing because some people might say that since gay marriage should be legal there is no need for civil unions.  If I were to do this survey again I would edit this question and possibly make it so only those who disapprove of gay marriage could answer the question.  I also thought it was interesting that while only 8% disapproved of gay marriage, 10% admitted to treating openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people worse than straight people.  Of course, people all have biases so I did not think this was very surprising.  There were also people on the other side of the spectrum with 3% saying they treat openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people slightly better and 1% saying they treat them better.  However, the vast majority (86%) said they treated them equally.  28% of the participants believe sexual orientation is a choice and in future surveys I would try to correlate levels of education with this question.  Overall, I found the participants in this survey to be very sympathetic towards LGBT people, but in spite of this, 46% of people still use the word "gay" in a way not meaning homosexual or happy.  Based on my experience, I was not surprised by this large percentage, but I think it is important because using "gay" incorrectly does not always mean the user of this word believes a gay person is stupid, although that is often how the word is used.  I believe the overall pro-gay sentiment I received may also have to do with 79% of people having gay or lesbian family members and 67% having a good amount of exposure to people of different sexual orientations on a daily basis.

Revised Plan for Research

For my research, I am still doing an online survey using google drive.  So far my results correlate with my hypothesis.  Most of the results so far have been from younger people and the majority have been accepting of homosexuality.  In relation to religion, I have not found as clear a correlation as age, but hopefully I will get more diversity as more results come in.

Strategy for Research

For my research on homosexuality, I will be using an online survey through google drive.  I would like to find a large range of participants, so I will post my survey on Facebook.  This way I will hopefully obtain data from different age groups, genders, and religions.  My hypothesis is that younger people and members of generally lower class religions, such as Baptist, will be more accepting of homosexuality and the legalization of gay marriage.  On the other hand, I believe older, wealthier people will be more conservative in their views and will be more opposed to gay rights.

In Conclusion

Over the course of this quarter, I explored many aspects of homosexuality: current events, public opinion, and support groups.  While there are still upsetting occurrences of ignorance such as in Uganda, there is also a lot of promise that equality between all sexual identities is on the horizon.  The younger generation is already more accepting than the generation of their parents as a whole.  Even the rate of change over the past thirty years is astounding.  Most of my research made me very hopeful for the future of human rights.  The overall acceptance of Macklemore's performance with people being wed was a huge break through for the United States.  Not long ago, something like this would not be a possibility.  This is a very current topic in politics today and I found my research enlightening to the many opinions and facts behind the subject.

Same Sex Marriage Cartoons

Same Sex Marriage Cartoons

These political cartoons illustrate support for marriage equality.  In the 54 cartoons, there was a variety of focuses, ranging from refuting the opposing argument and the justice in gay marriage.  Although some were repetitive, many were witty illustrations that made a lot of sense.  Several focused on the sanctity of marriage, the hypocrisy of the opposing argument, and Obama's stance on the issue.

I have always enjoyed political cartoons and the satire used to convey political points.  So naturally, I enjoyed this collection of cartoons.  I thought the cartoons made many good points mainly that the argument against gay marriage does not hold any water.  Gay marriage does not threaten the sanctity of marriage any more than divorce or nontraditional marriage threaten conventionalism.  The religious aspect also has no ground saying that "God says its yucky" while eloquently put, is not accurate and is not an argument although it does encapsulate the basic position of the religious justification.  The religious argument is truly hypocritical as condemning a group of people is the opposite of the loving God christians believe in.  Most importantly, several cartoons make the point that marriage equality is the only just thing to do.

Ignorance in Uganda

Anti-gay laws in Uganda

This article focuses on the primitive behavior of the African country, Uganda.  On the previous Tuesday, February 25th, the Ugandan president signed a bill into law make homosexuality a crime.  In the early stages of this bill,  homosexuality was even made punishable by death.  This, however, was revised to the much more reasonable life in prison.  Showing just how enlightened this country is, the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni when asked in an interview how he felt about gay people personally responded "Of course! They are disgusting.  What sort of people are they?"  Well this is just a thought, but the same as any other person deserving fair treatment and basic human rights?  This alarming statement may seem like something that would get a president kicked out of office, but shockingly about 96% of Ugandans disapprove of homosexuality in society.

I found this article both alarming and disgusting.  I understand that there is still controversy over whether or not gay marriage should be legalized, but I thought society had come far enough to understand homosexuality is not a crime.  I was concerned by the findings of Museveni's scientists since there have been studies that have found a link between genetics and sexual orientation.  Illustrating the deep-rooted ignorant hate going on in Uganda, a tabloid newspaper, Red Pepper newspaper in the country, prints lists of "the country's top homosexuals".  This has happened before with another Ugandan newspaper, Rolling Stones, instructing the reader to "hang them".  At first, it was incomprehensible to me how such a large group of people could be ingrained with such hatred, but then I think about Nazi Germany because sadly things like this have happened before.  I only pray that a change will come to take away the hardness in the heart of most Ugandans so that they may realize the cruelty in their unevolved thinking.

The Gay Christian Network

The Gay Christian Network

The Gay Christian Network is an organization dedicated to equality for all sexual preferences in the Christian religion.  Their mission is captured in one short sentence, "Sharing Christ's light and love for all".  There are five key ways in which they do this: promoting spiritual growth, cultivating safe community, supporting family and friends, educating and encouraging the church, and engaging the wider LGBT community and the world.  The organization shares the same core beliefs as all Christian religions, but emphasizes the inclusion of members of the LGBT community, who some Christian sects discriminate against.  Within the Network, there are two main groups: those who believe in celibacy for homosexuals and those who believe God blesses same-sex relationships.  This divide is called "The Great Debate" as it is a focal separation point within the group of Christian LGBT supporters.  The Gay Christian Network holds a yearly conference and provides educational avenues on the subject of homosexuality and the church.  These avenues include films, books, DVDs, radio stations, and even a musical.  Overall, this website provides great insight into being a homosexual in the Christian community and offers support for those in this situation.

I found this site to have a very positive outlook on homosexuality in the church.  I like its short simple saying because it not only applies to homosexuality, but to anything else that people might discriminate against.  The Network basically believes that all people should be welcome in the church and that God loves us all no matter what our sexual orientation may be.  I believe this is a very helpful website with those in the Christian faith struggling with their sexuality.  The Gay Christian Network has many ways to support these people, including chat rooms and Youtube outreach.  I think this website can be very educational particularly because of its plethora of ways to provide information.  As I mentioned before, the website connects viewers to books, films, forums, a radio station, etc. related to homosexuality and Christianity.  Most interestingly, however, is the musical created by leaders within the Network.  The musical, "Straight to Heaven", was first presented at the 2007 annual conference and portrays serious messages in a lighter way, spoofing well-known musicals.  It has been seen almost 20,000 times on Youtube showing the effectiveness of the Network's employment of different educational methods.  I believe this is a great website for all members of the Christian community to educate themselves and provide support for LGBT believers in Christianity.