LGBTQ people

“ Advocacy includes educating all adolescents on psychological development and sexual development, especially those teenagers who are thinking about engaging in sexual relations and those who are already engaged in sexual intimacy. Advocacy includes standing up for LGBTQ youth and engaging in policies and practices that eradicate discrimination of sexual minority young people and examine and analyze the practices that alienate LGBTQ youth. ”

“ This would have been a perfect location to address the sexual orientation of teenagers as well as connecting the sexuality of LGBTQ youth to their spirituality. It is certainly not unreasonable to connect sexuality to spirituality. This would have been an excellent place to add something along these lines in this section of the document:
Pastoral Care is concerned about the total person; about the full expression of young people's spirituality and sexuality. ”

“ As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, and opportunities. Since our earliest days of independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished story is the movement for fairness and equality on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This month, as we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice wherever it exists. ”

“ Individuals who are LGBTQ, or are perceived to be LGBTQ, have been subjected to a history and pattern of persistent, widespread, and pervasive discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity by both private sector and Federal, State, and local government actors, including in employment, housing, and public accommodations, and in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. ”

“ CREATING SOCIAL CHANGE The legal, political and social changes that will bring LGBT individuals equal rights do not serve our interests only. In a society where some people are oppressed, nobody can be free and equal. Bringing about the changes we want must therefore be the result of the combined efforts of the LGBT human rights movement and other groups and organisations, which share our vision and our goals. ”

“ More than ever before, the fight for LGBT equality is full of hope and promise. But, our work is far from over. The sad reality is that gay and lesbian Americans are still essentially second-class citizens, with different rights depending on where they work and the state in which they live. This nation can only truly prosper when all of its citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law. Laws that deprive LGBT Americans of these rights are unconstitutional, discriminatory, and unconscionable. ”

“ Whether because of disgust, confusion, or ignorance about homosexuality, lesbian and gay sexuality dominates the discourse of not only same-sex adoption, but all lesbian and gay issues. The classification of lesbians and gays as ‘exclusively sexual beings’ stands in stark contrast to the perception of heterosexual parents as ‘people who, along with many other activities in their lives, occasionally engage in sex.’ Through this narrative, lesbians and gays are reduced to one-dimensional creatures, defined by their sex and sexuality. ”

“ This June, recognizing the joys and sorrows that the gay and lesbian movement has witnessed and the work that remains to be done, we observe Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and celebrate the progress we have made in creating a society more inclusive and accepting of gays and lesbians. I hope that in this new millennium we will continue to break down the walls of fear and prejudice and work to build a bridge to understanding and tolerance, until gays and lesbians are afforded the same rights and responsibilities as all Americans. ”

“ Although the 1960s were a time of social and political change that brought greater freedom to many segments of society, these new-found freedoms did not extend to members of the LGBT community. They faced increased oppression and criminal prosecution even for being physically intimate with consensual partners. In New York City, LGBT people were frequently arrested for acts such as same-sex dancing and kissing and wearing clothes of the perceived opposite gender. ”

“ Much work still needs to be done. Over time, all sectors of society must be scrutinized for existing rules and practices that still hinder the free, open and equal participation of LGBT individuals. Among these sectors, specific priorities for action must be decided by the LGBT human rights movement in each country, depending on their local circumstances.
- We demand that all governments develop and implement a comprehensive policy against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in all sectors of society. ”

“ In some countries, discrimination and violence against LGBT people are getting worse. But more and more, brave individuals and groups are standing up for LGBT human rights in every region of the world. In particular, LGBT individuals and groups in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe no longer accept prejudice and discrimination, and are becoming increasingly impatient to achieve freedom and equality. ”

“ The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect. My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. ”

“ The world has gradually accepted that individual human beings have different sexes, racial or ethnic origins, and religions, and that these differences must be respected and not be used as reasons for discrimination. But most countries still do not accept two other aspects of human diversity: that people have different sexual orientations and different gender identities; that two women or two men can fall in love with each other ”

“ There are tens of millions of people around the world, and millions of people right here in America—and people right in your neighborhood—who may be or are perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender ”

“ That's why, last month, we released the first-ever public progress report on my administration's whole-of-Government approach to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ people globally, from supporting local civil society organizations to standing up for LGBTQI+ human rights at the United Nations and in our engagement with repressive governments. ”

“ Whereas the transgender community has made it clear that it will not be erased and must be accorded all of the rights and opportunities made available to all; Whereas transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people continue to bravely tell their stories and push for full equity under the law; Whereas the civil rights struggle has been strengthened and inspired by the leadership of the transgender community ”

“ And the issue is not just marriage equality itself —— it is sympathy to homosexuality. They oppose the idea that children could be introduced in school to the idea that there are gay people in the world. ”

“ With each passing year the American people become more receptive to diversity and more open to those who are different from themselves. Our Nation is at last realizing that gays and lesbians must no longer be "strangers among friends," as the civil rights pioneer David Mixner once noted. ”

“ One of the stereotypes that is part of the stigma surrounding gay men and lesbians is that gay men and lesbians are incapable of, uninterested in and not successful at having intimate relationships. Gay men and lesbians have been described as social isolates, as unconnected to society and people who do not participate in society the way everyone else does —— as "a pariah, so to speak." ”

“ LGBT Americans lived their lives in secrecy for fear of losing their jobs, being evicted from their homes, or being arrested. For LGBT people of color or living in poverty, life was especially challenging. ”

“ While recognising the unique worth of each person, [19] the Constitution does not presuppose that a holder of rights is as an isolated, lonely and abstract figure possessing a disembodied and socially disconnected self. It acknowledges that people live in their bodies, their communities, their cultures, their places and their times. The expression of sexuality requires a partner, real or imagined. ”

“ When everything associated with homosexuality is treated as bent, queer, repugnant or comical, the equality interest is directly engaged. People are subject to extensive prejudice because of what they are or what they are perceived to be, not because of what they do. ”

“ We must also work to build an LGBT community that is open to all, and offers fair chances to everyone, regardless of their sex, race, religion, disability, age, economic status or other similar characteristic. We must fight discrimination within our own ranks. We cannot tolerate sexism and racism inside our movement. ”

“ None of these factors applies to other groups traditionally subject to discrimination, such as people of colour or women, each of whom, of course, have had to suffer their own specific forms of oppression. In my view, the learned author is quite correct when he concludes that precisely because neither power nor specific resource allocation are at issue, sexual orientation becomes a moral focus in our constitutional order. For this same reason, the question of dignity is in this context central to the question of equality. ”

“ The development of an active rather than a purely formal sense of enjoying a common citizenship depends on recognising and accepting people as they are. The concept of sexual deviance needs to be reviewed. A heterosexual norm was established, gays were labelled deviant from the norm and difference was located in them. [46] What the Constitution requires is that the law and public institutions acknowledge the variability of human beings and affirm the equal respect and concern that should be shown to all as they are. ”

“ For too long, issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. ”

“ Little boys are taught that they will grow up and marry a girl. Little girls are taught they will grow up and marry a boy. And growing up with those expectations, it is not uncommon for people to engage in sexual behavior with someone of the other sex, possibly before they have developed their real sense of who they are, of what their sexual orientation is. And I think that's one of the reasons why... [gay men and lesbians have] experience [d] heterosexual intercourse.... [I] t is not part of their identity. ”

“ In addition, it suggests that the fact that gay people are being asked to be recognized and have their relationships recognized is an imposition on other people, as opposed to an extension of fundamental civil rights to gay and lesbian people. ”

“ Martin Luther King, Jr., "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." In the past year, for the first time, voters in multiple States affirmed marriage equality for same-sex couples. State and local governments have taken important steps to provide much-needed protections for transgender Americans.
My Administration is a proud partner in the journey toward LGBT equality. We extended hate crimes protections to include attacks based on sexual orientation or gender identity and repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." ”

“ The message is that gays and lesbians lack the inherent humanity to have their families and family lives in such same-sex relationships respected or protected. It serves in addition to perpetuate and reinforce existing prejudices and stereotypes. The impact constitutes a crass, blunt, cruel and serious invasion of their dignity. The discrimination, based on sexual orientation, is severe because no concern, let alone anything approaching equal concern, is shown for the particular sexual orientation of gays and lesbians. ”

“ LGBT people do not live on an island, but form part of all societies, and rightly expect that their situations and their demands will be taken into account in formulating all public policies. Accordingly, LGBT human rights must be mainstreamed into global debates about social and political issues. ”