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ACROSS THE AGES A global perspective of LGBT history In part three of three, we consider the LGBT experience from the advent of the Gay Rights movement to the present day by Jack Kirven . Q-Notes staff exclusive In part two of this series, we concluded by mentioning briefly the onset of the social and cultural stresses that produced the Gay Rights Movement. Now we shall examine the climate as we know it today, including nods toward the activism and expanding community visi bility inspired by Stonewall, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the advancement of equahty legislation around the world. Stonewall: The ripple effect When the riots in New York City made headlines around the globe they set off a sequence of immediate and irrevocable events. First, they made it clear to both the heterosexual and queer worlds that LGBT peo ple were not particularly rare — thousands participated in Stonewall alone. Second, the communities in Europe and Austraha were mobilized. Third, the insurgence created a broader sense of urgency and enthusiasm for activism and collaboration. Prior to Stonewall it was presumed that LGBT people were very few, an exceedingly rare group of sociopaths who were easily closeted away by various cultural, institutional and legal prohibitions. Stonewall did not serve to instanta neously undermine all these assumptions, but it did inspire actions that, over the course of nearly 40 years, would bring enormous improvements for LGBT lives on at least three continents. Within only a few years of Stonewall, demon strations and publications around the world dis proved the myth of queer scarcity. In the U.S., homosexuality was removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of disorders only five years after the riots. Throughout most of Western Europe, discrimination was legally banned within 10 years of Stonewall and by the mid-’80s Australia and New Zealand had also decriminalized homosexuality. With so many more people fighting for visibility on three conti nents, a large international community emerged, albeit one still rife with internalized homopho bia, racism and xenophobia. Despite Stonewall being ignited by thousands of ri^tfully out raged gay black men, butch lesbians, male sex workers and transgender people, many in the LGBT community would continually and consis tently marginalize them and try to aeate a more palatable face for the heterosexual majority. This brings up an issue that is still provoca tive amongst LGBT people: The revolutionaries versus the assimilationists. The former tend to feel that they should not have to conform to het erosexist ideals and sometimes regard the latter as political cowards who undermine a person’s ri^t to individuality. The latter tend to feel that presenting LGBT issues in a more “acceptable” manner lead to wider acceptance and sometimes regard the former as extremists who undermine a person’s right to privacy. Both types struggle for equahty; however, they follow two very (hvergent philosophies on attaining it. The HIY/AIDS pandemic Throughout the ’70s and ’80s LGBT com munities in the industrialized world blos somed as a result of Stonewall’s invitation to visibility; however, at the exact same time an international catastrophe was brewing in Africa that would set Gay Rights back 10 years or more in some parts of the world, especially the Americas (except Canada — Quebec, in 1977, was the first jurisdiction in the world larger than a municipality to outlaw discrimi nation against LGBT people). What we now know as HIV/AIDS was first documented in 1959, the same year that Fidel Castro came to power. It waited throughout the Cuban Missle Crisis, Kennedy’s assassina tion, the Cold War, Communist domination in Eastern Europe, Nixon’s impeachment, the escalating violence in the Middle East, the Beatles’ musical conquest of the world, Vietnam, African “liberation,” and the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, in 1970 the HIV/AIDS pandemic began silently, killing thousands of people in rural parts of sub- Saharan Africa. In 1981 the first eight cases of Kaposi’s Sarcoma, a rare skin cancer, were reported in the United States in New York City. The “Gay Plague” had begun. In France and America teams of medical professionals raced to identify the contagion and its means of transmission. Before this could be accomplished thousands had already died. The French won that race and thus had the dubious honor of naming the disease: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syn^ome was caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Before this more generalized terminology, the disease had been ^ed “Gay Plague,”“Gay Cancer” and a variety of other homophobic names until it was realiz^ that intravenous drug users and sex workers were also at risk. Because of its appar ent concentration in subversive populations it was a deeply stigmatizing infection, even after it was reali^ that hemophiliacs, patients receiv ing blood transfusions, women and infants with infected mothers were also vulnerable. Homophobia and racism caused government delays in the US. in terms of research, treatment and support It was not until 1987 that Ronald Reagan finally mentioned HIV/AIDS publicly and that was in passing. He would later apolo gize for willfully ignoring the epidemic. Because of political obstades here during the ’80s, many years of potential advancements were lost, along with millions of lives. To this day there are still groups who believe that infection is deserved and is symp tomatic of immorality. In the parts of the world where the virus is most severe, most notably in Africa (where the disease is destabi lizing countries and destroying economies), the local governments tend to implicate reli gious or moral instruction rather than medical treatment and prevention awareness. China has only recendy acknowledged that see Igbt on 18 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 ■ ■ ■ ■ HIV'AIDS United t-J Churdicsof ~ Canada allow ordination of LGBT clergy Reagan afxjlogizc^ for ignoring the UIV/AIOS epidemic Carr.xia lifts ban on LGBT ,!i armed forces Don't r.er SG.OOCd., th s , H-rr.. A:DS : VijAsro U.S. Mass first Cinada >f>i-;iut'cnal!y Supreme state to icoaaK S Court legaliiio sam. -tat.p.-: ovedurns same-sfs-'je sodc-mv ma".age l.V, j ia,'. i :n tJ.S. w.'fiiVt.a U.S. alone h'jmose«s;jity s'-.'epo-ds 0 Kcre j? C.n ti.i rem^, i f.' tnat TV, Labe/ Pa.-ty bomiasexuality HiV, AIDS csTTies b: 1 pjSi : US Corgr.-,s i 5 V. attend Sao Paui PneJe Taiwan barrs discri.T! n.atioo As-'ana are living with HiV/A'OS .vns to seat s aft..-’- r.-pr- 7 -iq •?'-t jality Denmark is first to open a samo-sex partnership registry Israel allows LGBT soldiers to serve rjpenly in armed forces Russia decriminalizes homosexuality for the 2nd time New ZealaiKi bans discrn'.ination and declares th-it postoptrans ran iiv;:', .r. tite r new sex from list of orphans mental in India illnesses and alct acL rvTv/tusrlgeS HIVii -C---la Oer-- •,:d nti'itias t.r Peo-d- nt of cLiims 1-. r ; are no; LG3t ' F-a -o-; '.-v-r::- samo sdx partnerships, Russia removes homosexuality from listol illnesses ndsistnr f- St in the wor'd o, l ifter full same _ marnc''. LGBTm.,' P.ir- .1 .. -raoct' makes -.imophob. comments i.'legai, I IK offers civil lazm.'inias sodrsmy laws .overturned: Fiji is Tnd c stiniry in tiv ■ v,ori-t to cor ilitt'lir i'l , New 7v.:s'i'd • f. -r. tnat -ti.' AiOl, Will v/(jrkfr>rr e by 2020 itUS'.r Hi,I federally h.rns marriage r. '.'miress. G-. ■ V ; n.r Beyer, bring ■ ^orth LGRf prritec lions P” def.)ate
Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 20, 2007, edition 1
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