The Gay Rights Movement

>>The homosexuals... >>Most Americans are repelled by the mere notion of homosexuality.
>>Homosexuality is, in fact, a mental ilness.
>>2 out of 3 Americans look upon homosexuals with disgust, discomfort, or fear. 1 out of 10 says hatred.
>>One never knows when the homosexual is about.
>>This involves showing the gay man pictures of nude males, and shocking him with a strong electric current.
And he will be not able to get sexually aroused.
>>They are taught that no man is born homosexual, that it is not genetic in origin, and not the result of a hormone imbalance.
Rather, they are told that sexual behavior is learned behavior.
The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous.
He is not interested in, nor capable of, a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage.
>>And if we catch you with a homosexual, your parents are going to know about it first.
And you will be caught, because this is one thing you cannot get away with.
This is one thing that if you don't get caught by us, you'll be caught by yourself.
And the rest of your life will be a living hell.
Matt Shepard, the gay college student savagely beaten last week in Wyoming,
died this morning. >>Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk
have been shot, and killed.
have been shot, and killed.
>>How many more gay people does God have to create
before we ask ourselves whether or not God actually wants them around.
>>I'm gay.
>>Dad, I'm gay.
>>I'm gay.
>>Will Phillips is refusing to pledge allegiance to the flag
in his 5th grade classroom until there really is liberty and justice for all.
>>There is a push underway to lift the ban
that prohibits gay men from donating blood.
>>Gay men have not been allowed to donate blood since 1985,
because of a fear of HIV.
It's a policy that some say is way outdated, and unneccessary.
>>Homosexual behavior is harmful, not only to society,
but more importantly to the individuals who engage in that behavior.
>>Homosexuals, and atheists, are not to be allowed to be registered as leaders, or members, of the Boy Scouts of America.
>>How can we, as people who make the laws,
say to one small group of our fellow citizens,
"You know, there's something about you that some people don't like,
so you are not eligible for work, you can be fired, you can't get a promotion."
>>I hardly think that bullying is a real issue in schools.
>>I want you to meet a little boy named Asher Brown. He lived in Texas, he was 13 years old.
I say "was", in the past, because he shot himself in the head last Thursday.
>>Billy Lucas of Greensburg, Indiana, was just fifteen years old
when bullying pushed him over the edge. >>Hi, this is Jamey from Buffalo, New York.
I just wanted to tell you that it does get better. >>Fourteen year old Jamey Rodemeyer took his life Sunday.
>>Let's do this one for Jamey.
>>When government starts to tell us who can love, and what is good love,
I do have a problem with that, I do.
>>Today I'm announcing my support for a low that gives our same-sex couples
in our state a right to receive a marriage license in Washington,
the same right given to our heterosexual couples.
>>I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there,
[audience begins to applaud and cheer loudly] but that's how I was raised, and that's how I think it should be, between a man and a woman.
[audience begins to applaud and cheer loudly] but that's how I was raised, and that's how I think it should be, between a man and a woman.
>>It was the most controversial state issue on the ballot, you know I'm talking about Proposition 8,
There are still a few votes to be counted, but it looks like the measure has passed.
>>If you're for equal rights, why would you get married right now?
It's like joining a country club that doesn't allow blacks or jews.
There's no difference!
>>An open statement by a service-member that he or she is a homosexual
will create a rebuttable presumption that he or she intends to engage in prohibited conduct.
>>I am an infantry platoon leader in the New York Army National Guard,
and by saying three words to you today, "I am gay,"
those three words are in violation of Title 10 of the US code.
>>Lieutenant Dan Choi has been fired from the U.S. Military.
>>Should gay couples have the right to adopt in Virginia?
>>Florida governor Charlie Crist has ordered the state to stop enforcing a ban on adoption by gay and lesbian parents.
>>California's ban on same-sex marriage was overturned by a federal judge in San Francisco.
>>On February 12 an openly gay 15-year-old boy named Larry, who was an 8th grader in Oxnard, California,
was murdered by a fellow 8th-grader named Brandon.
Larry was killed because he was gay.
>>One of the most obnoxious and offensive vestiges of
our criminal justice system from another era is the gay panic defense,
the idea that if a gay person makes a pass at you and you don't like it, you can fly into a rage
shoot and kill that person, and that's some kind of a defense.
>>We are not a nation that says "Don't ask, don't tell."
We are a nation that says, "Out of many, we are one."
>>[crowd, shouting together] Three! Two! One! [Loud whooping and cheering.]
>>We begin tonight with something brand new in America today. It is day one.
>>The long controversial Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell policy expired at midnight.
>>Some say domestic partnerships are the same as marriage.
That's a version of the discriminatory separate-but-equal argument of the past.
>>You are telling Iowans that some among you are second-class citizens who do not have the right to marry the person you love.
>>You can love that person, but you can't marry them. That's wrong.
>>It's separate-but-equal, I can be a second-class citizen.
>>I cannot legally come up with an argument against same-sex marriage.
>>To all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight
who have been told that they are less-than by their churches, by the government, or by their families:
You are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value.
>>Our mission is to reach out and teach people to love, and not to hate.
>>When the message out there is so horrible,
that to be gay, you can get killed for it, we need to change the message.
>>Things will get easier. >>It gets better.
>>The sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character.
>>[overlapping the previous speaker]...content of their character. I have a dream...
>>We too have a dream!
>>Are you listening?!!
>>This is done. >>Bless God, and bless the gays.
>>Ayes: 33, Nays: 29 [WILD cheering, roaring cheers]
>>Two down, two to go.
[tiny burst of voice, unintelligible to captioner, followed by a short phrase by a different speaker, also unintelligible to captioner.]
>>Love, love, love.
>>And you, and you, and you... gotta give 'em hope.
>>Every American citizen has the right.
>>Be on the right side of history.
>>Thank you very much.
>>Larry was not a second-class citizen. I am not a second-class citizen.
It is okay if you're gay.
[Captioned by Summer. I'm not affiliated with the project, I was just very touched by it and wanted to help make it accessible to more people.]