In this news article written by Choe Sang-Hun published by the New York times which is a national used publication source of the worldâs top articles. The intended audience of this article is the world as well as South-Korean people and legislators. The issue is presented as a inhumane law because its sentencing a person to prison because of his sexuality. A military court in South Korea sentenced an army captain to 6 months in prison for having sex with other servicemen, igniting an outcry against what rights groups called a homophobic âwitch huntâ in the countryâs military. He made sure it wasnât anyone under him, not on duty, and in a personal and private space. Military have relations and even marry all the time but because it is sexual relations between men, a heteronormative society and anti-gay politics has deemed that act as criminal. This article provides a truthful representation of how governments are not showing equality and are prejudice against classes, races, and other groups such as the LGBTQ community. This message is a positive one because of the light its showing on bias military conduct. Anti-gay laws prevent people from truly being themselves and must deal with the stress of being âfound outâ. The captain wanted to serve his country like others want to but because of his sexuality, he is condemned. This behavior discourages nationalism and can cause an uproar disrupting a functioning society. South Korea military is preforming a witch hunt in where there setting up fake dating profiles and luring gay personnel as well as anti-gay groups spreading propaganda of gay personnel spreading AIDS and weakening there resolve to fight North Korea. But this kind of law is the actually weakening factor. A gay man made rank of captain and is still gay. Sexuality does not prevent someone from achieving or being productive.
Questions
Do you believe military can sexual relations with each other?
How would change this law?
What do you think is the reason such a law was instituted?Â
Do you think its the military right to lure and trap gay personnel?
1.     I believe people who serve in the military can have sexual relationships with whoever they want. It is something that happens all the time. It's something that is seen in movies, Investigation Discovery, and other types of media. I donât think the military should be attacking homosexual soldiers for having relationships with other soldiers, especially when they are not in the same unit and their relations are private. As mentioned in the article, the captain was not having sexual relations with anyone in his unit and all his affairs took place in the privacy of his home, not the military base. I donât think arresting someone because of their sexuality or gender identity is fair and respectable of any human rights. It should not matter what the soldiers or captainsâ sexuality is if they are doing their service to their country. After all the service that they are providing is the only thing that matters. When they are out of their uniform they should be allowed to have a private life.
Landmark ruling will mean country is first in Asia to allow gay couples to marry and cements reputation as beacon of liberalism
The article âTaiwan's top court rules in favor of same-sex marriageâ written by Benjamin Haas is about the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan. Â
As of today, there are 21 countries to have legalized same-sex marriage. Until recently, Taiwan joined the list, making it the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The country constitutional court ruled the current law about unions between a man and a woman as invalid. Taiwan is embracing more liberal views and the court ruling is a very tremendous decision as gay people are still experiencing hostile attitudes in many countries. This decision could prompt other countries in Asia to feel the same way that Taiwan felt about queer people and legalize same-sex marriage.
One of the reasons provided for the legalization of same-sex marriage is the barring of same-sex marriage violated âthe peopleâs freedom of marriageâ and âthe peopleâs right to equalityâ. Â According to the Taiwanese court, the legalization of same-sex marriage will constitute for a stable society meaning LGBT individuals will not have to hide and they can openly express their love for their partner.
In the article Sexuality, state and nation by Jyoti Puri state how the state has great impacts on sexuality and the power of the state on issues of sexuality. I think the Taiwanese government is using their power to allow LGBT individuals to exercise the same rights and privileges as heterosexual individuals. The legalization of same-sex marriage for LGBT individuals might result in the Taiwanese court to legalize other rights for the LGBT individuals there.
Discussion Questions
1. Â What do you think is holding other Asian countries from legalizing same-sex marriage?
2. Consider the other 20 countries that have already legalized same-sex marriage, is there anything other nations can take from Taiwan reason for legalizing same-sex marriage? Â Â Â Â
In Jyoti Puriâs article âSexuality, State, & Nationâ, nationalism is defining as the belief and aimed practice aimed at creating unified but unique communities (nations) with a sovereign space (states) (Puri, 478). Nationalism defined what is normal and abnormal, what is respectable and what is deviant. Heterosexuality is often what I defined as normal and respectable, homosexuality is deviance and abnormal (Puri, 479). This shows heterosexuality as the norm.Â
Since state is linked to nationalism, the impact that nationalism have on sexuality also reflects the impact that states have on sexuality. State have regulation on things such as âif one is eligible to have sex, with whom, of what kind, under what circumstances, where, whether sex aids or contraceptives are usedâ (Puri, 482). The power of state regarding sexuality can also be seen in the Indian policies. Â Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which bans âsex against the order of natureâ, demonstrates the power of the state against sexuality by limiting options for other people. Similarly, with nationalism, states institutions also target same-sex sexualities. Gay lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are often denied the privileges that are enjoyed by heterosexual men and women. These privileges include inheritance, parenting, marriage, birth, and adoption, work-related insurance and benefits, home ownership and loans. This shows how state regulation in the matter of sexuality can be unfair and unequal.
State plays a major in sexuality. It defines what is normal or abnormal, what is respectable and what is deviance. State policies also deny gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people the same privileges awarded to heterosexual men and women. Â
Stepping beyond the confines of rigid sexuality was both difficult and liberating.
Media Report #1
My Summary, Explanation, and Analysis:
My media report for this week showcases an article published about a month ago regarding bisexuality in the Huffington Post.
The article, entitled âMy Bisexuality Is Valid: How I Found Myself In The Middle,â is authored by Huffington Post contributor and Capital University student Kathryn Poe, who is an intersectional feminist. Her other articles focus on disability support issues, including âThe AHCA Discriminates Against Me And Other Young, Sick Peopleâ and âI Am âDisabled,â And That Label Matters.â She also explores topics such as racism, feminism, and slut-shaming. Overall, sheâs a really cool author and her works are easily digestible to a college audience, as she is âone of us,â but her appeal extends beyond liberal and leftist college students and can be enjoyable for adult feminists and anti-racists as well.
Her article details her discovery of her own sexuality, coming out as bisexual in high school. She recounts her parents being open-minded and accepting, while friends and peers refused her bisexual identity and labeled her, instead, as a lesbian. This monosexism, the prejudice which people have that discriminates against people who attracted to more or fewer than one gender, became internalized, and Poe began to view herself as a lesbian.
Unfortunately, at the time she began simply labeling herself as a lesbian, she developed cancer and was too weak to live the âhigh school experience.â She felt unattractive, as she was de-sexualized by her peers due to her illness. In a morbid realization, she surmised: âIt wouldnât matter what my sexuality was if I died.â She did, however, get better and was able to enroll in college the following summer.
During her first year at school, she developed a crush on a childhood friend, who happened to be a boy. This sent her into a mini-crisis, worried that her lesbian identity was shattered. Her college friends helped quell her fears and reminded her that being bisexual or sexually fluid is completely valid, and as she remarks, âFor the first time, I was around people who were really educated about the LGBTQ community and saw sexuality on more of a spectrum.â It is because of the support of her new friends that she began to dissolve her internalized binaries and allow herself to feel fluid.
Her article ends with a warning that, as a society, we need to become more open and accepting of sexualities that are not limited to one gender. She demands visibility for often overlooked sexualities, mentioning asexuality, pansexuality, and bisexuality by name. Her article is an anecdote of self-acceptance and love as much as a plea for the destruction of monosexism.
Poeâs experience encompasses something emphasized by Kristin G. Esterberg in âThe Bisexual Menace Revisited,â that âbisexuals are seen as hopelessly confused: fence-sitters, unable to make up their minds about what they âreallyâ areâ (Location 5309). When Poe is quick to drop her bisexual label in favor of the âeasierâ label of lesbian, she rescinds the label which appears to be unstable in the eyes of her peers- so that she is no longer viewed as confused.
When she is afraid to reveal that she has a crush on a man, she has internalized the idea that lesbians are anti-men. As Esterberg claims, âlesbians are counterposed with all those who âlove menââ (Location 5330). The identity which Poe had adopted was supposed to be one which did not, by any means, love men and to be attracted to one was to puncture this identity. The stigma that comes with loving a man while also being attracted to women is an unfortunate reality, as Esterberg explains: âFrom the vantage point of lesbian feminism, bisexuals are seen as trading on heterosexual privilege and selling out the lesbian movementâ (Location 5330).
The skittishness around bisexuality is very real in a society that clings tightly to âon or the otherâ binaries. Across race and class lines, bisexuality is viewed as taboo, a semi-serious label for, effectively, âbeing a slutâ and sleeping around. Bisexual people are seen as three-some fodder, those who lack morals, and people who vehemently avoid monogamy. Likewise, they are seen as being exclusionary of genderqueer and trans people, a sentiment evident in Rupp et al.âs âLearning to Be Queer,â Diamondâs âSexual Fluidity,â and Callisâs âBeyond Bi.â All of these articles, or, perhaps, their subjects, seem to prefer the labels âqueerâ and âpansexualâ to bisexual (in my opinion), alluding to bisexuality as exclusionary of non-binary and otherwise trans identities. Â
About this article, I would like to ask the following questions:
1.   In your opinion, do you find that the college community is accepting of bisexuality? To what degree?
2.   Poe asserts, â[Bisexuality] also does not make me âlessâ LGBT.â This statement infers that the LGBTQ+ community has marginalized her in the past, making her believe that she is unwelcome in their spaces. Do you believe that the LGBTQ+ community is generally accepting of bisexual people? Why?
3.   In what ways does visibility help bisexual people? Are there any instances in which media portrayal could be detrimental?
4.   Poe recounts the struggle she had regarding her varying sexuality labels throughout her late teens. Are labels important? Should we work to expand sexuality labels, or should we work to abolish them altogether?
5.   What do you think Poe means when she says she âfound [her]self in the middleâ? What is the âmiddleâ in this instance?
I think the college community is approaching towards accepting bisexuality. However, there is still a long way to go towards making LGBTQ people feel accepted into college communities. Some colleges/universities have programs and studentsâ groups that make queer people feel accepted on campus. At The College of New Jersey, we have PRISM which is the first queer-straight alliance at the College that aims to create a safe, comfortable, and nurturing environment for queer individuals. The college also has a queer-inclusive Bible study. Having these studentsâ organizations is a step in the right direction towards accepting bisexuality. Students are somewhat protected by Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which prevents College who are receiving federal financial assistance to discriminate based on sex including gender identity, and sexual orientation, regarding housing, living arrangements, restroom, locker rooms, and athletics. Â However, with every laws and policy, there is always a loophole. Colleges and Universities can request a waiver which allows them to discriminate against queer people. The college and university are using religion to make their claims for the waiver. From your post, in Kathryn Poeâs article, she had a strong support system that made her feel welcome and help her understood her bisexuality. Some college community have these support system and other student based organizations that are helping these college community in accepting bisexuality.
 This article was written by Sarah Hughes âSexuality today: how we embarked on a new age of freedom and toleranceâ from The Guardian is about how the world especially millennials have more tolerance towards gender fluidity, bisexuality, and other identities. The article highlights the sexuality of famous celebrities who are influential to young people. This article was published on June 4th, 2016.
The article highlights how the internet is a helpful tool in helping queer people express themselves. According to the article, the internet allows for more visibility for people with life experiences outside the norm. Â There are many celebrities who are in same-sex relationships or discuss their non-binary identity to help change attitudes that other people have toward queer people.
Although there are number of celebrities who are trying to have more open talk about LGBT topics and trying to have people to be more open about people of bisexuality and gender fluidity, LGBT people still face numbers of growing problems. The article mentioned how in some places with no gender-neutral bathrooms or transgender people are still forced to used bathroom based on the sex the doctor assigned them.
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Questions!
1)Â Â Â Â Â Is there more that celebrities can do to have people more open and more comfortable with queer people?
2)Â Â Â Â Â Is there a way to make more older generations comfortable and more acceptance towards queer people?
Moonlight is a coming of age film about the life of an African-American man growing up in Liberty City, Miami named Chiron also known as âLittleâ or âBlackâ in three-part sections of his life experiences. The experiences including bullying, drug dealing and sexuality and love while following him from his adolescence, teen years and adulthood.
Chiron was bullied all throughout his childhood and teen life. This is shown in the beginning where was chased to drug user apartment by other boys. Chiron found refuge when the character Juan became a father-like figure in his life by feeding him, mentoring him, and allowing to take refuge in his home when his mother neglected him because of a drug habit. Although Juan was a father figure to Chiron, he was the one selling the drugs to his mother.
During his teenage years, his father figure as passed away but Juanâs girlfriend Teresa continues to look out for Chiron and care for him. During these years, Chiron experiences his sexuality and express it with his childhood friend Kevin. Throughout his childhood, Chiron had always been shy and had difficulty expressing himself which is why his friend Kevin was his only romantic love. The devastating scene of the film is when his bully Terrel had Kevin physically beat him. This was also the breaking point in his life when the next day Chiron assaulted Terrel with a chair which resulted in him getting arrested and escorted out the school by the police.
The last part of the film follows Chironâs adult life. During his adult life, Chiron goes by the nickname âBlackâ and chose the same profession as his father figure; selling drugs in Atlanta. After receiving frequent calls from his mother from a drug treatment center, Chiron visited his mother and forgave her for not being there for him and always choosing drugs over him. Following his mother visit, Chiron goes to Miami to visit his childhood friend, who is a waiter and a cook at a diner. After a long talk about their past Chiron spend the night at Kevinâs house where he admits not being intimate after their night on the beach.
Chironâs world of exploiting drugs and masculinity prevent him from openly talk about his sexuality and express it. Chiron is in a world where men especially African-American men are not supposed to be homosexual or have thought about homosexuality. In Kristen Esterbergâs chapter âThe Bisexual Menace Revisited,â she talks about what is accepted within minority communities versus white communities. Non-heterosexual sexualities are less embraced within the minority communities which create issues for queer people like Chiron. Throughout Chironâs childhood, he hid this part from him and still through his adulthood he still didnât have any idea of who he is and chose to show this âmasculineâ side of him and hide.
The author Esterberg also talks about how minority men who engage in homosexual behavior are more likely to have relationships with women to prevent people from knowing their sexuality (Esterberg 2016, location 5386). The viewer can see this behavior from Chironâs childhood friend Kevin who bragged about being caught having sex with a girl on school property and refrain from any talk about homosexuality. Kevin goes on to have a relationship with a woman and have kids even though he was much in love with Chiron.
The TransInclusive PowerPoint Presentation defines cisgender as people who identify themselves with the sex that they were assigned to at birth. People who identify as cisgender tend to conform to the gender binary. Whereas transgender is defined as people who do not identify themselves with the sex that was assigned to them at birth. Transgender includes a wide range of gender identity which is transgender, transgender women, transgender men, transwomen, transmen, trans and Non-Binary Trans. In the reading From transgender to trans*, Ryan highlights how gender includes more than just male and female, and that non-binary transgender can identify as both male and female (Ryan, location 3269). Most cisgender people do not experience institutional oppression whereas transgender people experience institutional oppression in their everyday life. The idea of two genders has been deeply rooted in society. The author Preves highlights how everything in society is to enforce these two genders for examples restrooms, clothing, identification cards, religious rites of passage and sporting events (Proves, Location 3039).
As there are many ways people can identify themselves. Which highlights the importance of pronouns because they make people feel welcome in society. Using the wrong pronouns can be upsetting to people and it can also be a seen as a sign of disrespect to a personâs identity. It is always better to ask people for their pronouns than to assume.
Reading Response #1:Westbrook, Â Transforming Sex/Gender/Sexuality System
Laurel Westbrookâs, âTransforming the sex/gender/sexuality system: The construction of trans categories in the United States,â focuses on how the beliefs about sex, gender, and sexuality have dramatically changed particularly because of the increased of knowledge and acceptance practices around trans lifestyles. Westbrook highlight that sex, gender, and sexuality as a socially constructed system of classification that changed over time and varied across cultures. Westbrook begins by explaining what sex, gender, and sexuality are defines or refers to. (Fisher & Seidman, 2016: Chapter 4). Â Westbrook defines sex as the division of bodies based on biological makeup such as genitalia, hormones, or chromosomes. Which are often categorized as male and female, while those not easily classifiable are referred as intersex. While gender is defined as a set of behaviors and identities that are often assumed to be caused by, and to reflect a personâs sex. And Sexuality places people into status categories based on their sexual desires, behaviors, and identity. (Fisher & Seidman, 2016: Chapter 4).
As the years passed the term transgender became more encompassment of the terms transgenderists, transsexual and transvestite. It came to serve as an umbrella of the misunderstood people. These people who crossed the traditional gender boundaries were no longer referred by the terms objects in which they were not seen as humans, but instead, they were subjects eligible for social acknowledgment. However, this classification and constant redefinition of the term transgender has misclassified many people. For some individuals who were referred to as gay due to their male-bodied femininity, they were classified as transgender by the leaders of the LGBT community, even though they themselves did not identify as such.
Given such strong advocating for the term transgender, there has been the marking of an opposing term of Cisgender. People who identify as the same sex and gender that they were assigned. All in the effort of not normalizing one group over another. Still, there is still discrimination faced by transgender.
Hello. I am rising senior in college. Pronouns She/her/hers. I love to read. Â I read fictions, devotionals, romance, self-help, and social sciences books!!! Â And yes I would rather read than go out and party.
