Times are Changing, Shouldn't Society Change too?

by: Kirstin Carlson

One of today’s ongoing and still strong battles is the fight for Gay rights. Just as women and African Americans fought for their rights; people of all genders and sexualities fight for Gay rights; continuing the struggle to get the alternative to old traditional lifestyles acknowledged and bring forth the ‘equality’ our country if so well known for. Is it going too far to say that denying someone the rights or benefits of a marriage based on the genders of people involved is so different than denying rights based off race? It was not so long ago, when women were not allowed the same rights as men and blacks not allowed the same rights as whites. 

Many will argue that bringing up a child in a household with same-sex parents doesn’t provide the necessary tools in parenting because unlike heterosexual households, same-sex parents, are just that, lacking a role model of both the same sex and opposite sex of the child. In the same sense, it can also be argued that single- parent homes lack the same necessities as same-sex households. Yet, we don’t make raising a child in single-parent homes illegal. So maybe having both male and female parents isn’t necessary. There are many alternatives, such as having a close friend or another member of the family who can suffice as a perfectly good role model for the child in the same way a parent could.

When you first think of LGBT, you may think of flamboyant men dressed in girly clothes or women with a short haircut and a tool belt; this does little to show the true depth of the LGBT community. LGBT, which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, is not completely based off of sexuality but also breaks the social norm of what we consider gender, which is male and female. Take Jake, a sixteen year old boy, who was born as a girl. At the young age of five, Jake was aware there was something different about him. Jake’s mom states, “He came to me and said, Mommy I’m a boy.” So where does Jake fall under our social view of gender; female or male? Biologically Jake is a female, so some people may believe Jake should be considered as such. At the same time, Jake believes his ‘gender-identity’ does not match up with his assigned sex; Jake considers himself male. So can gender really be confined to Social Binary? Should we conform to society’s beliefs or should society grow with the changing times?

Works Cited:
NBC News - Born in the Wrong Body