This is to the extent whereby the theorists have begun to look at lesbianism as a provisional identity in that it takes into account the racial, class and ethnical differences and these are what the queer theory has failed to do so far Epstein, 1994: 197()
Some scholars have argued that the development of the queer theory means that lesbianism is not going to disappear anytime in the recent future. The queer theory also threatens to offset the advances which were made by feminism by failing to recognize the impact of the lesbian-feminism theory in shaping the contemporary understanding of sexuality and gender Hollinger, 1999: 28()

It has also been argued that the word queer only refers to a white male individual who is gay. This makes it more difficult to comprehend and advocate for the queer theory. On the contrary, lesbian-feminism seeks to completely dismantle the idea of heterosexuality and…...

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References

CALHOUN, C. 1994. Separating Lesbian Theory from Feminist Theory. Ethics, 104, 558-581.

CARAWAY, N.E. 1991. The Challenge and Theory of Feminist Identity Politics: Working on Racism. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 12, 109-129.

CARD, C. 1998. Radicalesbianfeminist Theory. Hypatia, 13, 206-213.

EAGLETON, M. 1996. Who's Who and Where's Where: Constructing Feminist Literary Studies. Feminist Review, 1-23.

Judith Butlers ork in Queer TheoryIntroductionJudith Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has had a significant impact on both feminist and queer theory. Born in 1956, Butler grew up in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. She began her academic career at esleyan University, where she studied philosophy and literature. After earning her PhD from Yale University in 1984, Butler taught at several different colleges and universities before joining the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. It was during her time at Berkeley that Butler wrote her most famous work, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, which was published in 1990. In this book, Butler challenges the assumption that there are two natural categories of gender (male and female) and instead argues that gender is performative, meaning that it is something that we do rather than something we are. This…...

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Works CitedButler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. NY: Routledge, 1990.Butler, Judith. “Imitation and Gender Insubordination.”

Queer Theory and Oscar Wilde
Analysis of "Queer Theory" by Annamarie Jagose in relation to Dorian Gray's character in "The picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

In her discussion of "Queer theory," author Annamarie Jagose provides a distinction between the concepts 'queer' and the dichotomous relationship between 'lesbian' and 'gay.' Jagose argued in her discussion of this theory that queer was a concept that had politically evolved through the years in relation to the proliferation of gay and lesbian studies.

What makes the queer concept vital to the study of gays and lesbians, as well as issues of homosexuality and heterosexuality is that it provides a 'gray area' in which no distinctions between male and female and gay and lesbian are found. Queer appeals to the 20th century philosophers and social scientists simply because it offers an avenue through which gender and sex can be discussed without the political inequality often found…...

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Bibliography

Jagose, A. (1996). "Queer Theory." Australian Humanities Review web site. Available at: http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-Dec-1996/jagose.html.

Wilde, O. (1994). The Picture of Dorian Gray. NY: Penguin Books.

Homosexual Marriage and the Impacts on Parenting
Homosexual marriage refers to legal matrimony between two individuals of the same gender and it is a phenomenon which has come under a great deal of scrutiny and debate during the last few years. As of the time of this writing nine states have legalized gay marriage, and 31 states have constitutional amendments which ban gay marriage to some extent -- a fact alone which showcases this nation's level of homophobia and a reluctance to deliver fundamental rights, like the right to pursue happiness. However, the topic of this paper is to examine the impacts of gay marriage on parenting and the kids that grow up having two moms or two dads. Even the most conservative, right-winged, and religiously literal people will admit, that if there's one thing that this nation needs; for example, the following conservative remarked: "Many studies show that single parents…...

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References

Balling, R. (2012, Septemver 28). Why same-sex marriage affects my marriage. Retrieved from Star tribune:  http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/171613511.html?refer=y 

Carey, B. (2012, June 11). Debate on a Study Examining Gay Parents. Retrieved from NYTimes:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/health/study-examines-effect-of-having-a-gay-parent.html?_r=0 

Chrisler, J. (2010, June 24). Why gay parents are good parents. Retrieved from Cnn.com: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-06-24/opinion/chrisler.gay.parents_1_adoptions-by-gay-people-anti-gay-gay-pride?_s=PM:OPINION

Narth.com. (n.d.). Gay Parenting Does Affect Children Differently, Study Finds. Retrieved from Narth.com:  http://www.narth.com/docs/does.html

Indeed, the lack of "recognition and protection" by schools in general contributes to the "critically high level of suicide" among this community of minority students (146).
Surely alert, competent, contemporarily up-to-date school counselors understand that they have the "daunting but imperative obligation to become social activists for gay, lesbian, and bisexual students" since these students are the most "stigmatized members of school environs," Stone continues. There is no doubt that certain legal and ethical issues come in the way of school counselors' being free to help LGBT adolescents with their difficult decisions.

It is a "complex landscape" for counselors indeed, and they need to use caution in discussing birth control, abortion, drug abuse and more with straight and gay / lesbian students; moreover, since parents have the ultimate authority when it comes to counseling their children on important matters (the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that fact in several cases), the…...

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Works Cited

Cabaj, Robert Paul, and Smith, Mickey. (2008). Overview of Treatment Approaches, Modalities,

and Issues of Accessibility in the Continuum of Care. Center for Substance Abuse

Treatment. Retrieved August 27, 2011, from  http://www.samhsa.gov .

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2008). A Provider's Introduction to Substance Abuse

Gay Marriage
Same sex marriage has been a topic of much debate in recent years. Many believe that same sex marriage should not be allowed, while others assert that homosexuals should have the right to be legally married. The purpose of this discussion is to investigate the historical context, political impact, sociological impact and the psychological and philosophical perspectives of this issue.

Gay Marriage in a historical context

According to Coolidge et al. (2003) marriage provides a legal gateway to many protections and benefits in American society. In fact many of these protections and benefits do not exist outside of becoming legally married (Mcwhirter 2004). These include access to health care and medical decision making for your partner and your children; parenting and immigration rights; inheritance, taxation, Social Security, and other government benefits (Mcwhirter 2004). It is because of these protections and benefits that same sex marriage has become such an explosive issue…...

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References

Conger, J.J. (1975). Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, Incorporated, for the year 1974: Minutes of the annual meeting of the Council of Representatives. American Psychologist, 30, 620-651.

Duncan, D.G. (2004). The Federal Marriage Amendment and Rule by Judges. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 27(2), 543+.

Coolidge, D.O. Wardle, L.D., Strasser, M., Duncan, W.C., (Eds.). (2003). Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate / . Westport, CT: Praeger.

DiPlacido, J. (1998). Minority stress among lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals: A consequence of heterosexism, homophobia, and stigmatization. In G.M. Herek (Ed.), Stigma and sexual orientation (pp. 138-159). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Of this group. 50% were male, 50% were female, 38% were White, 35% were Black, and 16% were Hispanic. Adoption statistics are difficult to find because reporting is not as complete as it should be. The government spent $2.6 billion dollars to conduct the 1990 Census, but still it under-represented minorities and categorized children as "natural or by adoption" without differentiating, while special laws were implemented to "protect" and separate adoption affected families. In 1995, a "continuous" census (instead of every ten years) was proposed but has not been implemented. Even the government cannot rely on its most often cited broad official "guesstimate" of "5 to 10 million adoptees in the U.S." Private agency or independent adoptions account for more than 80% of adoptions in a state like California, but these are difficult to track, particularly when they cross state and country borders. In addition, no one knows how…...

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References

Altstein, H., M. Coster, L. First-Hartling, C. Ford, B. Glasoe, S. Hairston, J. Kasoff, and a.W. Grier (1994, May-June). Child Welfare League of America, 261-269.

Bachrach, C.A., London, K.A. And Maza, P. (1991). On the path to adoption: adoption seeking in the U.S., 1998. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53(3), 705-718.

Barth, R. (1994, September 1). "Adoption research: Building blocks for the next decade." Child Welfare.

Belge, K. (2007). Lesbian and gay adoption rights. Lesbian Life. Retrieved September 28, 2007 at  http://lesbianlife.about.com/cs/families/a/adoption_2.htm .

It delved into the historical record of integration of blacks into the military, public opinions and health risks and unit disruption. It also incorporated the findings of scientific literature on group cohesion, sexuality and relevant health and legal issues and their implementation. Only one policy would fulfill the President's directive. It would consider sexual orientation as not inherent in determining who may serve in the military. It would set a standard of professional conduct for all personnel in the pursuit of good order and discipline. And it would be enforced in every level of the chain of command so as to maintain effective unit performance (Rostker et al.).
Policy for Ending Discrimination

This policy binds all service members to the same standard of professional behavior (Rostker et al., 2000). It draws upon actual conduct, not behavior from presumed sexual orientation. It elicits tolerance and restraint for the good of the group…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Burrelli, D.F. And Feder, J. (2009). Homosexuals and the U.S. military: current issues.

CRS Report for Congress. Congressional Research Service: Federation of American

Scientists. Retrieved on March 5, 2010 from  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL30113.pdf 

Roberts, R and Roberts C. (2010). Society ready to accept gays in the military. Topeka Capital-Journal: ProQuest Information and Learning Company. Retrieved on March 5, 2010 from  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20100222/ai_n50180056

True freedom does exist, but Black America has not yet found it.
From Redistribution to Recognition?

In this article by Nancy Fraser, the problem of social inequities is discussed in terms of the definitions that lead to potential solutions. Ms. Fraser spends a considerable amount of time examining the mechanics of race, gender, and sexuality. Rather than see society socialistically in terms of economics, the author singles out these purely cultural constructs as things to be deconstructed in order to achieve fair redistribution and recognition. These categories are identities that are formed primarily through the workings of Eurocentric attitudes, beliefs that themselves must be eliminated by concerted efforts at decentering and also revaluing other groups and sets of beliefs. Two primary approaches present themselves - one affirmative, the other transformative. According to the affirmative, programs are aimed at actively moving wealth to underprivileged groups, while those groups simultaneously preserve their differences.…...

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Works Cited

 

But in instances where the TV does not provide good moral and role models for the teenagers then it is just to say that the TV programs are the major contributing factor towards homophobic tendencies among the society members. The lack of positive role modeling is also being viewed on the side of lesbians, gays and bisexual youth Kielwasser AP and olf MA ( 378)
. Most gays and lesbians in the society are brought up in a straight community with few gays and lesbians role models; thus they are specifically vulnerable to the portrayals of gay people in the mass media (Ryan & Futterman, 124).

The mainstream media has treated the sexual minorities as if they are not part of the human race, as if they do not exist. In addition, it was observed that the gay people of whichever age are rarely portrayed, and mostly the little portrayal they…...

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Works cited

Bandura a. "Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication." Media Psychology 3 (2001): 265 -- 99. Print.

Battles K, and Morrow-Hilton W. "Gay Characters in Conventional Spaces: Will and Grace and the Situation Comedy Genre." Critical Studies in Mass Communication 19.1 (2002): 87 -- 105. Print.

D'Augelli, a.R. "Lesbian and Gay Male Undergraduates' Experiences of Harassment and Fear on Campus." Journal of International Violence 7.383-395 (1992). Print.

David P. Pierson. "Hey, They're Just Like Us!" Representations of the Animal World in the Discovery Channel's Nature Programming." J. Pop Cult (2005): 698-712. Print.

homosexual practices might have begun in the early centuries, the word "sodomy" was first used by a Catholic missionary, now a saint, Father Peter Damien around 1050. y sodomy, he meant masturbation and anal intercourse between men, a sin he condemned as the most perverse of sexual sins in his long letter to the Pope, entitled "the ook of Gomorrah." He emphasized that God designed sex exclusively for procreation and that the enjoyment of the sexual act outside this divine purpose was unnatural and therefore summarily grievously and wickedly sinful.
The unnaturalness of sodomy remained more or less the same through the centuries, till the 1700s when the so-called modern homosexual subcultures made themselves visible in London, Paris and Amsterdam. The rest soon perceived them as "sodomites (who were merely) ... constitutionally different from other men" (Wikholm 1999) and effeminate woman-haters who refused to have sex with women. Things were…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Alic, Margaret. Alfred Charles Kinsey. Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, second edition. Gale Group, 2001

2. Boeree, George. Personality Theory: Sigmund Freud. 1997

3. Cameron, Paul. The Psychology of Homosexuality. Family Research Report.

Family Research Institute, 1999

Gay Marriages
ame sex marriages' has been a ubiquitous argument for critics, activists, and political commentators for quite some time now. While some critics choose to reflect on the religious and ethical stance of gay and lesbian marriages, Andrew Sullivan chooses to explore the political reasoning behind the prohibition of same sex marriages. The excerpt chosen for critiquing belongs to Sullivan's book Virtually Normal: An Argument about Homosexuality (1995), which highlights the author's personal opinion about gay's and lesbian's right to marriage, political opinions on same sex marriages, and the differences between liberal and conservative party's modes of thoughts and actions regarding same sex marriages.

Introduction of the Author

Andrew Sullivan, himself being of homosexual orientation and married, with HIV positive status, is a devout catholic and a 'conservative' political commentator. Andrew Michael Sullivan rapidly rose to popularity in the first half of the 21st century based on few of his controversial…...

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References

Barry, P.B. (2011). Social theory and practice, 37(2): 333-356.

Fish, E. (2005). The road to recognition: A global perspective on gay marriage. Harvard International Review, Summer 2005, 32-35.

Harris, A. & Cole, G.W. (2008). Conversation on Marriage for lesbian and gay people: introduction to lesbian and gay marriage roundtable. Studies in gender and sexuality, 9, 140-145.

Sullivan, A.M. (1995). Virtually Normal: An argument about homosexuality. Knopf.

Homosexual marriage does not pose a threat to me or my manhood therefore I am for it." Although I am heterosexual, I know what it means to long for union with another human being. I will choose a woman for my partner, but if another man desires to choose one of his own sex, there is no harm for me in his choice. In fact, since we are both part of humanity, his legal union, as does mine, brings positive reinforcement to the institution of marriage.
As early as 400 BC Plato in his Symposium discussed the mystery of sexual desire, concluding that humans are always searching for their other half, having been cut in two as punishment by Zeus. The whole humans that existed before this action, according to Aristophanes, Plato's debating companion, all had two heads, four legs and four arms. They were of three types: some with…...

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Works Cited

Eskridge Jr., William N. "Equality Practice: Liberal Reflections on the Jurisprudence of Civil Unions." Albany Law Review, 2001, Vol. 64, Issue 3, p 853, 29p. (EBSCO Host version unpaged.)

Eskridge Jr., William N. The Case for Same-Sex Marriage: From Sexual Liberty to Civilized Commitment. New York: The Free Press, 1996.

Ettelbrick, Paula L. "Domestic Partnership, Civil Unions, or Marriage: One Size Does Not Fit All." Albany Law Review, 2001, Vol. 64, Issue 3. ((EBSCO Host version unpaged.)

Halpern, Jake. "Out for a Buck." The New Republic. 8 May 2000, Issue 4451:23.

This also becomes clear if we consider other mammals and sexual behavior and orientation in the natural world.
On the other and I do not discount entirely the social and social learning theories about being gay. It would be incorrect to argue rigidly against the view that society, culture and social learning play a significant role in being gay. However, what is also very clear from this research is that being gay is predominantly and in the first instance biologically determined.

In the final analysis, while one can continue to discuss for and against arguments in this debate, for me it is just as important to listen to what gay people say about their feelings and situations. As mentioned in the introduction, many gay people state categorically that they 'have always felt different' and that their sexual preferences are internal and innate rather then learned. These are views that I think…...

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Bibliography www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000984155

Brookey, R.A. (2001). Bio-Rhetoric, Background Beliefs and the Biology of Homosexuality. Argumentation and Advocacy, 37(4), 171.

A www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99230589

BEgue, L., & Apostolidis, T. (2001). Implicit Theories of Reality and Social Differentiation from Gay People. Journal of Social Psychology, 141(1), 132-134.

A www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000728353

Homosexual Interview
The subject of this interview is a twenty-nine-year-old homosexual male of African-American descent, originally from Miami, Florida. He has been employed as a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer since his 1997 graduation from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he majored in Kinesthesiology and Movement Science

and minored in Broadcast Communications.

The subject seemed ideal for this interview because he is openly homosexual himself, but acutely irritated by the common homosexual "affect" that he characterizes as a learned or emulated set of effeminate mannerisms and speech patterns that many people have come to associate with (or even expect from) male homosexuals. The subject has repeatedly expressed his disgust with homosexuals whom he describes as "flames" or even "faggots," because as a comfortably assimilated homosexual male, he believes that he (and all homosexual males) suffer from stereotyping and the homophobia that he believes it inspires. Specifically, the subject compares the plight…...

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WORKS CITED

1. Breedlove, Marc, S. Sexual Differentiation of the Human Nervous System.

Annual Review of Psychology (Jan 1994) Accessed April 26, 2004, at:   num=5& ctrlInfo=Round1a%3AProd%3ASR%3AResulthttp://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?DOCID=1G1:14857116& ;

2. Branden, Nathaniel. The Disowned Self. (1989)

New York: Bantam

The evolution of the word "queer" and its modern-day connotations have been influenced by a variety of cultural factors, including:

1. LGBTQ+ activism and community: LGBTQ+ activists and communities have reclaimed the word "queer" as a way to challenge traditional notions of gender and sexuality, and to build a sense of unity and solidarity among marginalized groups.

2. Academia: In the field of queer theory and queer studies, the word "queer" has been used to challenge and destabilize norms and conventions related to gender and sexuality, leading to a more expansive and inclusive understanding of these identities.

3. Popular media and entertainment: The....