Human rights is moving forward in Canada

I saw this add for the Canadian Human Rights Museum. I loved their perspective on the situation so I though I
should share!

Media is teaching equality

     I love musicals theatre, so it should come to no surprise to you that one of my favourite shows is Glee. I love this show for SO many reasons; they have managed to encase witty banter, fantastic musicals numbers and have also introduced some pretty serious social analysis themes in the show that teenagers are facing today. The Madonna episode did not disappoint a true Gleek like me. I don’t want to say too much without spoiling it, but glee managed to touch on the issues of how guys are treating girls in today’s society, the following weeks Glee also demonstrated the discrimination gay students face, as well as teaching viewers about loving who they are and their own bodies.

     The fact that such a popular show is pushing these issues in the viewers face makes me happy to watch something that is making a statement in a world where these things actually happen. They have been pushing the limits no other tv show has done before. Think about, what other tv show deals with these issues. The only other show that has made a teenage boy as fruity and totally awesome as Kurt is the writers of Ugly Betty.

     

     On March 18^th Betty’s nephew finally came “out of the closet” and even got his first kiss with his boy friend Austin. And believe it o not this episode made history, they were the first tv EVER to show two teenage boys kissing.

If we continue to publicize these issues it is going to give the cause more and more exposure which will in turn let the world take the finale step to human equality! 




Check out the preview for the Madonna episode of Glee. 

We are silent!

On April 16^th students all over the world participated in the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), to draw attention to anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. This year marks their 14^th annual day of silence.

I think my favourite part of this day is that it is meant to educate the public by their community’s youth. When the generation that will soon be running thus world understands rights for all then I would not mind living in that future at all.

This article is such a huge contrast from Constance’s situation where the student body were the one picking a fight with her, but by introducing a day of silence (meant to be significant as LGBT do not have a “voice” in their communities) we can make a brighter path for generations to come opposed to Constance’s high school and the example the parents and students of her high school were making.

I hope to discover more positive impacts to a big step forward in rights and freedoms for all of the World. This one day defiantly makes a huge impact.

Abortion and You (and also the Nebraska government)

Abortion, this is such a controversial topic, but interesting none the less. There really are two sides the the “human rights” part of the issues, the human that is carrying the human, and the soon-to-be human. The state of Nebraska has just passed two laws which I think are absolutely ludicrous, but I’ll let you have your own opinion. 

     The first law which Republican Governor Dave Heineman signed into law on Tuesday, requires doctors to screen women before they have abortions, to make sure they’re not being “pressured” into doing so, as well as to make sure they will not have any physical or mental problems after the abortion. Can you say crazy? And the second bill Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would ban abortions after 20 weeks, citing that after that point, fetuses can feel pain.  What I don’t get is that before the bills was passed, Nebraska was one of a handful of states that still permitted late-term abortions without any restrictions, and they have just decided that with the signing of the first one the second one may as well go hand-in-hand. 

     The thing with abortion is it all depends on the situation you’re in, but who is it too say that your situation is ok to bring a child up in? I mean quite frankly i don’t think we should have six year old mums, ever, and I think that is a pretty good (although maybe extreme) example where abortion can get thumbs up! To me abortion is something you get to decided, not the government. That is like letting the government decided what clothes to wear for the day. I think instead of people being so concerned about the people about to come into this world, shouldn’t we look at the kids that are already in a bad situation? And give rights to the people already in this world. Mothers of these babies should get to make these decisions. 

True Colors

In contrast to many of the other stories and articles i have found this one made me smile. Cyndi Lauper (the “girls just wanna have fun” singer) is helping establish Manhattans first permanent housing for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in Harlem.

Kids all across America and even Canada are coming out at greater numbers at a younger age, the shelter will contain 30 studio apartments, a communal space, a library and a computer room. This brain child of Laupers is accepted to cost $11 million dollars. Although it is not a free ride for the residents, they will be expected to pay rent according to their income.

When I first read the article I never even thought about having a homeless shelter just for LGBT youth that have been kicked out of their homes. And then i think back to my introduction and the question of the issues that it behind social justice. By the house being built in Manhattan I defiantly think the issues will be given exposure especially when a pop icon like Cyndi is sitting giving life to this project. I was also shocked to hear that in New York alone there is 15,000 and 20,000 homeless youth.

"I was sent to a FAKE prom!

“I was sent to fake prom”

         You are probably reading the title in total disbelieve right? A fake prom? Who the heck would even do that? For Constance McMillan this was totally real. After her school and the board refused for her to bring a female date along with her to her prom they cancelled it all together. Constance and her attorney had fought hard for her to be able to bring a female date too her school prom. The case was sent to court and a judge said that the school will host a prom that Constance and her date can attend. Parents were not happy about this and a second prom was organized by a group of parents. Constance and a few other “outcasts” of the high school were never invited.
         With all the research I have been doing with this project a lot of it has been progress and another step forward in the right direction, people supporting LGBT community. But when I hear stories like Constance’s my jaw hits the floor. How is it that a group of parents think that that girl does not deserve to go to prom just because she identifies herself differently than their own son or daughter? It shocks me that there are parents advocating and teaching their children this. Constance said that there were only seven people at the prom. The other five attendees were special needs students. She says the only thing that was really great about that night was that they felt like they could have fun, there was no one there to pick on them or too ruin their prom night. Is that the only way to `”handle” these things, by segregating the lesbians, gays bisexuals transgender? The special needs kids from the rest of their own high school?

Social Justice?

Hello! I have chosen to follow the ongoing battle with social justice throughout the world for my grade ten academic English class. I have to say that this topic is often overlooked, and for some of the public it is just coming to their attention now, maybe as they are reading this.

To be perfectly honest I do not know much about social justice, in fact, I know nothing aside from that I know it happens, but what about the issues behind the word social justice? Does that even mean anything to you? I guess that is the real issue with social justice, know one knows much about it. Do you?

I want this assignment to at least let people gain some insight on the topic. This has been an ongoing war for-I-don’t-know-how-long, although I am hoping I will be able to see the end of racial profiling, discrimination against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and gender stereo types in my life time. I will be using newspaper articles, website sources like bust.com and following the blog entries of an organization called “Give A Damn”. I am hoping my questions will be answered and your attention will be brought to what seems a never ending fight to end these battles of discrimination.