By: Lillian Holmes
Note: Has sensitive topics.
Authors note at the end

There are lots of examples in the real world’s reality that relate to quite a few topics written in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Some of those examples would be the defending of planned parenthood, sexual harassment cases in the news, as well as control on women, sexism, and control on birth control. The United States of America is painted to be a haven for people all over the world with little to no repercussions. Lots of people come here to America for a better life, and while some find it, some people find even more hardships than they were expecting. Americans struggle with everyday challenges, usually, women or people who have uterus’s are struggling quite a bit as of later in the United States. From acquiring birth control to choosing whether or not they wish to carry a pregnancy, to having the right of being comfortable in their own body. It has become almost like a civil war within America with thesis topics, so much so that it is getting dangerous. Just like in the Handmaid’s Tale men and the government are taking control of women’s bodies and are taking away their rights. Women are fighting back as best as they can to prevent men from having a hand in their lives and hundreds both approve and disapprove, it is an ongoing battle. This paper will be all about the ways that topics in the Handmaid’s Tale as well as everyday topics and how they are similar and how different they are in the real world. But this paper is to make everyone wary of what aspects of The Handmaid’s Tale are reflected in the world today.

There are quite a few examples in the real world that relate to horrific topics that were mentioned in The Handmaid’s Tale. One of those is the control of women. As explained in the book, birth control was made illegal very early on in the creation of Gilead due to the declining birth rates in the former United States of America and around the world. The only way that birth control could be acquired would be as contraband in dead dogs. In Gilead, birth control along with abortions (talked about in the following paragraph) was made illegal. Before the creation of Gilead, the United States along with the rest of the world was experiencing a severe fertility crisis. Governments across the world all had different ways of dealing with this. As quoted from the book “The reasons for this decline are not altogether clear to us. Some of the failure to reproduce can undoubtedly be traced to the widespread availability of birth control of various kinds, including abortion…..” (Atwood 86) While the researchers after the fall of Gilead still have no idea what created the Fertility Crisis around the world due to there being way too many candidates for the decline in births they do have quite a few ideas that may have led to the decline, “this was the age of R-strain syphilis and also of the infamous AIDS epidemic, which, once they spread to the population at large, eliminated many young sexually active people from the reproductive pool? Stillbirths, miscarriages, and genetic deformities…….been linked to the various nuclear-plant accidents, shutdowns, and incidents of sabotage that characterized the period, as well as to leakages from chemical and biological-warfare stockpiles and toxic-waste disposal sites….”. (Atwood 86)

You may be wondering what this has to do with the United States and the world that we know today? In the early 1960s, the first-ever birth control pill was invented. According to resources, it took off as soon as it was approved by the FDA, which resulted in many young women going to college instead of staying at home to raise children that they otherwise would have waited for earlier in life. “In 1960, Enovid was the first birth control pill to be approved by the FDA in the United States. The pill became very popular and had a major impact on society and culture. It contributed to a sharp increase in college attendance and graduation rates for women.”  (Wikipedia) Men in power were unhappy with this decision because they were “losing control” of women around this time as women were finally being given the freedom to do what they want with their body. As we see in The Handmaid’s Tale, men were unhappy with the fact that women were finally given the choice on what they wished to do with their life. So much so that in both The Handmaid’s Tale and the real world, men began to pull god, and religion into their arguments to try and justify their actions and beliefs on what should and should not be done with women’s bodies. “We’ve given them more than we’ve taken away…….Think of the trouble they had before. Don’t you remember the singles’ bars….. Don’t you remember the terrible gap between the ones who could get a man easily and the ones who couldn’t? Some of them were desperate, they starved themselves thin or pumped their breasts full of silicone, had their noses cut off. Think of the human misery.” Which was a quote from Offred’s Commander. (Atwood 64)

Reading was another big way that they used to control women, they realized that if women were unable to read that they would have more control over them, education was also a matter of debate in the Handmaid’s Tale. in the real world, women were only allowed to legally without discrimination allowed to go to school in 1972 “Since the enactment of Title IX in 1972, federal law has guaranteed the right to an education free from sex discrimination” (ACLU), which people rioted about for ages, in belfies that women belong in the house and not in school getting an education. Now women dominate the teaching industry and are some of the most educated people in the world. But that doesn’t stop from groups of people being upset that women have the upper hand. 

Abortion has always been a big debate in society. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. This can be for a personal reason or it can be for a medical reason. Doctors have been known to recommend an abortion to women around the world for many years usually for women’s health. Women also decide whether or not they wish to carry a pregnancy due to financial issues, personal issues, mental health, rape, and more. But that aroused issues, such as the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life movements. The Pro-Choice movement believes that women or people who can carry should be able to decide whether or not they want a pregnancy, for a personal reason, or any reason at all, it is up to them to decide if they wish to carry on that pregnancy. While the Pro-Life movement believes that anyone who can have children (they usually only use the word “women” in this case) must carry a pregnancy no matter the cost. They believe that the embryo or fetus should be protected at all costs and for no reason should it be aborted. In the real world such examples to prevent abortion and furthermore to control women some states of the United States have put bands on abortions, for example, Texas placed a 6-week heartbeat ban on abortions. Meaning if the fetus or embryo has a heartbeat or is 6 weeks old, it cannot be aborted. “The law has a unique private-enforcement mechanism that empowers private citizens to sue anyone who…. “aids or abets” an abortion after a fetal cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.” (Klibanoff) the supreme court refuses to help Texans get rid of this ban and a new law on abortion. But you may be wondering what this has to do with the Handmaid’s Tale? 

Banning abortion was one of the first things that were ever done in the creation of Gilead because a child and a woman who was able to have children were seen as precious because of the birth decline during this time. Abortion was such a bit threat to the men who collectively created Gilead that it was punishable by death even after it was banned. “The ban of abortion in Gilead is a retroactive “ex post facto law”, which means all who have performed abortions before the rise of Gilead are put to death or even sent to the Colonies.” (Laws of God and His Servants on Earth). They were killed by being hung from the wall which was Gilead’s way of punishing and scaring those into thinking of breaking the law. It was their way of showing power and how much they have over the women and men (that were not Commanders or anyone “important”). They were often seen with white masks over their face so the people below could not identify them, but leaving it a mystery was also their way of keeping fear in their hearts. Offered goes on to explain what it’s like to be an onset of these people “Though if you look and look, as we are doing, you can see the outlines of the features under the white cloth, like gray shadows. The heads are the heads of snowmen, with the coal eyes and the carrot noses fallen out. The heads are melting…..But on one bag there’s blood, which has seeped through the white cloth, where the mouth must have been…….The men wear white coats, like those worn by doctors or scientists…..Each has a placard hung around his neck to show why he has been executed: a drawing of a human fetus. They were doctors, then, in the time before, when such things were legal. Angel makers, they used to call them; or was that something else?” (Atwood 12) While in the real world, in America we do not have a death penalty yet, it very may well lead to that if the government doesn’t do something about it. 

Sexual harassment is evident in both Handmaid’s Tale as well in the real world United States of America as well as all over the world. While in the Handmaid’s Tale as well as in the real world, it is illegal in some states there is a very foggy line between justice and injustice. Here is the real world a victim of sexual harassment can take their harassment to court, sometimes, nothing ever happens. VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 claims that sexual harassment is illegal and “makes it illegal for employers to allow anyone to be sexually harassed at work by anyone else, regardless of sex, gender, or sexual orientation.” (“Sexual Harassment”), but the VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes sexual harassment illegal between employees and coworkers, not outside of work. “it makes it illegal for employers to allow harassment to occur or to fail to stop it once they know it’s happening. So this civil rights law does not give you a right to sue an individual person – unless that individual person is your employer.” (“Sexual Harassment”). 

In the Handmaid’s Tale, sexual harassment to Handmaid’s is taken very seriously as Handmaid’s are both respected and disrespected in the same way. It is a foggy line, while the Handmaid’s do not wish to be touched, and to have sex with their Commanders, they know they must do so to survive and be given food, water, and shelter over their head so they give into it. The younger the Handmaid the more brainwashed that they are the less they see it as such or argue with their inner thoughts unlike our narrator Offered who sits there and thinks about her past life and how she feels as if she is betraying her husband Luke from the past.  But along with that if there is a Guardian that sexually harasses a Handmaid or an Aunt his penitently for such crime is death by Handmaid’s, which is also known as Particicution. Particicutions take place usually during Salvagings, they happen when men are convicted of crimes such as rape or other forms of violence against Handmaid’s, as this makes it more personal for the Handmaid’s thus they rip the men to shreds as explained in Handmaid’s Tale. (“Particicution | The Handmaid’s Tale”)

Aunt Lydia explains and informs the Handmaid’s what a certain man has been convicted of and why they will be able to perform a Particicution on him. “triumph. “He was once a Guardian. He has disgraced his uniform. He has abused his position of trust. His partner in viciousness has already been shot. The penalty for rape, as you know, is death. Deuteronomy 22:23-29. I might add that this crime involved two of you and took place at gunpoint. It was also brutal. I will not offend your ears with any details, except to say that one woman was pregnant and the baby died.” (Atwood 80) we also get to see through a Handmaid’s perspective what it is like to see such a thing take place through Offered “She pushes him down, sideways, then kicks his head viciously, one, two, three times, sharp painful jabs with the foot, well aimed. Now there are sounds, gasps, a low noise like growling, yells, and the red bodies tumble forward and I can no longer see, he’s obscured by arms, fists, feet. A high scream comes from somewhere, like a horse in terror.” (Atwood 80)

The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood and was originally published in 1985 and was a winner of the Governor General’s Award for English-language fiction.  It talks about a sensitive topic that people go through daily. Atwood has mentioned before that whatever she has written in this book is not unlikely to happen in the future as a lot of the topics hit in the book are very well already happening (maybe not as intensely) but are extremely dangerous to Americans as we know it. As mentioned before America and Americans are painted to be very “picture perfect” but we have our issues. From sexual harassment to controlling women, to religion taking over the government, to toxic waste on our planet. This book was meant to be an interesting story for everyone to enjoy, but also for people to beware of. This paper told the ways topics in the Handmaid’s Tale as well as everyday topics and how they are similar and how different they are to the real world. But this paper is to make everyone wary of what aspects of The Handmaid’s Tale are reflected in the world today. As a society, we need to be careful. Beware. 

Works Cited

Page numbers are related to this version of teh book: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DI3HhcvFIJghPdEB6FAOdMF1dsIWI7fj/view?usp=sharing

ACLU. “Women’s Rights in Education.” American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/issues/womens-rights/womens-rights-education. Accessed 22 March 2022. 

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Heinemann New Windmills, 1993.

Klibanoff, Eleanor. “Remaining challenge to abortion law blocked by Texas Supreme Court.” The Texas Tribune, 11 March 2022, https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/11/abortion-texas-supreme-court/. Accessed 22 March 2022.

“Laws of God and His Servants on Earth | The Handmaid’s Tale Wiki | Fandom.” The Handmaid’s Tale Wiki, https://the-handmaids-tale.fandom.com/wiki/Laws_in_Gilead#Abortion. Accessed 22 March 2022.

“Particicution | The Handmaid’s Tale Wiki | Fandom.” The Handmaid’s Tale Wiki, https://the-handmaids-tale.fandom.com/wiki/Particicution. Accessed 22 March 2022.

“Sexual Harassment.” Equal Rights Advocates, https://www.equalrights.org/issue/economic-workplace-equality/sexual-harassment/. Accessed 22 March 2022.

Wikipedia. “Birth control in the United States.” Wikipedia, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_control_in_the_United_States#Current_practices. Accessed 22 March 2022.

By: Carmen Hamilton

My name is Carmen Hamilton, recently I became a lifeguard at the YMCA. It all started with me searching for a job close enough to either my house or school in order to be able to get there. The dilemma was I live in Holland OH, I don’t have a car yet, and my mom is a teacher who works till basically four so I’d have to find my own way there if I wanted any good hours. I applied to Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Bubbas, and Krogers but still no word back. Just as I was about to give up I saw the YMCA was taking applications. I wait there every day after school for my mom and work out so I figured why not work here. I grabbed it without wasting any time and filled it out. About 3 days later I had gotten an email explaining all the things I needed to do in order to be a lifeguard. I assumed it would be easy because all life guards do is watch kids, little did I know there’s so much more that goes into it

First I had to attend eight hour classes every Saturday and Sunday (Saturday it was only four hours) over a 4 week period. We had to learn basic CPR, Oxygen administration, and First aid. I had no idea how much time and energy went into these topics and how crucial it is to know the right things to do in each situation. The next weekend we met we would go down to the pool for about five hrs of the class time, This then happened for the next three weekends. It was very exhausting going over drills over and over again, diving to the bottom, Strapping people to speed boards and pulling them out of the water (we used real people for our “victims”), giving CPR, and more. It was especially hard getting over all the nervousness of having other people watching. We would do these stunts during open swim so anyone in the pool or lobby could see but after a while it became easy and I am confident in my ability to save someone in need. 

The last weekend of the training we had old life guards come in getting recertified to train with and also test us. This was very nerveracking because our instructor left us to do what we think is the right thing with little to no instruction. Thankfully She called me back and I passed. The orientation wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as I thought. All the people that work there are very chill and cooperative people. The whole Y staff is also very nice, they are like their own little family that I am now a part of. It’s nice to get a behind the scenes action. I’ve been going to the Y since I was six, I learned how to swim there so it’s pretty cool that I now get to experience working for the place that was once my second home for my family and I. 

I will say that being a guard was less extravagant than I expected. I assumed the way the sessions were set up that there would be someone drowning every week, or I would be having to carry old people out all the time but usually everyone there knows what they’re doing. I spend the most of my time telling kids to walk, not fight, or do backflips off the walls which surprisingly a lot of kids do, answering questions, or cleaning in my spare time. I do enjoy the job at the end of the day, I wouldn’t give up the experience I’m getting here for the world. I feel as though this will be very helpful as I pursue my career in the medical field. 

By: Ethan Crowder

Yo, my Name is Ethan and this is the History of the Chicago Bears. The Bears are a football team centered in Chicago, The Famous Windy City. 

They were established as a football team in Decatur, Illinois and were called the Decatur Staleys. They played there for a year then in 1921 they moved to Chicago. They were the only team besides the Arizona Cardinals to originate in Chicago. 

The Bears are one of the NFL’s staple teams being one of the original and most successful teams in NFL history. They were one of the most dominant teams during the 1980’s in the Mike Ditka Era especially in 1985 when they went 15-1 and swept teams all the way to the Super Bowl and blew out the the New England Patriots 46-10 and won their only Super Bowl. The next time the Bears would ever get close to that success wasn’t until the Lowie Smith era when they went to the Super Bowl in 2007 where they went against the Indianapolis Colts and lost to them 29-17. Also in the  Lowie Smith era they made it close to a Super Bowl but lost to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship in 2011 21-14.

This was just a little insight on one of the staple franchises in the NFL. Hope you enjoyed.

By: Lillian Holmes

Author Note: This article is by no means to attack anyone or to make anyone feel outed. I am not a professional by any means and have only simply done research. If you feel that there is something that I have missed or have left out please contact me at [email protected] or [email protected] thank you. 

Rights are the legal, social, or ethical values of responsibility and respect for diversities.  Rights are the basic constructed rules on what, according to some legal systems, are allowed or issued to members of society. (Public Broadcasting Service) So why is it that  here, in the United States of America,  everyone is not treated equally as they should be? The members of the LGBT+ community would be able to justify this claim very easily due to the discirmamtion that they handle from citizens and the United States Government. 

The LGBT+ community has been fighting for their rights for centuries, and even to this day, they have people who want to fight against them. From having their rights handed to them, and taken from them, it is an ongoing cycle of tug of war. So how do we stop this and how do we help the community gain their rights? We stand by their side, and we do our research, we must vote and fight to make sure that they are treated equally. The LGBT+ community is a group of people who identify as something other than straight and cis. Meaning they are not heterosexuals (individuals who are attracted to the opposite sex) and they are cis-gendered (cisgender remain on the same side of the gender they were initially identified as at birth.) The LGBT+ community has been wronged throughout generations, from being arrested and killed for their “crimes’ ‘ to being beaten or assaulted in public, without the government’s help in stopping the violence. (Human Rights Commissioner’s Office) So what? Why do you need to  stand by the LGBT+ community and help with their rights? Because everyone in the community is human, and humans deserve basic human rights just as anyone else’s. Just because they are a “little different” or think outside of the box does not mean they deserve any less.

The Matter At Hand: 

Laws differ depending, but outside of jobs, most states lack protections against LGBT discrimination. Under the Equality Act, federal protections are proposed. In 2015 all 50 states were legally allowed to allow same-sex-marriage between same-sex couples in the United States. Though some argue, why did it have to become law anyway? It is everyone’s legal right to adopt or foster a child and marry whomever they wish, so why did there have to be a law to legalize this? Each one of the fifty states has separate marriage laws that must cooperate with United States Supreme Court rulings that recognize marriage as a basic right according to  Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as first defined in the 1967 civil rights case of Loving v. Virginia. The Defense of Marriage Act in the United States federal law allows all marriages between opposite-sex marriages. It also allows states to refuse or recognize same-sex marriages. Though in the late 1980s issues arose with Same-sex marriage refusal cases around the United States of America.  Found in section 3 for all same-sex couple marriages states can legally deny health coverage for government employees, benefits for social security survivors, immigration, bankruptcy, and joint tax return (Wikimedia Foundation Defense)

You may be asking, what even is the LGBT+ community? Well, it will be explained here as simply as possible. LGBT+ is an acronym for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and queers/people in questioning. Lesbians are typically female (cis or trans) attracted to fellow females (cis or trans). Gays are typically male (cis or trans) attracted to fellow males (cis or trans). Bisexuals are females or males (cis or trans) attracted to both females and males (cis or trans). Transgender individuals are people who are individuals who identify as the opposite gender that they were born as and identified as. (a cis man wanting to transfer legally and physically to a female and vise versa). There is also a group of people that identify as Nonbinary, those who do not feel as if they have to label themselves with a gender. They too should be respected as humans and treated like everyone else’s.  The LGBT+ community is a large community of people that belong within subcultures. The community is well known for celebrating pride, diversity, individuality and sexuality, and self-identity.

So what is the issue being addressed in this  paper? This paper is to bring light to the discrimination that is not addressed today against people in the LGBT+ community. The fight for equal rights for the LGBT+ community has been an issue for years, but as of recently, it has been brought to the center of attention for many debates today. In Congress, courtrooms, and the streets, the LGBT+ community is fighting for their civil rights. The group continues to face real inequality in all elements of society, despite the LGBT+ community despite only making up 3.5% of the population in America. Based on sexual preference and gender identity, no federal law prevents people from being fired or denied a job. The U.S. military has and is openly discriminating against the LGBT+ community.  and Parents even abandoned their children for solely being a part of the LGBT+ community. People are even denied the right to marry due to who they are. Colorado even attempted to single out the LGBT+ community out of the law-passing process. (Justice) Just in the year of 2020, more than 33% of LGBTQ+ Americans have suffered or witnssed some kind of harassment, including more than 60% transgender Americans. The mental and social health of many LGBTQ+ community Americans, including 50% who face various or major negative side effects, is significantly impacted by discrimination. (Gruberg et al.)

Have people always accepted or not accepted the LGBT+ community? Justice Anthony Kennedy deemed “We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else. This Colorado cannot do. A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws.” in New York City at a gay bar during a typical “raid,” took place where police officers attempted to arrest those who were in the gay bar, for simply being apart of the LGBT+ community. but the Stonewall Inn’s patrons fought back and the gay rights movement was launched. Using Strategies employed by the 20th-century actives gay rights advocates have reached significant progress. (Gruberg et al.) So in other words, people have not always accepted the LGBT+ community. They have been trying to attack and keep it on the down-low” for many years. Another law was finalized that now allows fewer discrimination rights for people in the LGBT+ community. This means that health professionals could deny a person in the LGBT+ community health care because of their gender identity or to whom they are sexually attracted. This new law will also prevent same-sex couples or transgender couples to be eligible for adoption. It will harm those families, as well as the many children waiting to be placed in loving and supportive homes. Human Rights Watch has also recorded how these types of reforms can act as a discriminatory license, locking out health and social programs that should be available to all LGBT people. Hundreds of children in the United States sit in foster care systems and orphanages due to it being so difficult for gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals to adopt them.

The LGBT+ community is made up of lots of different subcultures as we have already addressed. But while all subcultures, even allies go through struggles there is one in particular that gets quite a bit of backlash and that is the Transgender individuals. For ages, relying on obsolete and unfair medical criteria, transgender individuals have been prohibited from serving openly in the U.S. military. Thankfully The Pentagon ended the ban on trans individuals serving in the U.S. military in June 2016 after a year-long working group examining the “law and preparation effects,” agreeing that hiring and recruiting the best troops, regardless of their gender identity, were in the best interest of the military.

Steps in the Right Direction: 

So what is being done about all of the unfairness in the United States of America against the LGBT+ community? On January 25th, 2021 Presduebt Biden repealed the controversial Trump-era ban on transgender individuals serving in the United States Military. Which we know from above, prevented transgender individuals from joining and serving in the military. It also forced current citizens in the military that were transgender to work under the radar for their safety, though didn’t allow them to be discharged from the military because of this. Biden said to reporters after the signing of the order “qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform.” Later in the text of the order, Biden said “It is my conviction as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces that gender identity should not be a bar to military service. Moreover, there is substantial evidence that allowing transgender individuals to serve in the military does not have any meaningful negative impact on the Armed Forces.” Later in the day Lloyd Austin, a confirmed defense secretary, said “If you’re fit and you’re qualified to serve, and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve”. While many Americans disagree with these statements, the ones who do support this is outstanding and outweigh those who think it is a mistake. This order immediately keeps members from being discharged or denied reenlistment for their gender identity. It also directs the Department of Defense to correct the record for anyone dismissed from service. It guides both the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of The Human Rights Campaign later announced that “For years, transgender patriots were forced to continue to hide their identity while serving in our military. But today … they may live and serve openly as themselves,” the group’s president, Alphonso David, said in a statement. “The greatest military in the world will again value readiness over bias, and qualifications over discrimination.” homeland Security begins the process of openly allowing transgender soldiers to serve. (Detrow)

On Top of the removal of the ban on the military more good news has arisen. data collected by Harvard psychologists Tessa Charlesworth and Mahzarin Banaji imply that even as American citizens are becoming more mindful of these “new terms” in many environments, especially when it comes to same-sex couples and gender non-conformists, we tend to be less biased. Attitudes toward sexuality, however, the single largest change occurred. Implicit attitudes saw a similar but smaller change, shifting by 33% towards indifference. A majority of Americans told voters as recently as 1979 that consenting relationships between gay and lesbian adults should be illegal. About a quarter felt same-sex marriage should be legal as late as 1996.Though sadly enough The concept that trans people could be safe in schools was quickly objected to by dominant individuals and organizations and the powerful lie that trans people are necessarily a danger to non-transgender women started to circulate again.Any state that considers anti-trans bills banning sports from trans people must now consider facing a U.S. government that does not endorse anti-trans discrimination but instead enforces Title IX provisions to stop it.  (Strangio)

So why should people who are not in the LGBT+ community stand behind and support them? Why Should we be allies if we do not identify as any of the subcultures? Allies can be a force for amplifying LGBT+ voices, and a support system for individuals in the community. To advance the cause of LGBT+ equality for those who are not LGBT+ themselves, the Allies have done an enormous amount. An ally will express support for LGBT+ colleagues, co-workers, peers, neighbors, co-congregants, family members, and others in a wide range of ways. LGBT+ individuals face discrimination day today in everyday situations. From at home, to the workplace, and more.  It is important to stand by their side to show them that they are not alone. Someone should not be fired from their job or evicted from their home just for whom they love or what they identify as. (Human Rights Campaign Transgender)

Outcomes: 

The conclusion of this paper is that there is an unclear justified group of “reasons” for people of the LGBT+ community to be dissgraimated against. This paper proves, or is another key factor in proving that America is not equal, and never will be. We claim to be a free country yet such a large group of us have a huge part of our basic human rights ripped from us. For decades, the LGBT+ community has fought for their rights, and even to this day, they have individuals who continue to fight against them. It is an ongoing period of tug of war by getting their rights handed to them, and stripped from them. We stand by their side, and we do our homework, and we have to vote and struggle to ensure that they are treated fairly. For decades, the LGBT+ community has been wronged, from being arrested and executed for their ‘crimes’ to being beaten or attacked In public, without the support of the government to stop the violence.

And so what? Why do you need the LGBT + community to stand by and help with their rights? Since everybody in the world is human, and just like anything else, human beings deserve basic human rights. It doesn’t mean they deserve any less just because they are a “little different” or think outside of the box. The Humans Rights Campaign is an amazing  organization that presents a future in which every member of the LGBTQ+ family is free to live their truth without fear of repercussions, and where everyone is treated equally under the law. They can help you research and understand both the good and the bad in the world and what you as an American citizen can do for those around you.

Cited Work

Detrow, Scott. “Biden Repeals Trump-Era Ban On Transgender Troops.” NPR WGTE, NPR WGTE, 25 January 2021, https://www.npr.org/sections/president-biden-takes-office/2021/01/25/960338217/biden-repeals-trump-era-ban-on-transgender-soldiers.  Accessed 19 February 2021.

Gruberg, Sharita, et al. “The State of the LGBTQ Community in 2020.” Center for American Progress, Center for American Progress, 6 October 2020, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/reports/2020/10/06/491052/state-lgbtq-community-2020/. Accessed 19 February 2021.

Human Rights Campaign. “Transgender Military Service.” HRC (Human Rights Campaign), Human Rights Campaign), 2 March 2020, https://www.hrc.org/resources/transgender-military-service. Accessed 19 February 2021.

Human Rights Campaign. “A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide.” Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Campaign, https://www.hrc.org/resources/a-workplace-divided-understanding-the-climate-for-lgbtq-workers-nationwide. Accessed 19 February 2021.

Human Rights Commissioner’s Office. “Race.” Pages – Human Rights Terms and Definitions, Human Rights Commissioner’s Office, http://www.yrdsb.com/hrco/Pages/Human-Rights-Terms-and-Definitions.aspx  Accessed 19 February 2021.

Jilani, Zaid. “What the Struggle for Gay Rights Teaches Us about Bridging Differences.” Great Good Magazine (Science-Based Insights For A Meaningful Life), Great Good Magazine (Science-Based Insights For A Meaningful Life), 19 March 2019, https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_the_struggle_for_gay_rights_teaches_us_about_bridging_differences. Accessed 19 February 2021.

Justice, Kennedy. “The Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People.” American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/other/rights-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-people. Accessed 19 February 2021.

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