It Seems Hard To Believe

By: B W
(© 2012 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Security can only be achieved through constant change, through discarding old ideas that have outlived their usefulness and adapting others to current facts. 

(William O. Douglas)

Those interested in perpetuating present conditions are always in tears about the marvelous past that is about to disappear, without having so much as a smile for the young future.  

(Simone de Beauvoir)

*        *        *        *        *

 “You mean there really was a time when gay people couldn’t serve in the military or get married?” the little girl asked her history teacher.

“Yes, it seems hard to believe now, but as recently as fifty years ago, at the beginning of this century, gays didn’t have those rights and were treated like second-class citizens,” the teacher responded. 

“But that’s discrimination,” the girl stated, her jaw set defiantly, “and it isn’t right.” 

“It may be easy for us to see that now,” the teacher concurred, “but throughout American history not every person or group has always enjoyed the same rights.  It may now seem odd for us to understand how this could have been, since the founding fathers had declared that all men were created equal, but the quest for universal civil rights took many years to achieve.  It was tackled by different segments of our society at various times, as they sought to attain the rights they felt were due to them.”

“What do you mean?” a boy in the class followed.  “Who else besides the gays didn’t have the same rights as everyone else?” 

“Well, let’s start with women,” the teacher answered.  “The phrase ‘All MEN are created equal’ certainly wasn’t interpreted to apply to women, so their rights were greatly restricted for many decades.  Up until 1850, most colleges and universities wouldn’t accept female students and women weren’t allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law.  Married women also had no property rights, so everything belonged to their husband, even if some of it had belonged to the woman before the wedding.  Women also weren’t allowed to sue their husband for divorce if they were dissatisfied with the relationship, which left many of them in loveless and abusive marriages.

“Although the church and religion was generally an important part of every individual’s life, a woman’s role in the church was also greatly restricted,” the teacher continued.  “In nearly every religious sect, women served in submissive roles and had almost no voice in what went on.  That was pretty much the case for women in society in general, since they had almost no rights and weren’t even permitted to vote in every state until 1920.  Their employment options were also extremely limited and they were restricted to performing only certain jobs, which were usually lower paying than the types of work that men did.” 

“Like what?” the boy followed. 

“Basically, the only professions women could choose would be to become a teacher, nurse or secretary, but Catholic women could also choose to become nuns.” 

“That’s all they could do?” one of the girls pressed. 

“There were other unskilled jobs they could perform, such as waitress, laundress, housekeeper, maid and cook, as well as a few other options that some people would consider morally questionable.” 

“What does that mean?” the girl continued. 

“Those were the types of jobs that were held in low esteem by most people, such as barmaid, showgirl or someone who worked in the sex industry.” 

“So when did it start to change and get better?” another girl wanted to know.

“As I said earlier, women were granted the right to vote when the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920 and slowly women began to gain a foothold in both political and professional roles,” the teacher replied.  “It wasn’t until World War II, in the 1940s, when women began to make tremendous gains, as they took over expanded roles in the workforce and began to perform the types of jobs that only men were allowed to do previously.  This happened because many of the men were off fighting in the war and there weren’t enough other workers to fill all of the necessary positions in critical wartime industries.  Even though these women were now in the labor market, it still took a long time before they received equal pay for the same type of work and even longer before they shattered the glass ceiling and began to take over management positions, especially upper management roles.” 

“You mean that if I had lived back then I wouldn’t have been able to vote and could never have dreamed of becoming President?” another girl wondered. 

“You wouldn’t have been allowed to vote prior to 1920.  You could have dreamed about being President, but that dream could never have realistically materialized into anything,” the teacher replied.  “You couldn’t even have risen to the level of C.E.O. of a major corporation, would have only had a slim chance of filling a political office and almost no chance to become a college president, let alone the President of the United States.” 

“So women and gays were the only ones to have those types of problems?” someone else wanted to know. 

“No, various other groups had their own set of barriers and biases to overcome as well,” the teacher confirmed.  “I know you’ve also studied the long plight of the blacks, from slavery to emancipation, and even after slavery was abolished many regions of the country found ways to continue to discriminate against the blacks.  Under the Jim Crow segregation laws in the south, black and whites were not allowed to shop or eat at the same establishments, had separate drinking fountains and restrooms, attended separate schools and churches, and lived in segregated neighborhoods.  Blacks were also denied the right to vote in some of those states because the state instituted voting requirements that prevented them from registering.  Blacks were also required to sit at the back of buses in the south and sometimes even forced to give up their seat to a white rider, if all of the other seats were taken.” 

“Wow!  That’s really awful,” one of the boys agreed.  “Were the blacks allowed to fight in the army and get married, or was that like what happened with the gays too?”  

“The blacks could marry a member of the opposite sex from the same race, but they were often forbidden from marrying someone from another race,” the teacher informed him.  “They could also serve in the military, but usually only in all black units, which were generally led by white officers.  They were also restricted in the jobs they could hold in the various branches of the service and it wasn’t until the Korean War when the various units began to become truly integrated.  At that point, black soldiers were allowed to serve alongside the white soldiers, although soldiers from certain parts of the country weren’t exactly thrilled with this new arrangement.” 

“I’m glad it changed and it’s not like that any longer,” a black youth commented. 

“Yes, I think most of us are, but they weren’t the only ones to have those sorts of problems,” the teacher continued.  “Immigrants, such as the Chinese and Irish were often taken advantage of and discriminated against at various times, along with Native Americans and members of the Latino community.  In certain parts of the country, those groups were limited to the types of jobs they could hold, where they could live and even where they could go.  During World War II, large portions of the Japanese community were rounded up and placed in internment camps, because a large segment of Americans mistrusted their loyalty after the Empire of Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.” 

“So you were discriminated against because of where your family was from,” one of the students wondered. 

“That was part of it,” the teacher confirmed, “but others were discriminated against because of their religion.  Similar things happened to Jews, Catholics and Mormons, as well as with other minority religious groups, such as Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims.” 

“But if ‘all men are created equal,’ like it says in the Declaration of Independence, then why did Americans discriminate against so many different groups of people?” a young man followed. 

“It’s hard to give one specific reason, but it seems that people often tend to do things like that in order to gain an economic advantage over another group, but they also might do it to provide themselves with a sense of moral superiority,” the teacher replied.  “By holding a specific group as being inferior to them, it tended to make those advancing the beliefs to feel as if they were superior to someone from that group.  Various forms of discrimination took place in a wide range of communities across the country or these things happened at different times, but it generally boiled down to the same thing.  A particular group used the discrimination as their way to lord it over and dehumanize another group of individuals, generally so they could feel better about themselves.” 

“But why would they have to do that?” another boy followed. 

“Sometimes when things don’t go the way you want in life or you don’t do as well as you expected, it’s easier to blame someone else for your lack of success,” the teacher answered.  “It’s also easy to blame the ills of society upon one specific group, so you aren’t forced to admit to your own shortcomings.  Politicians and political parties seem to do this a lot.” 

“So the gays were the last group to go through things like this?” someone else asked. 

“Basically, that’s true,” the teacher agreed.  “The entire LGBT community endured much of this together, although some of them, like the transgenders, had to endure a certain amount of this abuse alone, since even some in the gay community discriminated against them as well.  Today, there are still isolated cases of discrimination taking place and it’s not just with the LGBT community either.  Some of the older forms of bigotry have managed to resurface from time to time, so no group is totally immune to this.” 

“So when did the gays begin to fight for their rights?” a young boy asked. 

“Gays pretty much operated behind closed doors and mostly on the sly up until the mid-Twentieth Century,” the teacher answered.  “They did this because so many states had laws criminalizing gay sex acts and many gays were arrested and demonized because of whom they chose to love.  The homosexual community was fairly familiar with most of the notable cases where homosexuals had suffered ignominious ends due to their sexual orientation, so they tried to remain hidden, so they could avoid having to endure the same fate.” 

“Like what?” one of the students challenged. 

“First, there was the case of Oscar Wilde, the Irish author, poet and playwright,” the teacher replied.  “In 1895, Wilde was arrested in England on charges of ‘committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons,’ which was the charge for homosexual acts in the U.K. at the time.  He was eventually convicted and sentenced to two-years at hard labor, and when he was finally released, he was in poor health, penniless and his reputation was in shambles.  He died three years later, in 1900, at the age of 46. 

“Another notable case would have been that of Alan Turing, who is now widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence.  Although the field of artificial intelligence wasn’t actually recognized until much later, much of the work that Turing had done was essential in setting the groundwork for what came later.” 

“So what happened to him?” someone else wanted to know. 

“Turing had served his country, England, as well as the overall allied cause during World War II and was instrumental in breaking the Enigma Code that was being used by the Germans.  Doing that was a remarkable feat and instrumental in helping the allies win the war, but Turing ended up receiving less than honorable treatment for his valuable service.  In 1952, he was prosecuted because of his homosexuality, which was still illegal in the U.K., and he accepted to be chemically castrated, instead of being sent to prison.  Severely depressed, he ended up committing suicide in 1954 and died at the age of 42. 

“Although those two cases didn’t happen in the U.S., the American gay community realized these things could happen to them as well,” the teacher added.  “Even some famous celebrities, such as Rock Hudson, a movie star, Johnny Mathias, a popular singer, and Liberace, a showman and pianist, each one did his best to hide his sexual preference.  They did this because they understood that the public would probably turn against them and they’d lose their popular appeal if it were discovered that they preferred men.  The general attitude was definitely not accepting for homosexuals of that era, but things began to change after the Stonewall Riots in 1969, when gays began to collectively fight back and demand fairer treatment.  It was during this time that a large segment of the gay population decided they were fed up and no longer willing to be victimized and vilified for merely being who they were.  You might say, using a line from a song of that era, ‘the times, they (we)re a-changin’.” 

“But what did they do to make things better?” the boy countered. 

“It all started when police raided the Stonewall Inn, which was a popular hangout frequented by gays, and in particular drag queens, in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.  When this occurred, some of the gays became aggressive and refused to be victimized.  The patrons of the Inn were not only upset by how they were being treated by the police, but they were also desperate to change what they felt were discriminatory and unfair practices still in use.  In response to what happened that evening, several days of riots followed, as their way of protesting the police department’s actions.  It is said that this event was the defining moment for gay rights and the beginning of the modern American movement.  In fact, today’s Gay Pride celebrations and parades are generally held during the month of June, as a way to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, which had also taken place in June.” 

“But what did the cops and others have against the gays?” the boy pressed. 

“There were many factors, such as the laws that criminalized gay behavior and so called moral and religious objections,” she stated.  “In fact, until 1973 the American Psychiatric Association even listed homosexuality as a mental disorder.” 

“You mean they really thought gays had defective brains just because of who they loved?” the boy countered. 

“Unfortunately, that was how being gay was diagnosed,” the teacher confirmed, “and the professionals tried to use reparative therapies to change people from being gay to straight.”

“That’s just plain dumb and totally unfair,” the boy added.  “You can’t change being gay!”  

“At the time they thought they could, because gays were considered to be sick or diseased.  Not only that, but it was widely believed that being gay was a choice, which gave other people their so-called justification for discriminating against them,” the teacher commented.  “This happened in many aspects of life, which included housing, employment, marriage and adoption, but many gays were also frequently harassed and assaulted, and a few of them were even killed.” 

“So how did they get that to change?’ another student asked.

“It happened slowly and took a long time,” the teacher acknowledged, “and one of the first things they managed to do was to get a plank put into the Democratic platform at the 1980 Democratic National Convention.  This platform stated that ‘all groups must be protected from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, language, sex or sexual orientation,’ but other than getting a public format to air this desire, that was about all they were able to accomplish.  Since the Democrats lost the election that year, nothing actually changed and the gays were left to continue their struggle to gain equality.  Unfortunately, the AIDS epidemic came to light shortly after that and the problem for gays worsened, instead of getting better.” 

“Why did that make things worse?” someone asked next. 

“It was due to the fact that the initial outbreak was linked to the gay community and many people began to refer to the disease as the ‘gay plague’ or ‘gay cancer.’  Many people also claimed that it was proof that God despised gays and their acts of depravity, so AIDS was his retribution for their sinful ways and meant to eradicate them all,” the teacher explained.  “Gays were now viewed by a large portion of the population as societal pariahs and every gay was suspected of having AIDS, so they were suddenly treated like the lepers during Biblical times.  Police in San Francisco, which had a large gay population, were issued special masks and gloves to use whenever they dealt with gays, whom they referred to as ‘suspected AIDS patients.’ 

“The panic over AIDS got so bad and there was so much incorrect information being spread around about the disease,” the teacher continued, “that some people wouldn’t even eat off of the same dishes or use the same silverware as gays.  Some medical and dental professionals even began refusing to treat gay patients and some landlords started to reject gay applicants and even went as far as to evict their current gay tenants.  A few employers started to refuse to hire gays and publicly dismissed employees diagnosed with AIDS.  To add insult to injury, the Red Cross banned gays from donating blood, which served the purpose of branding them as another ‘Typhoid Mary.’  That restriction was left in force well into this century, so the stigma lingered.” 

“Didn’t they know they couldn’t get AIDS from just being around gays and there were precautions doctors and dentists could take to be safe?” one of the boys wanted to know.  “There are also ways to test blood to make sure it’s safe.” 

“Early on, very little was known about the disease or how it was transmitted, so most people were afraid that it could be spread through casual contact,” the teacher answered.  “For that reason, they thought it would be best to stay away from gays and isolate the gay community to a certain extent, in order to prevent the spread of the disease.  Eventually, medical professionals began to inform the public that AIDS couldn’t be spread through casual contact, but this didn’t mean gays were no longer treated badly or discriminated against.  It also took many years to come up with foolproof methods to screen blood for the AIDS pathogens, so that’s why the ban on donating blood remained in place.” 

“So what happened next?” one of the girls asked.

“During the 1990s and the first couple of decades of the current century, many young gays continued to be bullied, harassed and even assaulted at school, in their neighborhoods or in cyberspace because of their sexual orientation.  This led to a wave of suicides, just so they didn’t have to endure the constant taunts and abuse any longer.  During this time period, suicide was the leading cause of death for young gays.” 

“Wow!  It must have been awful for gays living back then, if they thought their best or only option was to kill themselves,” the boy observed. 

“Yes, and even older gays weren’t immune to such injustices,” the teacher added.  “Numerous gay and lesbian sailors and soldiers were discharged from the service solely due to their sexual preference and this continued until 2012.  Those actions generally had nothing to do with how they performed their duties and were based solely upon whom they loved.” 

“Didn’t they try to fight back?” someone wondered. 

“Some individuals tried, but without success,” the teacher replied.  “Even the first policies that attempted to help them did as much harm as good.  The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, or DADT, meant as long as they didn’t advertise their sexuality they could stay in the service.  However, it also meant they had to hide who they really were and be extremely careful about any sexual activities, lest they be discovered.” 

“So what did they do about that?” a boy asked. 

“Over time, the gay community decided they’d had enough of these unfair practices and united to do something about them,” she added.  “One thing they did was to file lawsuits and take cases to court, but they also tried to change public opinion through education and the dissemination of information, with varying degrees of success.  The topic of gay rights frequently surfaced during local, state and federal elections and was generally touted by opponents as a moral issue, along with other things they objected to, such as abortion.  Nothing definitive ever came from those actions, but gays did eek out some minor gains as a result, although they also suffered some setbacks. 

“Over time, there was a gradual increase in the overall acceptance of gays,” the teacher added, “as more individuals opened up about their sexuality and the rest of society became exposed to relatives, friends and neighbors who were gay.  Throughout the years, the rest of the population began to realize that gays weren’t as horrible as they’d been led to believe and eventually gays began to receive an increasing amount of support from those outside of their community.”

“So when were gays allowed to marry?” someone wanted to know. 

“The first truly significant gain for them came in the year 2000, when Vermont became the first state to recognize civil unions between gay and lesbian couples,” the teacher stated. 

“I can’t believe it took that long?” one of the students stated.

“It did, but it was only a minor accomplishment, since it was only one state,” the teacher acknowledged.  “These advances began to move a little more quickly, once the country entered the Twenty-First Century, because in 2003, the Supreme Court finally ruled that various state sodomy laws, which had been written to be used primarily against homosexuals, were unconstitutional.  Then, later that same year, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that barring gays and lesbians from marrying violated the State Constitution.  Shortly after that ruling was handed down, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, in May of 2004.” 

“So things began to get better after that?” one of the boys wanted to know. 

“It was still a back and forth process, with some states legalizing same-sex marriage and other states allowing civil unions,” she explained.  “Still, the majority of states held that gay marriage was illegal and along the way a backlash took place, which tried to get all states to rule against the idea of recognizing gay marriage and gay unions. 

“This resulted in a new organization being formed, which was the National Organization for Marriage, or NOM,” the teacher continued, “and its chief goal was to prevent gays from being able to marry.  This movement led some states to pass laws defining marriage as solely between one man and one woman, thus making same-sex marriage illegal.  They even were able to get some states to reverse their approval of same-sex marriages, such as in California.  Even in the states where it was legal, those marriages weren’t recognized by the other states where it wasn’t permitted and the Federal Government didn’t formally recognize those marriages either, due to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, otherwise known as DOMA.” 

“So it still sucked?” one of the boys noted. 

“Yes, but progress was still being made in other areas that benefited the gay community as well,” the teacher acknowledged.  “In April of 2010. President Barack Obama ordered his health secretary to issue new rules to give hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners.  This change affected any hospital that accepted Medicare or Medicaid, which were programs to help the elderly and the poor that most hospitals participated in.  This, in turn, made it easier for gays and lesbians to participate in making medical decisions on behalf of their partners.” 

“So that’s when it started to get better?” someone followed. 

“Yes, but these improvements didn’t happen overnight,” the teacher confirmed.  “It took over another year before the DADT policy was repealed, in September of 2011, so gays and lesbians could finally serve openly in the military.  By the year 2012, six states and the District of Columbia had legalized same-sex marriages and five other states allowed civil unions.  In May of that year there was another major breakthrough concerning gay rights and this happened a few days after Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Anne Duncan had come out in favor of gay marriage.  Once that happened, President Obama announced that he also supported same-sex marriage.”

“So that’s when things really began to change?” a redheaded girl asked. 

“Yes, but it still wasn’t exactly smooth sailing,” she confirmed.  “Many people still objected to giving in to homosexuals and some religious leaders even went as far as to claim that gays and lesbians should be locked up behind electrified fences or even killed, instead of being given equal rights.” 

“No way!” a boy challenged.  “They really said that?” 

“It’s true and they did,” she confirmed, “but fortunately not very many people took those suggestions seriously.  Those people that were still opposed to giving gays any rights continued to protest and I can even show you some videos of those events, if you’d like to see them.” 

“Yeah, that would be interesting,” a boy agreed and was quickly supported by several of the other students. 

Seeing her class was interested, the teacher quickly pulled up the videos on her computer and then brought them up on the large screen at the front of the classroom.  Within seconds, images showing some of those protestors flashed before the students’ eyes, and then the teacher played some videos of politicians from that same era giving speeches, both for and against gay rights and same-sex marriage. 

“Man, some of those people were saying some really dumb things,” one boy observed.  “I hope I’m not related to anyone who acted like that.”  

“Yes, I think I know how you feel,” the teacher concurred, “because previous generations, like mine, often felt the same way when looking at films of those who had been opposed to women’s suffrage or the end of segregation.” 

“How come people acted that way?” one girl wanted to know. 

“Their positions were based on centuries-old beliefs and biases, which they refused to let go of,” the teacher replied.  “All too often those same people tried to use the Bible to support their positions.  When it came to women’s rights, they would cite verses showing women were supposed to be subservient and submissive to men, especially when it came to obeying their husbands.  Many men seemed to enjoy the belief that they were superior to women.” 

“That’s not true,” one of the girls insisted. 

“No, but it’s what they chose to believe,” the teacher confirmed.  “When it came to the issue of segregation, those in favor would cite scriptures that supported slavery and showed that Biblical figures, such as Abraham, even owned slaves.  Some of them also pinned their position on their belief in racial superiority.  This was exactly the same type of argument that Hitler and the Nazis had tried to use when they attempted to kill off the Jews, gays, gypsies and other ethnic groups, along with the mentally ill and physically handicapped.” 

“So they tried to do the same thing to the gays and used the Bible to support their position?” someone else wondered. 

“Yes, some did,” the teacher agreed.  “Once again, they tried to use Biblical verses to support their position to hold another segment of the population back and refuse them equal treatment under the law.” 

“But how could they believe the crap that was written on some of the signs I saw them carrying in those protests?” a girl demanded. 

“Well opponents claimed that sexual orientation was a lifestyle choice and didn’t deserve to be protected,” the teacher explained. 

“And people bought into that garbage?” another boys asked.

“Not everyone did, and eventually the people who still wanted to cling to those antiquated and unrealistic viewpoints had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Twenty-First Century,” the teacher pointed out.  “Unfortunately, there were others who were still convinced they were right and failed to make the transition.” 

“So when did gays finally get things to change,” one of the girls asked.

“A major blow to those trying to hold gays back came in February of 2012,” the teacher replied, “when the Ninth Circuit Court struck down California’s ‘Proposition 8,’ as being unconstitutional.  Proposition 8 had banned same-sex marriage, after it was put on the ballot for California voters to decide.  Even though the majority of voters had passed it, the Judge in the case ruled that ‘Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.’  He also went on to say that ‘The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort.’ 

“Upon appeal of that decision,” the teacher continued, “the Ninth Circuit Court declined a request to rehear the Proposition 8 case, so the group defending the proposition appealed the matter to the US Supreme Court.  The Court agreed to hear verbal arguments on the matter, but before that happened, the Iowa Democratic Party made another move and created a platform that declared same-sex marriage a ‘Civil Right.’  Doing this drew a parallel between the Gay Rights Movement and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, which helped to sway another segment of the public’s opinion in favor of the gays.” 

“So what did the Supreme Court finally decide?” one of the boys pressed. 

“The attorney presenting the case argued that the Ninth Circuit Court had ruled correctly and then quoted President Obama’s support for same-sex marriage, before quoting another former President, Rutherford B. Hayes.  He had said, ‘It will be the duty of the Executive, with sufficient appropriations for the purpose, to prosecute unsparingly all who have been engaged in depriving citizens of the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution,’ before adding this was exactly the situation before the Court.

“In the end, the nine justices in black robes agreed that denying gay couples the right to marry was indeed a violation of their constitutional rights and dealt a fatal blow to those opposing same-sex marriage.” 

“So did they have to do that in every state where gay marriage was illegal or did this decision mean all the other states had to let them get married too?” another student wanted to know.

“No, they didn’t have to do it in every state, because in determining it was unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage, the states had no other option but to allow it,” the teacher replied.  “Due to issues concerning freedom of religion, however, churches were allowed to refuse to marry same-sex couples based on their beliefs, but the state could not deny them that privilege.  Gay couples could still get married in churches willing to perform the ceremony or they could be joined in a civil ceremony, presided over by a local official who was authorized to officiate over weddings.

“Eventually, that ruling was expanded to also cover gays being able to adopt children,” the teacher continued, “since the court ruled that was another right that couldn’t be denied to them based solely on their sexual orientation.  These were huge victories for the gay community and these decisions set the stage for how society looks at gay issues today.” 

“Wow!  That certainly took a lot of effort just to be allowed the same rights as everyone else,” one of the girls stated. 

“Yes, it was quite a battle, but it was well worth the effort,” the teacher agreed.  “The combined efforts of all of those dedicated gays and lesbians who refused to be deprived of the same rights everyone else enjoyed paved the way for those who followed them.  Every married gay couple and every gay who has adopted a child or served openly in the military should say a prayer of thanks and pay tribute to the gay rights pioneers who fought so hard to ensure those rights were finally acknowledged. 

THE END.

Author's Note: I’d love to hear what you thought of this story.  Thank you.

Posted: 09/21/12