Gay and lesbians are the part of our world society, and their ratio increased with the passage of time (Adler & Brenner, 1992). Gay and lesbians are the terms which are used for the homosexual men and women. Homosexual men are commonly known as gay, and homosexual women are commonly known as homosexuals. In the past century, most people and societies do not accept these people, because they are different and have a different level of sexual attraction from the sexual needs of female humans. The universal sexual appeal is men towards women and women towards men, but these people are also now a part of our society who are homosexual and have different sexual needs. In the modern technological and liberal world today, people started to accept these people, and there is no weirder attitude towards these people. But it is happening mostly in the developed nations like the United States of America, while many developing nations still do not accept the gay and lesbian people and their open relationship with each other. In this paper, two journal articles and textbook material about the gay and lesbian people are analyzed and assessed.
In a recent study by Denise L. Levy (2009) is conducted to analyze gay and lesbian people identity development with a special link with the overview of social workers. Sociology is a subject with covers almost all the social issues and problems present in any society and community of the world. The gay and lesbian identity development is a new problem which is not widely researched yet, and there is very little literature available on this particular area. So, this study is conducted to analyze this area and an effort to add a valuable work and findings in this area. Societies and communities are full with diversities, and every individual should accept the diversity present within a society.
Every individual is unique and different from another in a particular way, and people with in a community should realize the differences between sexual desires, behaviors, and identities. In this study, Cass’s sexual identity formation and queer theory are examined by the researcher. This study proposed and recommended that every society should accept the gay and lesbian people as they are the part of our community. Also, this study suggests that the social worker should know about the concepts related gay and lesbian people like heterosexism and heteronormativity (Levy, 2009).
Gay and lesbians are the part and people of every society and should have equal rights, and respect as a straight person get. A study was conducted by SY.Adler and Johanna Brenner in 1992. This study examined the issue of gender and space of the lesbians and gay people in the city. Lesbian and gay people and their part in the urban sub culture are briefly targeted and explained in this article. This article explained the various positive behaviors of lesbian and gay people also their role in the urban subculture.
Gay men and lesbians act differently in the urban politics and urban space. According to this study, lesbian has a nature to be the primary care taker of the children as compared to gay man. This study results that gay men are more likely to be homogenous while lesbians are more likely to be heterogeneous and the lesbians, especially in the urban areas, are influenced towards the feminist views and politics.
The course book, “The New Urban Sociology 5th Edition” written by Mark Gottdiener and Ray Hutchison, & Ryan, M.T. (2015) discussed the issue and role of gay and lesbian people in the urban areas of our society. The new dynamics and new research about the “queer space” are now widely spreading. It is not different from the gay and lesbian people, and researchers are transforming this area including them in it.
Gay men activities and views are quite different from the lesbians. Gay men are now visible in the societies and urban areas having unique characteristics. “As compare to gay men the lesbians are quite invisible in the society since their population compromised through the social networks more willingly than commercial sites” (Gottdiener & Hutchison, 2015). By comparing the lesbian, gay availability in the urban areas, it is observed that they are less visible in late 1990 than today and they are now openly visible in the urban areas. “Their patterns of visibility are changed and developed now especially in the urban areas. In some areas of the United States today, like a west village in the New York City the availability of homosexual people neighborhood is quite visible and open now” (Gottdiener & Hutchison, 2015). It means that the heterosexual people are now giving the homosexual space to create their community which is quite good for the growth and societal welfare.
“Just as individual persons do not have pre-existing sexual identities, neither do spaces. In other words, space is not naturally authentically ‘straight’ but rather actively produced and (hetero) sexualized” (Gottdiener & Hutchison, 2015). It means that space is not only for heterosexual people but it is also available for the homosexual people. Straight people do have the rights to live openly, and these rights should be available for the ones who are homosexual. Now the societies are changing and accepting their presence openly, and people are improving their attitude towards the homosexual people.
“Small town gay bar” (2006) is a documentary movie which explored the gay people present in the Deep South areas of the United States. The lives of gay people are briefly shown in this documentary. Two bars are shown in this documentary in the area of rural Mississippi state of the United States. These bars deal with the homosexual people who are their clients most of the times. Interviews are taken from the customers who show that these bars accept the gay, lesbian people openly. The film also explains the brutal murder of Scott Joe Weaver who was the victim of hate crime. The focus of the film shows that there is a group of people who are not concerned with the debates on gay marriages. They are more concerned about their lives because they believe that their life is in danger if they show that they are gay, lesbian or homosexual people (Babyti, 2011).
The gay and lesbian people are the part of every society and need same rights as the heterosexual people have, but unfortunately many societies and communities in the world today do not accept them and do not consider them as a part of their society. However, some societies and communities mostly in the developed nations are now accepting their roles in the society and also changing their behavior towards them. This awareness should be spread all over the world societies and communities that people should accept the homosexual people as they are not different than heterosexual people except in their sexual desires and needs. They are supposed to be an important part of every society and community. In the United States, many areas are openly accepting the appearance of gay, lesbian people, although many areas still do not allow their open appearance in the society.
References
Adler, S., & Brenner, J. (1992). Gender and Space: Lesbians and Gay men in the city. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.
Babyti. (2011, April 3). Small Town Gay Bar Part 1. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXvet5I3KpM
Gottdiener, M., Hutchison, R. & Ryan, M. T. (2015). The New Urban Sociology. 5th Edition. United States of America: Westview Publishers.
Levy, D. L. (2009). Gay and Lesbian Identity Development: An Overview for Social Workers. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19, 978–993.
