Essay Sample on the Role of Harvey Bernard Milk in the LGBT Community

Introduction

Since the nineteenth century, the rights of the minority have often been neglected and stepped on. The minority in the community is not only the women and migrants but also the LGBT who constitute the lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender. Harvey Bernard Milk was the first gay to get appointed in public offices in 1977. It was a great relief to members of LGBT as it marked the beginning of recognition by the public. The lesbians, gays, and bisexuals had been forgotten, and such relations were termed illegal in the United States. Any relationship of this kind was punishable under the law, and their existence was austerely fought.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The leaders of this time, as well as the general public, viewed members of LGBT as an outcast. They were banned from associating with others and would equally be discriminated. They were believed to be people that had lost their manners and were not supposed to exist. They would be denied positions in politics and would be secluded during public meetings.

The efforts of rights activists like Harvey Milk, a gay politician, bore fruit when he first stepped into office. In a leadership position, he would easily fight for the rights of his fellows. Being a victim, it showed that he felt the maltreatment of his people. He had to do something to arouse some hope for the rights of LGBT people. He made calculated steps all along, and the effect of his activism would be felt.

When Harvey moved to San Francisco in 1970s, his main aim was to fight for the rights of the gays, lesbians, and bisexuals and advocate for transgender. He had made his gay status open to everyone, and at the time of his election he won the seat democratically and became a supervisor in the city.

At this time there were rules, treaties, and laws that advocated for discrimination of the gay's lesbians and transgender. They included; Marriage related bills that targeted same-sex marriage and were aimed at promoting for its illegality. There were health bills as well that would deny members of LGBT access to good health. Adoption and foster care centers also had discriminative rules based on the beliefs of their founders and children that showed gay or lesbianism would be locked out. The religious institutions would also exclude gays from associating with their members for fear of their image being destroyed.

Milk had a vision as a migrant in St Francisco. At the time of his settlement, the gays were openly discriminated and would be brutally mistreated by law forces like the police. They were then reserved to stay in St Francisco where they would barely access employment or even purchase basic needs like food. His strategy to fight for their rights began with mobilizing his fellow to support him locally. The vision was achieved when he won the elections as a supervisor. It marked the first strategy to gain recognition of the public that this group of people had rights and deserved equal treatment.

Apart from the vision that he had, he set goals and objectives that would help him achieve his vision. Among his various goals were to come up with a legal framework that encouraged gayism. He also aimed at changing the mindset of Americans toward gay people. Liberation of political and civil rights of gays was among his priorities as well. He also had a gay rights bill that he advocated for its passage.

Harvey was a charismatic leader, and he used his leadership ability to gain support from his people. To win the supervisory seat in St. Francisco, he had to get the support of the people he would rule and not those above him. He had realized that despite a large number of gays in his city they still had limited access to basic needs. Setting up a small business to sell basic needs to his people was a strategy that bore fruits for his political intentions.

The civic surrounding was also great empowerment to his expeditions. The legal forces such as FBI, police forces and postal offices had the mandate to keep track of any information leading to gays. At this time President Jimmy Carter had accepted the legality of gays, but they faced significant opposition. Anita Bryant then came in, and her efforts were successful in 1976. Mobilization of the crowd also helped Milk to win the political seat as he had great support from fellow gays.

In the present day, many states have legalized homosexuality. The United States has not been left out, and many countries have started to acknowledge homosexuals as people with equal rights. Programs have been established to create awareness of the importance of equal treatment of people without basis on their sexual preference. The Human Rights Campaign based in America is said to be the most massive human rights movement that addresses not only the rights of LGBT but also the general minority like migrants, women children, blacks, etc.

There is also the Human Rights Watch that specifically addresses the rights of the lesbians, gays, transgender, and bisexuals. Other programs include the American Civil Liberties Union, United Nations Development Programme and Rise Out Boot camp that encourages gays, lesbians, and bisexuals to come out and fight for their rights.

The process of advocating for rights of the homosexuals has been transitional. It started with Harvey in the twentieth century with just the support of fellow gays. Even though Harvey was murdered at a time when his activism had taken effect, his dreams were not forgotten. His influence remained memorable, and many people started joining hands to fight for their rights. Even nongays also stated gaining the light on the importance of treating people with a particular sexual identity as equal. The movements earlier mentioned came in and bore fruit as it is seen in many states homosexuality is accessed (Nicoletta et al. 2017).

The impact of these movements has been active over the years. Today homosexuals stand an equal chance as other people in the society. They have access to quality education just like any other citizens and would equally get employment in any field they qualify for. They also have access to all other social amenities in the society and are allowed to contest for any leadership seat they are fit for. The sexual stereotypes that once dominated people's mind have been wiped out same-sex marriage is recognized in many countries across the world.

A constant movement has to be brought in place to help protect the rights of these people even in the future. Since they have been socially accepted it is important to continue with movements that create awareness of equal human rights all over the world. Suppose a specific country in the present like the United States recognizes homosexuality, this rule has to be preserved even when the leaders of the present a\re no more. It should be initiated like a norm or culture to treat all [, people, equally.

The United Nations should also protect the rights of all citizens of member states Implementation of such rules would protect the minors even when the general government tries to victimize them in the future. It is essential to guard the rights of children even in the future. The norms should be passed on to the generations to come.

The education system today has incorporated social works as a core course that has a broad market for employment. Minors are so many in society, and they need to be represented at all costs. In as much as the society may be radical towards minority rights, there is always a few powerful individuals that will try to be oppressive. As a result, there is a need for professionals with skills in social works to prevent such oppression from ever happening (Fejes, F. 2014).

They can come up with strategies amidst themselves or even from outside and help these people that are at risk of being discriminated. From within themselves, we have micro plans like forming small groups in society and conducting campaigns to create awareness of equal human rights. They can as well cooperate with religious institutions to endorse equality teachings despite sexual being of a person. This can be effective since some LGBT members like bisexuals did not choose to be born that way. They can teach to respect the identity of all individuals rather than discriminating them.

Macro strategies include the involvement of the law in addressing the issues of the minors. For instance, if a member from the LGBT gets a chance as a leader in the general government, it would be easy for them to re4present their likes well. As Harvey once m mentioned that it is only a guy who knows the gay's rights and can represent his fellows well.

From the above research hit seemed of great importance to address the issue of discrimination against LGBT rights through an interview with one of them as follows:

Question: Have you ever faced any form of discrimination against your sexual identity>?

Answer: That is more than obvious since even in the present day some societies have refused to accept us. For instance, in the United States, homosexuality has been approved. However, I happened to visit an African country, and my sexual identity was heavily bashed. It was a very heartbreaking experience.

Question: What do you think are the reasons given to this sort of discrimination?

Answer: Most people treat homosexuals as outcasts with the notion that they have chosen this form of identity. Are they, however, wrong since the sexual identity of a person depends on various factors like sexual orientation during growth as well as the nature of birth for the bisexuals?

Question: Do you think the policies and programs that are in place are working?

Answer: Of course they are. The way homosexuals are treated today was not the case a century ago. There has been a lot of effort in advocating for this rights, and it is greatly appreciated. Question: What measures should be implemented to ensure that these rights are reserved even in future?

Answer: It is essential for awareness to be created in the society. Authors can also publish articles that advocate for equal rights for reference. Institutions of learning also have a role in fighting for this rights. Social media can also be useful in keeping this information for future use.

Although Harvey worked for fewer years in office, he marked an essential stepping stone in fighting for the gay people rights. Many people have known the history he left through some of the books written, for example, Randy Shilts biography, Rob Epstein 1994Oscar -winning and The Mayor of Castro Street. Hence, it was supported by other officials, who include Gerry Studds and Congressman to Massachusett in acknowledging homosexuality. The United States Navy also recognized Milk's work on his civil activism; some ships will be named after Robert F. Kennedy, Supreme Court and abolish the Sojourner Truth. Harvey Milk was an individual who was most influential whose hard work, and activism brought a lot of attention to LGBT society in the fight of attaining equal rights. According to many of his stories, he was never violent when expressing his views, but he preferred to enhance civil disobedience when raising of public knowing these issues. Many of his efforts his commemorated on May 22nd every year that is it is on his birthdays. Although Milk has been used for domestic partnership, he has been secret on his sexuality for many years. Before Mik moved to San Francisco, he was living in New York where he got found who were radical in homosexuality; it became the basis of being in activism. The gentleman believed in peaceful protests hence giving out electrifying speeches which were very educative to society. Many of activism subscribed to Milks way of approach and tacti...