Moving Forward to the Path of Acceptance

This world is becoming more of an accepting community, for the reason being that people began to learn to accept that everyone is equal despite their sexuality. For ongoing years, both of the LGBTQ and black community suffer discrimination because others (mainly white bourgeois males) fear them. They fear how different they are and see that they are the lesser people of the general public (out of place). Throughout time, the white bourgeois males dominated society and told everyone what they believe is right and what is wrong.

In the first reading by Michael Warner, “Publics and Counterpublics,” he states that

“The strangeness of this kind of public is often hidden from view because the assumptions that enable the bourgeois public sphere allow us to think of a discourse public as a people and, therefore, as an actually existing set of potentially enumerable humans” (Warner 31).

This quote stands out to me because it instantly reminded me of, Paris is Burning (1990). At minute 4:09, a man says, “You go in there, and you feel—you feel 100% right as—of being gay.” This statement relates to my chosen quote because unlike now, the LGBTQ community was not at all accepted by the straight community because they think it is abnormal, weird, going against the bible for being gay, etc. From watching this film, I had some sympathy for them because they were kicked out of their own homes for being gay, and they had nowhere to live, so they turn to each other and take care of one another and form their own family.

As for the next reading by Catherine Squires titled, “Rethinking the Black Public Sphere: An alternative Vocabulary for Multiple Public Spheres,” she states that

“[…] people of color, women, homosexuals, religious minorities, and immigrant groups have created coexisting counterpublics in reaction to the exclusionary politics of dominant public spheres and the state. The move away from the ideal of a single public sphere is important in that it allows recognition of the public struggles and political innovations of marginalized groups outside traditional or state-sanctioned public spaces and mainstream discourses dominated by white bourgeois males.” (Squires 446).

As for this quote, it stands out to me because it also relates to the way how homosexuals create protests or walks to shut down homophobia which began coming from the straight white males.

This group is starting to become successful by getting their own rights, their own celebration in the month of June called “Pride Month,” and are becoming more accepted by the people they love, people within their community, and from strangers across the world. It is phenomenal as to how so much has changed throughout the years when most feared homosexuals of different races, and now the public came out of that fear and hatred and began to love.

Equality is a major topic everyone strives for and stands beside. We as a community are still working on getting the equal rights everyone deserves, whether it is for the LGBTQ community, people of colour/different races, females, etc. Looking back at the horrible conditions where we lacked equality and acceptance, we are moving forward towards in this civil rights movement but will everyone ever be granted to a fair treatment with the bourgeois white men?

Squires, Catherine. “Rethinking the Black Public Sphere: An Alternative Vocabulary for Multiple Public Spheres,” Communication Theory 12.4 (Nov 2002): 446-468.

Warner, Michael. “Publics and Counterpublics,” Public Culture 14.1 (2002).