Overview
The gay and lesbian communities in the United States have fought for many decades to achieve full civil rights. In recent years there has been a large shift in society’s ideas about and attitudes towards the gay and lesbian community. For this discussion, listen to the podcast from This American Life entitled “81 Words which discusses how and why the American Psychiatric Association (APA) declared that homosexuality was not a disease in 1973. In addition, read the recent report from the Associated Press and NORC, which provides statistics from public opinions polls regarding American’s attitude. After reviewing these resources, address the following:
- Describe the social context for gays and lesbians in the United States in the early 1970s and compare that to the social context today.
- How can society’s changing attitudes towards gays and lesbians be used as evidence that sexuality is socially constructed?
- Select two statistics from the AP/NORC report that you think serve as evidence that ideas about gay and lesbian communities are socially constructed. Describe the statistics and explain how these statistics can be used as evidence of the social construction of sexuality.