Haters Gon' Hate But Love is Love [Gay Rights: Milk (2008)]

Throughout history, people continuously discriminate against minority groups.  Whether the Jews are scapegoated for economic disaster or the gays are shunned to hell for disrupting reproduction, someone is always scolding someone.  Even if you are not holding an extreme view, you are likely, at least subconsciously, accepting the stereotypes. Do any of these statements ring a bell?


“I do not want a gay roommate because he/she will hit on me.”
And the quotes could go on, but by now I hope the point is driven. Fortunately, the tolerance for gays continues to increase but the LBGT community still has hurdles to overcome. Gays can openly declare sexual orientation in the military but still cannot legally get married in all 50 states. But what about Tyler Clementi and the epidemic of gay suicides due to bullying in 2010 and on? Soon after, the Anti-Bullying Law established in 2008 was extended in 2010 to provide anti-bullying workshops and strict regulations in all public schools in attempt to prevent bullying. In Milk, Harvey receives a random phone call from a boy who feels suicidal after his parents demand he goes to a hospital to be fixed. Harvey urges the boy to run away to advocate for his freedom. The "The Trevor Project: It Gets Better" public service advertisements flooded to guide lonely, bullied, and/or gay individuals. Google Chrome created a beautiful collection of the hope: 

“My taxi driver’s name is Mohammad Hussain. Pray for me!” 
“I’m not dating him. He’s Jewish and will probably take me to McDonald’s.”
“There’s a black guy trying to get into the party. Put your purse in my locked room.” 
“The drive-in messed my order up. Do they not understand English? Get out our country.” 



The unfortunate fact is that when one group finally obtains relief from bullying, another is subject to blame. For example, according to Schafer and Shaw in The Polls: Trends: Tolerance in the United States (2009), “Despite the broad patterns of growing acceptance… Americans have yet again shifted their intolerance toward other least-liked groups…” Between 1993 and 2006, the belief that being gay/lesbian is morally wrong, decreased from 55% to 37%. Between the early 1990’s to mid-2000’s, polls also depicted that people are more accepting of gays as teachers in k-12 and higher education, more comfortable with gays and neighbors and feel gays should have the right to speak publicly and have books in public libraries. Gays and lesbians still face struggles, but as of 2009, according to Schafer and Shaw, Muslims were most discriminated against. Over three years later, I imagine the Muslim community is still harassed due to 911, but I can only hope that time has healed some of the fear. 

How can gays and other groups manipulate politics to fight social discrimination?
Gus Van Sant directs the film, Milk, starring Sean Penn and James Franco, to depict gay politics and the power of symbolic representation. Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay politician in the state of California as a San Francisco City Supervisor. After a series of losses, Harvey continuously runs until he succeeds. Milk also depicts the importance of assistance from political elites. Harvey must work to get allied with straight politicians. In "The Politics of Gay Rights in American Communities: Explaining Anti discrimination," political scientists Wald, Button and Rienzo (1996) researched the likeliness of gay rights ordinances, particularly antidiscrimination laws for sexual orientation depend upon urbanization, social diversity, the social and political resources of the gay community, political opportunity, and the amount of counter actions from traditionalist religious groups. Through surveys, telephone interviews and comparative analysis, the authors argued that size, organization, political activism, openly gay candidates and a significant number of gay bars and services enhance the likeliness of a gay ordinance intact within a locality. In "Minority Group Interests and Political Representation: Gay Elected Officials in the Policy Process," Markel, Joslyn and Kniss came to similar conclusions about the sources of gay liberation. I suggest other persecuted groups use symbolic and substantive representation to reflect their desires in law. 

On a final note, if you enjoyed Milk, I'd like to suggest Philadelphia (1993) starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. This movie beautifully depicts employment discrimination against gays and AIDs sufferers.