Hey, I'm from South Africa and I wanted to know what the "legalities" of gay rights etc are like in America. I've heard so many mixed stories that I don't know the truth. Is it true that the only gay-friendly areas are Minnesota (I think that's how it's spelled), Pennsylvania, and California? And WHY was prop 8 introduced after gay marriage had been legal in California for a while already!? In South Africa, the legal age of consent is 16, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, so it's pretty equal. Also, gay unions are accepted and you can marry here. It is a very homophobic society in the younger, teenage years where people are uncomfortable with their own bodies still, there's peer pressure, etc, however, it is a very gay-friendly town in Cape Town (Bottom of Africa, bottom of South Africa) where there's even homophobe-bashing in the university-type student. Unfortunately, in the African (black) culture, it is unacceptable and many lesbian women are raped by men (to "teach them" how it "should be") and black men are beaten to death by any man who finds out... but not all of them find it too bad, and some families are accepting it these days. What's it like in America?? I really want to know.
You and your America questions Long story short, it's a total mixed bag in terms of gay rights. That's basically because there is little federal/USA-wide civil gay rights legislation. In other words, there is no federal marriage, no federal employment anti-discrimination, etc. Obama and the democrats are trying to change that IMO but it's a slow process. At least the US supreme court said recently that buttseks is a legal right because a few states (like Texas) used that to go after gays. So it's left up to each state. Some have marriage (I think it's 7 now), some have civil union or domestic partnership, most have nothing. Other rights like anti-discrimination and hate crimes and stuff like that is more common across most but not all states. As for California, the courts said banning gay marriage was unconstitutional in May 2008, so gay couples started getting married until November when a majority of voters passed prop 8, an amendment to the California constitution banning gay marriage. California still has domestic partnerships though, and the couples who were married in those 6 months were able to keep their marriages intact.
http://www.hrc.org/your_community/index.htm That will allow you to explore all the states in America to find out what states have which rights for LGBT people. Also, i don't believe Minnesota is particularity LGBT safe or unsafe, but Massachusetts is probably the most LGBT friendly state in the Union.
It depends how you define "Gay friendly", but only certain states have some form of gay marriage / civil union. However that's not to say that all other states are unfriendly. It's just that you may not have any legal recognition. And the general cultural acceptance can drastically vary within a state depending on the town / city you're in. On gay marriage have a look at this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States An important thing of note with the lack of any federal rights or protections that are given to straight marriages. This means a gay marriage may not be recognized in another state, and as well there is the lack of certain federal rights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act And open gay persons can be dismissed from the military: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_ask,_don't_tell On the "Butt sex" thing, have a look at this article. Interesting how many were only struck down in 2003: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy_laws_in_the_United_States
http://www.hrc.org/laws_and_elections/state.asp?state=&btnG.x=12&btnG.y=6 This is better than the other link I gave.
I've lived in Pennsylvania most of my life and I don't really consider it to be one of the more gay-friendly areas really. I suppose once you get to a larger city like Philadelphia then gay people would be more accepted. Gay rights in America are pretty different from state to state. Even then some states handle things differently than others. As someone stated above, Massachusetts is one of the friendlier states to my knowledge. Most of the urban areas are more accepting, as in most other countries I guess. Once you go further south towards the "bible belt" the churches have more influence over people's beliefs, so they are less tolerant and accepting of anyone different than them. The U.S. is a melting pot of beliefs really; so many people have different feelings towards homosexuality and the LGBT community in general. These different beliefs are sometimes so opposite each other that we wind up with big debates and protests (as with prop 8) that can engulf the entire nation. Hope this helps you to understand a bit more. I am not as up-to-date with the political side of things as I ought to be.
It terms of acceptance, it just depends on the area I suppose. I live in Texas, where it's assumed that everyone hates gays. That couldn't be farther from the truth. My city and area (South Texas) is quite an accepting area from what I have seen.
I wouldnt put america as a whole high up on the gay rights ladder. We are to hampered by extremist hate groups at the moment to make much progress, but any step forward is still a step forward.
You can still find areas like ^that here in the US. Generally, it's tolerant. Most will be okay with homosexuality, but not fighting for their rights. When it comes to gay rights, America is a big step up from a lot of countries (such as Iran). But it can also be awful. It just depends on which area of which town. If you're thinking about moving here, I would suggest either the East or West Coasts. Acceptance seems to seep in from the ocean. To make it short: We're basically every European nation and culture blended with some serious stupidity. Unless you're in California; then there's a whole lot of Asia and Mexico going on.
If Iran is the country your comparing yourself as better than, you definitely are not doing too good It really depends, like everyone else said, were you are in the USA. Some places are only a few steps better than Iran p) while some are *almost* the same as much of Europe, Canada, ect. (minus the fact they cant hand out federal benefits). The fact some states not only dont have adoption or anti-discrimination laws but are currently still actively shooting down any attempts at introducing them is quite sad for parts of the country. The fact come states are voting strongly to allow gay marriage (again, minus federal benefits) is quite amazing and very comforting. Too many of the most homophobic people/organizations reside in the USA, thats the main problem i think. Lock up the Phelps Family and shut down Focus on the Family and you would be one step closer to world peace
Based on personal experience: Everyone that knows I'm gay is supportive. I actually walk around wearing nail polish and gay pride stuffs, and nobody says a thing to me about it. I haven't met anyone that's said or done anything real bad, although i have had the occacional person say "fag" or something under their breath.
