Celebrate!

In the article titled Gay Mardi Gras parade attracts 300,000 revelers, an event is celebrated that shall not be forgotten! On Saturday more than 300,000 people showed up in sequins and feathers to celebrate the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Along with colorful outfits and personalities, there were over one hundred and eighty floats decorated with all sorts of attractions. The spirits of the people throughout the crowd were filled with pride and laughter. Each person who participated was described as having "ear-to-ear grins as the waved to the crowd". If everywhere in the world could be as accepting as the people in this parade then there would be a lot less hatred in the world. We need to stop being judgmental and learn to accept people, of all kinds. I loved reading this article because of the excitement and passion that was presented throughout. My research topic is focused on gays and lesbians. I think that same sex marriages should be allowed in every state and that Proposition 8 should not have passed. This article links into my argument by providing as an example as to the benefits of acceptance. If we just learn to embrace our differences rather than to fear them our world would be a much better place.

This article links to what I am proposing to advocate for. I think that celebrations, such as these, should be simply that, a celebration. Having a good time does not have to be altered just because of the people one is with and their love interests. I hope that one day gays and lesbians will be considered just as typical as straight people.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is all about research. "Research is used to add depth to what is already know." One can find research by going out into their community or by conducting a web search. The types of research and the ways you can communicate with people through your research. I think that it was interesting that Chapter 6 provided steps to follow to complete your task. Step one was to develop an initial question. This is the easier part of the steps. Then one is supposed to figure out what it is exactly that needs to be researched for the specific topic. Following that, one would then carry out the research by all the ways discussed. After, Chapter 6 tells us "that we should carry out a plan and design a test". This was surprising to me because the example that was displayed was something I never would of thought to do. The final step is to then produce and test communication skills. One would do this through peer review. It was also very intriguing to me that section two discusses written, visual, and oral communication. It went into depth on the various ways we as communicators can reach others and also how we recieve and comprehend things. This chapter can link to Ibm Reseach. This website shows all about how IBM conducts their research. This is just one of the many types of ways that research can be preformed. This site demonstrates nicely how to communicate accurately just like Chapter 6 tells us we need to. Basically, after when writing our research report we need to make sure that we have solid support for what we are advocating for.

Firefighters harassed

I have chosen that the topic for my research paper is to accept and embrace gays and lesbians and to allow same-sex marriages. This also links with the hope that Proposition 8 will be overturned. In this new article I found titled, Jury: SD firefighters were harassed in gay parade, the discrimination of gays continues. It is almost impossible to say that gays and lesbians will be accepted by everyone. Regardless of the changes that may come over the decades, there will still be people who are "homophobic". If not accepted, however, they should not be taunted. This article touches upon an event where four firefighters were harassed in a gay parade. The firefighters got an attorney to plead for them but were not taken seriously. These firefighters did not volunteer to be in the parade, rather, were forced to participate. After expressing their distress and issue with what had occured, the head of the department apologized and stated that next time they would not force anyone to join the parade. The article closed with a quote from one of the captains of the fire department stating that "there was wrongdoing that day,. We all agreed on it. We felt that unless we stood up for ourselves, it would happen again."

This should not be tolerated. Yes, people can disagree with loving someone of the same sex. Yes, people can be disgusted by it. Yes, people can think that it is wrong. But no, those people do not have the right to subject gays and lesbians to harassment. People will think what they want but as the simple saying goes, "If you do not have something nice to say, then don't say it at all."