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Who am I?

My name is Susan Brown, I am a 30 year old lesbian woman who has been fighting for the human rights of gay people for 12 years, and I have been judged, excluded and discriminated against all my life for simply being attracted to my same gender. I seek to raise awareness and inspire many activists, or ordinary people to join the change. I have participated in multiple protests and social movements around the world, against injustice and discrimination towards the LGBTQ community, and I want to inspire many to join the fight for the justice we deserve. I hope that with this blog I can change even one person's perspective and help make a change.

A Brief History of LGBTQ Movements

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 Social movements, which seek acceptance and rights for LGBTQ people, began in response to centuries of persecution by church, state and medical authorities. Homosexual activity or deviation from established gender/dress roles was forbidden by law or traditional custom, and those who did so were condemned. This intensified homophobia for centuries, but also made entire populations aware of the existence of a difference.   Before the scientific and political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries, there were few organizations that supported the LGBTQ community, and admitting that you shared that identity, or even speaking out for tolerance and change, put you in danger. Gradually, activists came together who, thanks to sympathetic medical studies, banned literature, new research on sex, a climate of greater democracy, and the growth of media, began to fight for the human rights of LGBTQ people. From about the 1870s to the present day there have been homosexual social movements, and

Pre-history of LGBT activism

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 According to most historians there is evidence of homosexual activity and same-sex love in all cultures documented throughout history, whether such relationships were accepted or persecuted. Homosexuality is known to have existed in ancient Israel because it is forbidden in the Bible, but in ancient Greece, it flourished between men and women. There is also evidence of people who lived at least part of their lives as a different gender than the one assigned at birth. Through the diaries of travelers, the ecclesiastical records of missionaries, the journals of diplomats, and the reports of medical anthropologists these realities reached the West. These accounts, in the era before other media were, filled with the prejudices of the mostly Western or white observer, and added to the beliefs that homosexual practices were foreign, savage, a medical matter or evidence of an inferior racial hierarchy. In addition, European and Christian colonizers encountered opposition and discrimination w

How can you help?

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 In more than half of the United States, it is still legal to discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, making getting a job, housing, insurance and other necessary aspects of life much more difficult for LGBT people. Supporting the Equality Act would fix that by making such discrimination illegal everywhere, as it should be. to help you can add your name to the list of Americans calling on Congress to support passage of the Equality Act. You can also find a way to reduce bullying of gay people at your school, college or work, sign petitions to defend the rights of LGBTQ community members, shop at businesses that support this cause, inform and educate as many people as you can, and use your voice to make a difference. There are many more ways to help, but these would be the main ones. I hope this Blog has helped you understand more about the LGBTQ social movement, and that it has inspired you to do your part and make a change. If you have questi