TOPICS: Gay market. Gay marketing. Lesbian and gay PR. US gay and lesbian community. Gay rights. Gay acceptance, gay tolerance. Lesbian and gay civil rights. USA Today. Mainstream media. 25 trends that changed America. Gay and lesbian marketing. Don't ask, don't tell policy. US military. Gays in the military. Ellen DeGeneres. USA Today says gay rights and gay social progress is in the top 10 of most important US social trends of the past 25 years.You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com. To contact us, send us an email.
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USA Today is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2007. When it arrived in 1982, this US national daily newspaper revolutionized an industry that had been seen as staid and out of touch with social trends.It was fitting then that last week in the US, the newspaper listed the Top 25 social changes that have impacted America during the past 25 years.
At the top of the list is "Diversity" and well up in the Top 10, in at number 6 is "Gay Rights gain ground".
In fact diversity, equality and gay rights are - in Out Now's view of this world - all highly interconnected, and collectively account for 30% of the USA Today Top Ten trends that changed America.
The newspaper wrote:
"Same-sex marriage, but 41 states ban it. Civil unions. Matthew Shepard. Ellen DeGeneres and other stars come out. Military says, "Don't ask, don't tell."" It was encouraging to see that gay rights gaining ground was considered more important than the seemingly endless 'war on terror'.It still often seems there is one step backwards for every two steps forward though.
On the weekend BBC TV broadcast a Louis Theroux documentary on the Phelps family, described as 'The Most Hated Family in America' who seem to consider the gaining of ground of gay rights as the cause of all that is not right with this world. It was painful to watch but something you could not tear your eyes away from - just astonished by the cult-like slavishness with which the Phelps's expressed their views. They are far from the mainstream though as their actions that have included picketing Mathew Shepard's funeral as well as lately doing the same at military funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq just leave people gasping.
Nonetheless, here is the Top 10 from the USA Today Top 25 Trends That Changed America:
1 Diversity
Record immigration creates unparalleled racial and ethnic diversity. Hispanics overtake blacks as the largest minority. The federal government lets people identify themselves as of more than one race. Tikka Masala, edamame. and mole sauce join the lingo. American culture gets Latinized. There's a backlash -- the English-as-an-official language movement.
2 Fighting for equality
More women in the workplace. More poor women on the job, off welfare. The income gap between the sexes narrows -- in 2005, women earned 77 cents for every dollar men make. Title IX. Mainstreaming the disabled.
3 Millions living longer
The oldest of 79 million baby boomers turn 61 this year. Twenty-five years ago, the oldest were 36. Cost of health care multiplies. People have multiple careers. More life stages, from three generations to six (tweeners, 20-somethings, middle-age, young old, old, oldest old).
4 It's a small world after all
Globalization takes hold. NAFTA. European Union. India and China emerge as economic powerhouses. Outsourcing.
5 Global warming
The worry over climate change becomes so widespread that average folks discuss their carbon footprint. The Kyoto Accord. The shrinking polar ice cap. Melting glaciers. Monster hurricanes. El Niño, La Niña.
6 Gay rights gain ground
Same-sex marriage, but 41 states ban it. Civil unions. Matthew Shepard. Ellen DeGeneres and other stars come out. Military says, "Don't ask, don't tell."
7 Are we safe?
Fear of terrorism changes our lives. Color-coded threat levels. We take off our shoes at airports. X-ray machines peek under our clothes. No-fly lists. Columbine. Amber alerts, America's Most Wanted. Crime rates drop.
8 Snuffing out smoking
In 1982, cigarettes were allowed almost everywhere. First they were banned in offices, then restaurants, public places and now maybe in your car and home. Nicotine patch. Nicotine gum.
9 Obesity crisis
Fat kids. Fat adults. New dietary guidelines. Ban on trans fats. Push for walking. Diabetes rates soar. The Biggest Loser on TV.
10 Tech creates cult of 'me'
Cellphones. The revolutionary switch from cassettes and VHS to CDs and DVDs. The Internet opens the floodgates. MySpace.com. Facebook. Blogs. It's all about customization and personalization. Shop and watch TV programs when you want (Amazon.com, TiVo). Download the song you want and listen to it when you want (iPod and MP3s). Capture every moment and play it for a worldwide audience (Youtube.com, camera phones, reality TV).
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1 comments:
Is marriage a religious institution?
I feel at times I am the only gay person that is not satisfied by the term “civil union”. To me it feels like a consolation prize given as a means of pacifying gays. Throw them a few crumbs as their used to and they’ll shut up. Truthfully, I hope that we gay men and woman will not stop at gay unions and go after what we deserve, gay marriage. I am saddened but not surprised that many gays are willing to accept second class citizenship after all it is what we are accustomed to. Our entire gay civil rights movement that is being courageously fought by a very few, has been about equal rights, not just some rights. This of course means marriage as well.
We should not be satisfied by civil unions. Unions are not equal. It’s unfortunate that this have become political as did the civil rights movement back in the 60’s. Even the politicians that are privately in favor of gay marriage are afraid to speak openly about it, with the exception of a few impassioned politicians that have a strong sense of integrity and a clear view of what is right and wrong.
We cannot look to the bible for any answers regarding equal rights. Those laws were written at a different time and for an ancient culture. It may surprise many to know that gay marriages were widely accepted by the Romans and the Greeks. We also must understand that many of the ancients were a very superstitious people that made many of their laws in regards to those superstitions. We therefore cannot be influenced by scripture. The many books within the bible vastly contradict themselves on many subjects. Which ones should we believe? Many religious institutions have the belief that sexual relations is solely for the purpose of procreation. This is an affront to childless marriages. Are they any less valid? Should they not have sexual relations even though they know it will not produce children? I wonder why God would make sexuality so very pleasurable if it were only for procreation. It wouldn’t need to be enjoyable. The mechanics of sexuality would be all that is necessary. Beside don’t we live in a country that has a law about separation between church and state?
Somebody please help me understand why marriage by many is considered a religious institution. For the sake of discussion I would like someone to tell me why atheists are then eligible for marriage? It seems to me that heterosexual marriages are afforded just about any opportunity and environment they choose to take their vows. Even those damned heathens.
Straight men and woman can choose a church marriage; they can get married underwater, on a mountaintop, by a justice of the peace or even by a ship captain. However, the most romantic and holy place I can imagine to pledge ones vows of love and fidelity, is driving through a drive-in chapel in Las Vegas, as one would order a family meal. Don’t get me wrong. I do love happy meals. The best part is, no one even has to bother to get out of the car. How can one compete with that kind of service? I’ve heard that they even change your oil, but that may be just hearsay.
Has it dawned on anyone that the constitution of the United States says very clearly that all people shall be treated as equal? There are no clauses added to that, such as, except gays. What was stated in that document then still rings very clear yet today and likely for many years to come. We don’t have to look too awfully far back into our history to find examples of how we ignored the constitution for selfish heterosexual Anglo-Saxon citizens so we could still own people. It wasn’t until the early part of the nineteenth century before woman were allowed to vote. Not so long before that, slavery was legal. It wasn’t until nearly fifty years ago that African Americans weren’t allowed to marry whites. If we are to learn anything from our nation’s history, we should then know that whenever we veer off from what that beautifully crafted document for whatever convenient reason, it is eventually overturned and changed for reasons of being fairer. I have still yet to hear a valid reason how gay marriage could negatively impact modern society. I’ve heard that if gays were allowed to marry it would have the potential of destroying traditional marriage. We only have to look at the statistics of the success of “traditional marriages to discover that more than half end up in divorce. Gays did not cause that. Fidelity within marriage has a terrible track record as well. Therefore I would truly like to hear some reasonable argument posed that would make sense why gay marriage ought not be allowed. Thank you, Aaron Jason Silver www.aaronjasonsilver.com; Fennville, Mi 49408 for more information on issues within gay culture please read; “why gay men do what they do”, an inside look at gay
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