The Identity Politics Of Lesbians And Gay Men In Contemporary America

Lesbians and gay men, a special group of American citizens who have achieved greater visibility in today's American society, do not actually have the access to enjoy their legal rights because of their unrecognized political identity. This paper introduces the political theory of identity politics and presents it as a practical tool for American homosexuals to fight for the recognition of their political identity and the legal rights. Identity politics has also been used as a political guiding ideology in American gay rights movement, a social movement for the legal rights that should be given to American lesbians and gay men, and the political identity that must be recognized by the American public. Like all other social movements, American gay rights movement has come across a lot of obstacles and setbacks. However, the implementation of identity politics in American gay rights movement appears to have made some important outcomes and progresses.This paper aims to provide a complete analysis of identity politics and its political strategies in American gay rights movement. In Chapters One and Two, the paper introduces the study of identity politics and its implementation in American gay rights movement. Chapter Three explains the origin of homosexuality and Americans' different attitudes towards lesbians and gay men. In Chapter Four, a complete history of American gay rights movement is revealed along with its characteristics.Chapters Five and Six, major political strategies are explained in detail, including its achievements and setbacks.The conclusion of this paper suggests a possible political strategy for implementing identity politics in today's American gay rights movement. This new strategy is more comprehensive and more consistent with the modern American gay rights movement.