OPEN INVITATION - I'm writing a paper on Gay Rights and I need an interview

[erin_the_strange]

[SIZE=5]Thanks for checking this out.

[/SIZE]I'm currently writing a position paper for my college English class on Gay Rights which my teacher didn't seem too pleased about (it may be because she's baptist). She told us she wanted us to write on a controversial topic, and asked us to raise our hands and suggest a topic. Well, she banned every topic that was suggested, all the things there would be a strong opinion about - abortion, gun control, stem cell research, legalizing marijuana, ect. Luckily I didn't raise my hand I knew I wouldn't be able to stand it if I had to write something I didn't feel strongly about. So when she asked for our topics the other day I said gay rights and when she asked what my stance was I told her that love was good and intolerance is wrong. If she's offended that's her problem, I don't intend to be offensive in my paper, but I AM going to lay out the facts......

ANYWAYS.... I have this interview I wrote up and it would really help me out and make my paper that much stronger if you could take the time to answer them. There are 27 questions altogether which include questions about being gay in general, gay marriage, gays in the military, and gay adoption rights. Of course, you can skip any questions you want. Whatever input you can give me will be very much appreciated. I've copied the questions below so you can post your answers here, or it maybe easier to fill out the attached word document, save it, and send it back to me in an e-mail. My email is [email protected]

[FONT=&quot]Background Information………………………………[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. When did you first realize you were gay?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. When did you come out to your family and how did they react?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Were you brought up in any religion and are you religious now?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Do you ever feel you need to conceal you sexual orientation and why?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Do you feel you are treated different because you are gay and if so, in what way?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Have you or someone you know personally been discriminated against you are gay and if so, how so?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. How do you feel being gay compares with the experiences of other minority groups?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. What do you think it would take for gays to be considered deserving of equal rights (to marry, to adopt, to join the military, to teach, ect.)?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Gays in the Military………...…………………………...[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. As of right now, gays that wish to serve in the military are subjected to the “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” policy – prohibiting officers from asking about sexual orientation, but still forbidding gays to be open about it and expelling them if it somehow becomes known anyway. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]“The government has always maintained that gays in the military are bad for morale and as a consequence would have a negative effect on the fighting power and operational effectiveness of the forces.” Do you feel this concern is at all legitimate and why?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Do you know of anyone personally that is gay and in the military/ was in the military and if so, has that presented any hardships for them?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Are there any other thoughts you would like to add about gays and the military?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Gay Marriage……………………………………………[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Q. A lot of the debate over whether gays should be able to marry comes down to the definition of marriage. How would you define marriage?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Do you believe redefining marriage to include same-sex couples could impact the marriages of opposite-sex couples?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. How do you feel about the idea of using a term like “civil union” instead of “marriage” for a legally recognized same-sex couple?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Those against gay marriage argue that gay marriage would open the door to all sorts of other “couplings” (i.e. Polygamy, bestiality, and pedophilia) In your opinion where should the line be drawn in terms of who should be allowed to marry?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. How do you think NOT legalizing gay marriage is currently impacting society as a whole?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. How do you think NOT legalizing gay marriage is currently impacting the gay community?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. How do you think that legalizing gay marriage would impact society as a whole?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. How do you think legalizing gay marriage would impact the gay community?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to add when it comes to gay marriage?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Gay Adoption Rights……………………………………[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Q. One argument against gay marriage is that gay parents will influence their child to become gay. Are your parents gay?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Are there any other gay people in your family?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Are you or do you know of any same-sex parents?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Do you believe that a child that is raised in a non-traditional family is at a disadvantage?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. If you are not, would you like to be a parent someday?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Q. Are there any other thoughts you’d like to add about gay adoption rights?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you so much for your time.[/FONT]

[fjp999]

[COLOR="Purple"]Unbelievable that your uni prof would ban certain topics. Pretty amazing. Did she suggest other controversial topics that she approved of?

Will try to get to your questionaire when I have some free time. Good luck.

frank

Oh, and welcome to the site![/COLOR]

[erin_the_strange]

That's what I thought! I mean, I think we're all mature enough to handle different opinions, and I think it's important that we research things we will very likely be voting on! She suggested something like business ethics, or spanking children.

My paper is due on the 22nd, any input you could give me would be wonderful, feel free to answer as few or as many questions as you would like!

Thanks!

[princealbertofb]

[SIZE=5]Thanks for checking this out.[/SIZE]

I'm currently writing a position paper for my college English class on Gay Rights which my teacher didn't seem too pleased about (it may be because she's baptist). She told us she wanted us to write on a controversial topic, and asked us to raise our hands and suggest a topic. Well, she banned every topic that was suggested, all the things there would be a strong opinion about - abortion, gun control, stem cell research, legalizing marijuana, ect. Luckily I didn't raise my hand I knew I wouldn't be able to stand it if I had to write something I didn't feel strongly about. So when she asked for our topics the other day I said gay rights and when she asked what my stance was I told her that love was good and intolerance is wrong. If she's offended that's her problem, I don't intend to be offensive in my paper, but I AM going to lay out the facts......

ANYWAYS.... I have this interview I wrote up and it would really help me out and make my paper that much stronger if you could take the time to answer them. There are 27 questions altogether which include questions about being gay in general, gay marriage, gays in the military, and gay adoption rights. Of course, you can skip any questions you want. Whatever input you can give me will be very much appreciated. I've copied the questions below so you can post your answers here, or it maybe easier to fill out the attached word document, save it, and send it back to me in an e-mail. My email is [email protected]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Eric (Erin), it seems to me that your teacher is way out of line with this assignment. She's obviously not thought it out. How dare she set you such an assignment and then veto every subject that comes along? It doesn't make sense to me, or to my partner. It sounds like the controversial subject here is CENSORSHIP. But what exactly IS this teacher supposed to be teaching you at that college? Also it seems to me that 'business ethics' ought to be consensual not controversial, but that's only me... Will give your questionnaire some thought, probably, but not right this very minute... I have a night to catch up on sleep.
Good evening, Eric/n

[erin_the_strange]

I'd appreciate any input you were able to give me, my paper is due on the 22nd so any time before that would be helpful.

PS - It's Erin. Truly. :p

[Shadow]

I too am rather puzzled as to why your teacher would ask you to deliberately pick topics that are controversial, and then strike out the suggestions ... what's uncontroversial about gun control ... or abortion ... or euthanasia ... or gay rights ... or legalising drugs - they're all good, meaty topics for this type of exercise I'da thought :confused:.

In any event, I'll happily answer your questions - I'll e-mail you my answers in a tick !! mile:.

xx

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!