Transcript Disabled, LGBT, and Older Americans

Raequel Burris, Mallary Wadle,
Chandler Cunningham
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In 1962, the University of California at Berkeley reluctantly
admitted Ed Roberts as a student.
Disabilities can be both physical and mental.
Physical can include blindness, deafness, and impaired
movement.
Mental disabilities include illnesses like bipolar disorder.
According to the 2000 Census, nearly 20 percent of
Americans over the age of 5 have some type of disability.
The first groups of disabled Americans to fight for their
rights were deaf and blind people.
They also asserted that blind and deaf people has a right
to use their own languages: braille and American Sign
Language.
He and fellow activists pressed the school to improve
accessibility on campus.
Making it easier for the physically disabled to enter
university facilities included ramps and curb cuts.
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In 1973, Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act. This law
stated that no one with disabilities would be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or to be
subjected to discrimination under any program or activity
receiving Federal financial assistance.
After four years of trying to decide how to enforce these
laws, protesters took over the offices of the Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare in Washington D.C. in
1977.
In 1975, Congress passed the Education for All
Handicapped Children Act.
This Act stated that wherever possible, students with
disabilities were to be mainstreamed, or included in
classrooms with nondisabled students.
Years later, in 1990, Congress passed the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA called for better public
access for people with disabilities.
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In the 1960’s many gays and lesbians felt they had to hide
their sexual orientation to avoid discrimination.
By the late 1960’s, gay rights activists in Philadelphia were
holding an annual Fourth of July protest, where they
pointed out to visitors that gay Americans did not get many
of the rights that most Americans took for granted.
It was not until the Stonewall riots that the gay pride
movement became highly visible.
On June 27th, 1969, NYC police raided the Stonewall Inn, a
gay bar in the neighborhood of Greenwich Village.
NYC had outlawed homosexuality at the time, and police
raids ere common. That night, however, the customers at
the Stonewall fought back and these riots sparked the
beginning of the gay rights movement.
In March 1973, , a group of parents with gay sons and
daughters began meeting in New York.
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1980, the group, Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), had members
around the country.
 Another monumental event in the history of
gay rights occurred in 1977, when Harvey
Milk was elected to the board of supervisors
in San Francisco.
 Milk was the first openly gay candidate to
win office in a major American City. Eleven
months later, however, Milk was assassinated
by a former colleague.
Older Americans also joined the civil rights
struggle.
 In 1972, Maggie Kuhn and some fellow retirees in
Philadelphia formed the Gray Panthers.
 The Gray Panthers called the unjust treatment of
older Americans ageism, or discrimination
against people on the basis of age.
 Other groups had formed earlier to advocate for
older Americans. The largest was the American
Association of Retired Persons(AARP).
 AARP was founded by Ethel Percy Andrus in 1958.
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Andrus formed AARP to help retirees get health
insurance.
 In 1965, Congress responded to AARP lobbies by
developing Medicare. This program insurance is
for people ages 65 and over.
 There were also complaints about discrimination
in the workplace. To remedy this problem,
Congress passed the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967. This law made it illegal
for employers to use age as a factor in hiring or
promotion.
 In 1978, the Gray Panthers helped persuade
Congress to push back the required retirement
age from 65 to 70.
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Even though it is still difficult for disabled
Americans they contribute to the market place
and take certain roles in the government
programs. It is now easier for disabled Americans
to communicate and be treated equally by
others. There is new technology that makes it
easier for them to think better and do certain
functions that it was difficult for them to do
before. They now have sports for disabled
Americans and involve them into more activities.
The ADA helps with discrimination against
Americans with disabilities. There is a wider
variety for education and it is now easier for
disabled Americans to get into colleges. The ADA
also makes it so every building that is built is
accessible to disabled/handicapped Americans.
Last week, Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh
(R) proposed a new bill that would prosecute
transgendered people with a Class 1
misdemeanor for using the “wrong” restrooms.
After the swift, negative backlash (and many
people calling for his removal from office), he
scrapped it and instead proposed a bill that
simply prohibits Arizona municipality from
creating nondiscrimination protections based on
gender identity.
 With the controversy roaring across the country,
there have been many marches in Washington
D.C. and all over for marriage equality.
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Luckily, though, with the Supreme Court hearing
arguments about marriage equality, many icons
in America have been showing their support.
 Bud Light, Nike, Apple, Starbucks, Citigroup,
Beyoncé, the members of Fun., Madonna, Patrick
Stewart, Sara Bareilles, Jesse Tyler Ferguson,
Ben Affleck, Seth McFarlane, Ricky Martin, the
members of Fall Out Boy, Ellen, Oprah, President
Obama, and Jay-Z all spoke in favor of marriage
equality (just to name a few).
 A recent study revealed that overall, 58% of
Americans now support marriage equality, which
is in stark contrast when compared to the 72% of
Americans who disapproved in 1988.
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Brault, Matthew W. “Americans With Disabilities.” Current
Populations. US Census Bureau, July 2012. Web. 28 March
2013.
University of Michigan. “Special Education and
Sports.” University of Michigan. N/A. Web. 28 March 2013.
Ford, Zack. “Arizona Lawmaker Now Wants to Enshrine
Transgender Discrimination Into Law." ThinkProgress. 26
Mar. 2013. Web. 28 March 2013.
Morgan, Glennisha. "Beyonce, Madonna And Other
Celebrities Chime In For Gay Marriage." The Huffington
Post. 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 March 2013.
Vedantam, Shankar. “Shift in Gay Marriage Support Mirrors
A Changing America.” National Public Radio. 25 Mar. 2013.
Web. 28 March 2013.
Book.