East Tennessean

Issue date: 9/25/03 Section: ViewPoint

Homosexuality has been an issue for people around the world seemingly since the beginning of time. It is a lifestyle that has been debated, unaccepted and stereotyped.
But in recent years, society has welcomed more and more homosexuals into its loving arms under the umbrella of civil liberties. It is become increasingly acceptable to be homosexual in society today.
The beginning of homosexual acceptance is hard to trace. Some say it began when all citizens were given equal rights under the civil rights movement. Those who agree argue that when the movement swept across the nation and people opened their eyes to the harsh realities of racism, homosexuals began to wonder when they would be able to openly admit their sexuality without fear of being persecuted.
Gay images have bombarded us in the first few years of 2000.
Entertainment has welcomed the gay community onto the air-waves and to the stage.
Numerous new gay TV shows have popped up, like Will and Grace, which holds some of the best prime time ratings. Or, the new Queer Eye for the Straight Guy which has also caught attention from prominent news sources such as Katie Couric and influential TV personalities like Oprah.
Other shows stretch homosexuality further than fashion and comedy. Queer as Folk is a Showtime drama depicting the lives of only homosexuals. It is fashioned as a homosexual soap opera dealing with relationships and the gay lifestyle.
All My Children has included a lesbian love affair, which has boosted the ratings.
In music, teenage Russian singers in the band called Tatu shock audiences by including gay images throughout their videos and stage performances. They even ended their performance at the music awards last year with a liplock.
Madonna, who has been a figure in the homosexual community for years, and Britney Spears even decided to blur sexual lines when they opened this years MTV music awards with an open-mouth kiss that became headline news.
In public schools across the nation, teachers are now having to question the idea of homosexuality in the class rooms and how they go about teaching diversity including the gay lifestyle. Books about homosexual activity, like Asha's Two Moms, have been banned in states across the country. Across the border in Ontario, where homosexual marriages can occur, schools have even begun teaching about oral and anal sex in the seventh grade.
Public schools in America have even gone so far as to allow gay proms.

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