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Cassie Normand

The History of Social Movements June 21, 2013

The Fight to Save the Environment and for Gay Rights

(1,222 Words)

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The Fight to Save the Environment and for Gay Rights In 1971 the Dont Make a Wave Committee was founded. Its main manifesto was not released for another five years when in 1976 the group was renamed The Greenpeace Foundation. American announced bomb testing to happen on Amchitka Island in 1969. Many environmental groups responded to this with protest. But the Dont Make a Wave Committee took action in 1971. The group came up with the plan to take a boat and sail it into the testing grounds for the bombs. They named the boat Greenpeace, which the group would later be renamed after. Greenpeace is a self proclaimed non-radical conservative group. There were other environmental events happening around this time as well. April 22, 1970 America had its very first Earth Day celebration. The Environmental Protection Agency (or EPA) is founded on October 2, 1970. Also in 1970 all federal actions were required to analyze the environmental impact they would make through the National Environmental Policy Act. DDT is banned from being sold by the Environmental Protection Agency on June 14, 1972. Also in 1972 Oregon passes a water bottle recycling law, and the Clean Water Act is passed by Congress. In 1974 two scientists, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molinas discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (chemicals used in air conditioners and spray cans) were causing damage to the ozone layer (they later won a nobel prize for their work). The Environmental Protection Agency acquires the ability to record the usage of chemical substances through the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976. In 1979 the radical environmental movement called EarthFirst! was formed. On December 11, 1980 the cleanup of hazardous wastes started with Congress passing the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (or CERCLA).

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Greenpeace did not have a specific trigger that created the movement. When it started out as the Dont Make a Wave Committee it was just an ad hoc citizens group that consisted of like-minded people who were concerned about protecting our planet for our children. They bring up points like the number of endangered species has risen to nine hundred. They say they are non-radical they simply want to preserve the environment (which is where the green in Greenpeace comes from) and create peace in the world (which is where the peace in Greenpeace comes from). The event that triggered the change in name of the movement was the decision in 1969 to do bomb testing at Amchitka Island. Now a day the Greenpeace Foundation is still around. They do most of their work in preserving and saving endangered species and biodiversity. Greenpeace was the first movement to have a Save the Whales Campaign. One of their current campaigns is saving the dolphins from being caught in and dying in tuna fishing nets. Greenpeace put out the Greenpeace Declaration of Independence in 1976. It states that their mission is to preserve the earth and slow further destruction. It speaks of what theyve learned through ecology. It speaks of mankind being not the center but a mere part of all the life on earth. And that we must respect the earth or watch as it collapses around us. It teaches that ecology can be grouped into 3 laws. The first law states that all living organisms on this planet rely on one another to live and function together. The second law states that the more diverse an ecosystem is then the more stable it will be. The third law states that all the recourses on this planet are not everlasting. There is a limit to how quickly things can grow. A Gay Manifesto is a bit more aggressive in how it is written. The manifesto was written in 1970. To give a brief background of where this lays in the gay rights movement, in 1951 the first national gay rights organization, The Mattachine Society, was founded by Harry Hay. The

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first lesbian organization was founded in 1955 and it was called The Daughters of Bilitis (or DOB). In 1962, 11 years after the first gay rights organization was found, the first state to decriminalize homosexual acts in private was Illinois. In San Francisco the National Transsexual Counseling Unit (the first transgender organization) was founded in 1966. San Francisco had become kind of like a refugee camp for the gay community where they wouldnt be abused or harassed for being gay. On june 27, 1969 a police raid on the Stonewall Tavern (a gay bar) produced a three day riot on acceptance and equal rights. In 1973 homosexuality is removed from The American Psychiatric Associations list of mental disorders. Also in 1973 Harvey Milk runs in San Francisco for city supervisor. He states that he is against the government getting involved private sexual matters and wins the election. He is sworn in during 1978 as the first gay man to be on the board of city supervisors. He sponsors a city rights bill that stops sexual orientation discrimination. The law was passed with only one supervisor voting against it. In November of 1978 both the Mayor of San Francisco and Harvey Milk are assassinated by fellow supervisor Dan White. On October 14, 1979 one hundred thousand people were a part of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It was on the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In 1982 discrimination based on sexual orientation is outlawed in the first state, Wisconsin. But also in 1982 President Reagan bans openly gay men and women from serving in the military. And this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gay rights. Right here in Massachusetts on May 14, 2004 gay marriage was legalized. We were the first state to legalize gay marriage. This is a movement that is very much still active to this very day. What causes the fight for gay rights was the discrimination of it. They were physically attacked and beaten, sometimes even killed and the police just looked the other way or

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participated in the harassment themselves. They were put down psychologically being told it was just a mental disorder and grew up thinking something was wrong with them. Being told it was a perversion and that they were all alone in their bad behavior. Some of those in the gay community self repressed themselves to stay out of the line of fire from those discriminating upon them. They were not even aloud to fight for their own country if they were honest and open about their sexuality. Although there is no huge trigger, more like an infinite amount of little triggers of discrimination, the Stonewall Riots is often seen as a turning point in the gay rights movement. Everyone was affected by these events. Those within the gay community felt discriminated upon and wanted their equal rights as Americans to be accepted and realized. But those who were not a part of the gay community had to open their eyes and stop ignoring those who were a part of it. Those in the gay community no longer wanted to hide and they wanted acceptance and to be proud of their sexual orientation. They have articulated their complaints through riots, parades and political movements. Every year here in Boston there is a gay pride parade to celebrate the gay rights movement.

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Works Cited "About the Greenpeace Foundation." About the Greenpeace Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2013. <http://www.greenpeacefoundation.org/history/history.cfm>. "Timeline 1950s-1980s." Blackboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2013. <https://ilearn.mcphs.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2 Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_939 9_1%26url%3D>. Weyler, Rex. "Deep Green: The Greenpeace Manifesto." Greenpeace International. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2013. <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/deep-green/deepgreen-special-1/>. Wittman, Carl. "A Gay Manifesto (1970) - by Carl Wittman." A Gay Manifesto (1970) - by Carl Wittman. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2013. <http://library.gayhomeland.org/0006/EN/A_Gay_Manifesto.htm>.