nd that they should be punished. There is no one establishment in this situation, but only a large group of American citizens who do not understand the issue they are being faced with. However, the goal of the gay rights movement is very clear. They want equality, much in the same way that African Americans and women have wanted it in the past. Many gays rights organizations have applied for the legality of same sex marriages in all fifty states. Also, their fight is about protection from laws that once held them down. They want to be protected by the police, not harassed by them. In the end, the ideology of the gay rights movement is much like that of any civil rights movement. They believe that they are equal and deserve to be treated as such, regardless of sexual orientation.The agitators in the gay rights movement oppose the current system laterally, in that they want to completely change the existing value system. Leaders in the gay rights movement have issued several tactics in which they wish to gain acceptance in the general public, to be seen as "normal. (Olinger)" One thing that they do is try and deemphasize actual "gay behavior" in public, and try and get others to see them as normal people first, not gay, which would automatically separate them. This is known as the "plain folks" tactic. This is important because for people to listen to a persuasive message, they must feel as if they can relate to the message, and they cannot do that if cannot relate to the person relaying that message. Another tactic used is a sort of name-calling. Gay rights activists refer to those who oppose them as "homophobes," a term which implies an irrational fear of some sort, or ignorance. This in turn makes opponents of gay rights irrational, and therefore their opinions do not merit attention. "The truth or relative value of arguments is thereby completely sidestepped, and the issue becomes one of emotion: the winner is the one...
