One Nation Under God Documentary

Gay and Lesbian Fight for rights based on "One Nation Under God" Documentary
Heterosexism is very religious in the context where the people believe that God created people in pairs of the opposite sex, and involved within the same-sex people is considered highly sinful (Rzeznik, 1993). In this sense, heterosexism is considered a natural sexual orientation. At the same time, homosexuals are contrasted in this film in different ways, where people have devised various analogies to explain this sexual orientation other than being natural. Homosexuals are considered mentally ill to the point where people have researched their family history and came up with different theories like having a distant father or mother and son relationship configuration creates a disturbance in childhood, which results in problematic sexual orientation (Rzeznik, 1993). It is considered ungodly to practice sexual orientation by the homosexuals (Rzeznik, 1993)
Some believe that heterosexuality is locked within the people; it's just their gender insecurities, which causes them to be homosexual, thus involving in a more masculine act for males like football can resolve this (Rzeznik, 1993). This shows that people put different views and studies to go the length in proving that homosexuality is a problem and a disease to be rid of. This is the reason Exodus International was established to help people become normal through psychological therapies. The ex-gay movement came into being where the homosexuals who are transitioned from being gay to heterosexual, advocates the same for other homosexuals just like Gary Cooper and Michael Busse. They later fell in love with each other and withdrew themselves from the movement (Rzeznik, 1993). As the studies suggested as well that people who claimed to be changed, went back to pursuing their sexual orientation or disguised themselves and suppressed their desire (Rzeznik, 1993).
In one instance, an ex-gay woman is shown to be claiming that moral conviction is the motivation for her to transform her sexual orientation as she considers that lying in bed with a woman is a sinful act (Rzeznik, 1993). This shows that religion and culture have shaped society's fabric, coming from generations of myths about homosexuality. Even their transition is contrasted with alcoholism, a kind of illegal addiction, by the president of Exodus International to prove a futile point that if alcoholism can be treated, this can be too (Rzeznik, 1993).
Some early pioneers that helped the evolution of the gay rights movement contributed heavily to where we stand today as same-sex marriages are now legal, accepting homosexuals in the eyes of the law (History, 2020). Henry Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights in 1924, documenting gay rights (History, 2020). He was the first person to publish a newsletter for the gay community (History, 2020). Michael McConnell and Jack Baker were the first pioneers to coin the term gay marriages in 1970, applied for a marriage license in Minnesota, which today can be seen constitutional (Fitzsimons, 2018).
In 1955, four lesbian couples established an organization in the name of 'Daughters of Bilitis' (History, 2020). Barbara Fittings which was one of the Lesbian couples, worked hard to remove the stigma of homosexuality being a mental disorder, which was later approved by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 (Fitzsimons, 2018). This was a huge milestone as the psychologists termed homosexuals as mentally ill due to which they were deprived of employment opportunities (History, 2020). Not only this, but several psychotherapies like aversion therapies and seminars were also conducted to transform these supposedly mentally ill people into normalcy (Rzeznik, 1993). This proved to a significant move towards the success of the gay rights movement in the later years.
When the co-founders of the organization that was responsible for transforming the homosexuals to heterosexuals fell in love with each other and stopped giving seminars and speeches, it proved a great example for the organization itself that the homosexuals can't be changed, they can either suppress their identity or disguise it (Rzeznik, 1993). The stonewall riots were the famous event that contributed heavily to the stimulation of the gay rights movement, where the police harassed and arrested the group of people in the club, which ended up in a huge public protest and riots (History, 2020). This event gave birth to various public demonstrations and protests like the liberation Day, where the homosexual community paraded the city (History, 2020). Even Evelyne Hooker conducted researches on heterosexual and homosexual people to see their cognitive functioning, which was found to be normal and indifferent (Rzeznik, 1993). This research proved very important in removing the mental disorder tag from homosexuals proving her an important pioneer in the history of the gay rights movement (Dworkin, 2002).
The film expressed detailed and deep-rooted beliefs of people against homosexuality, which shaped the mindsets of individuals in the way of extremely looking down upon the homosexuals. As Martin Duberman described in the film that the organizations like Exodus and agencies used a psychoanalytic model which used the term diseased for gay people, mildly under toning it to a character flaw which can only be cured through treatments with the right motivation of gay people to transform into heterosexual individual (Rzeznik, 1993). This shows how much the homosexuals were stigmatized by society and seen as inferior beings with some mental disorder that needed to be cured.
In the film, there is an example of a lesbian lover who died of cancer, said there wasn't any doctor to treat her properly due to her identity, which caused her death (Rzeznik, 1993). Her lesbian lover explained in one of the letters that being lesbian was like cancer (Rzeznik, 1993), showing how humiliated and degrading she must have felt her entire life because of her sexual orientation, ruining her mental health. Even in documentaries and movies before 1965, homosexuals were shown to commit suicide and hid their faces to show that they are the bringers of shame within the society (Rzeznik, 1993).
These social stigma and society's pressure forced many homosexuals to pretend they are heterosexuals. Even back then, marriage and making a family was considered the foremost thing because of this immense societal pressure. Many homosexuals married their opposite sex and started a family that created nothing but unhappy lives for these people (Rzeznik, 1993). Not just this, these people claimed that the reason for being involved in marriages was to disguise their identity so society can accept them. This way, they can have what every heterosexual person can easily have while also giving themselves a chance that they might transform, which never happened (Rzeznik, 1993). Even one psychologist, June M. Reinisch pointed out that the homosexual can live as heterosexuals. Still, they would just be hiding their identity and living as someone else, which drives them into depression and causes suicide (Rzeznik, 1993). There have been studies showing that homosexuals have more mental disorders and mental health problems due to societal pressure and stressors, making them a victim of constant prejudice and discrimination (Meyer, 2007). This shows how psychologically they are burdened which affects their mental health as they are labeled as being shameful, sinful, deviant and many such names to ridicule their identity and make them feel worse about themselves
Not only this, but there is also immense political pressure to the group as well since the government holds heavy prejudice against them. This prejudice is similar to what they have been holding against blacks and Jews (Rzeznik, 1993). Due to this prejudice, they have not only been deprived of rights but governmental agencies and other groups like Rev Louis Sheldon, Coalition of Traditional Values fund clinics that supposedly transforms gays into heterosexuals (Rzeznik, 1993).
Michael Busse and Gary Cooper address that after the Cold War, the right-wing fundamentalist, needed a group to fear or hate them. This group is now the homosexuals because of which they are shown as being evil and having destructive agendas for the American society (Rzeznik, 1993). They both further go on to address that if you're born Christian, there are political agendas that you need to abide by. These agendas include anti-abortion and anti-gay movements. Moreover, you have to be against the national endowment of arts, etc. to show how politically influenced these ideologies and notions are (Rzeznik, 1993).
Due to all of these challenges, the world even today has several deep-rooted traditional beliefs and fundamental viewpoints against the homosexuals as being sinful and shameful, causing a homophobic mindset which has given birth to violence against homosexuals for several years due to their identity (Dworkin, 2002). Not just the homosexuals are targeted, but the activists have also been targeted with extreme violence (Dworkin, 2002). Even in other countries, homophobia is persisting due to the US Evangelical movements and post-colonial-era where homosexuality was banned (Roth, 2015).


References
Dworkin, S. H. (2002). LGBT Identity, Violence, and Social Justice: The Psychological is Political.
Fitzsimons, T. (2018, October 19). LGBTQ History Month: Early pioneers of the gay rights movement. NBC News.
History. (2020, April 03). Gay Rights.
Meyer, I. H. (2007, November 09). Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence.
Roth, K. (2015, January 23). LGBT: Moving Towards Equality. World Economic Forum.
Rzeznik, F. (Director). (1993 ). One Nation Under God [Motion Picture].