From the early days of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s women rights movement to Martin Luther King Jr.’s march in Washington for racial equality to the more recent debates on gay marriage, equality has always been a vast issue throughout history. King’s speech “I Have a Dream” and George Chauncey’s essay “The Legacy of Antigay Discrimination” both approach the issue of equality. Chauncey’s essay is more informative while King’s speech is more persuasive. Although they have different means in achieving their purposes, both are equally successful in reaching out to their intended audience. King and Chauncey are reaching out to different audiences and have different purposes. King’s purpose is to persuade his followers to take action and keep fighting
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Instead of Chauncey putting his opinion and how he feels, he stays mutual and simply states “gay people were scorned and ridiculed, made to feel ashamed, afraid, alone” (290). even though he really does not get into all the pain, Chauncey makes sure his audience knows that homosexuals were subjected to horrible embarrassment, he states that most people were focused on “suppressing gay life” (292). Chauncey then points out that “countless teachers, hospital worker and other state and municipal employees also lost their jobs as a result of official policy” (291), Even though he does not give much details on his facts by providing examples, he does show how far the law would go to make sure that gay life was not possible. Chauncey was able to keep a serious tone throughout his essay. King, on the other hand captures his audience attention with his passionate and inspiring words. For instance, he compares “a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity” (643) to the emancipation proclamation. Even though the struggle was not over, he wants his audience to know that it is just the beginning and many will come. King then announced that it was “time to lift [their] nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood” (644). those words are to help rise spirits from their suffering, king wants his audience to focus on the future and not let their past keep them down. He
Instead of Chauncey putting his opinion and how he feels, he stays mutual and simply states “gay people were scorned and ridiculed, made to feel ashamed, afraid, alone” (290). even though he really does not get into all the pain, Chauncey makes sure his audience knows that homosexuals were subjected to horrible embarrassment, he states that most people were focused on “suppressing gay life” (292). Chauncey then points out that “countless teachers, hospital worker and other state and municipal employees also lost their jobs as a result of official policy” (291), Even though he does not give much details on his facts by providing examples, he does show how far the law would go to make sure that gay life was not possible. Chauncey was able to keep a serious tone throughout his essay. King, on the other hand captures his audience attention with his passionate and inspiring words. For instance, he compares “a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity” (643) to the emancipation proclamation. Even though the struggle was not over, he wants his audience to know that it is just the beginning and many will come. King then announced that it was “time to lift [their] nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood” (644). those words are to help rise spirits from their suffering, king wants his audience to focus on the future and not let their past keep them down. He