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Harvey Milk Persuasive Speech

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If the United States Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal,” then why is it that two people of the same gender identity were not able to get married until 2015 even though they were created equally to one man and one woman? Until June 26, 2015, gay marriage was not legal in the United States of America, until December 7, 2017, gay marriage was not legal in Australia, while in many other countries today, such as Russia and China, homosexual acts are legal, but gay marriage is not recognized. This becomes more drastic in countries like Saudi Arabia where homosexual acts are illegal and punishable by death if caught (Bearak and Cameron, 1). It is because of these drastic differences of recognition and punishments in …show more content…

To put his foot in the door against these public issues, he ran for a supervisor position in San Francisco, and after many failed attempts, he won. He believed that gay marriage should be legal and not looked upon any differently than two heterosexual people getting married. On this speech given 25 June, 1978, Harvey creates an appeal to logos (logic) through the use of repetition to implant in his audience’s minds to come out, in other words, to inspire those who have been oppressed by their sexual orientation or gender identity. Through the use of organization and metaphor, Milk creates an appeal to pathos (emotion), to diminish the counter arguments on how gay marriage equality would be detrimental to society and therefore unifies his audience of those who have been discriminated against by sexual preference or identity as a family. This will hopefully inspire those in his audience to come …show more content…

It must anger an audience member when shown that just because of their orientation, person A and B may have a legally allowed life together, while they and their loved one cannot based off of something that is not a choice. Even recent presidential candidate Hillary Clinton states that “being gay is not a Western invention; it is a human reality. And protecting the human rights of all people, gay or straight, is not something that only Western governments do” (Clinton, 1) where it should be equal everywhere, being able to love who we want to love, but we as a country should model it in an effort for others in other parts of the world to follow in our steps. In his speech, Harvey Milk directly calls out his opponents on his stance and states that “No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words from the Declaration of Independence. No matter how hard you try, you can never chip those words from the base of the Statue of Liberty” (Milk, 1) which also further uses repetition of “no matter how hard you try” (Milk, 1) to create a sense of pathos for the audience that despite the opponents attempt to stop the legalization of

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He does this so that his audience understands that society has to unite together to make change and to make progress. Lewis goes on to state in a hopeful tone “It doesn't matter if we, we are straight or gay. We are one people. We are one family.”. He does this to emphasize that any problem impacting one member of society then affects all of us.

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He recognized that there has not been an openly gay public politician in the US, and therefore LGBTQ+ requests were not being met on a legal level. In his speech, he calls for support for his campaign by strongly expressing the need for “a legislator who was gay and proud of that fact and one who will not walk away from the responsibilities that face such a legislator,” claiming it will “mean that a green light is lit” (Milk). Milk applies a metaphor with the phrase “green light,” comparing the outcome of a green

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In both Amatnieks Funeral Oration for the Burial of Traditional Womanhood and Milks The Hope Speech similar rhetorical appeals and stylistic devices are used to say what the audience, as an individual, should change social injustices. While living in a similar time period, Amatniek and Milk illustrate similar beliefs about how the individual should change social injustices through civil disobedience. Milks goal is to abolish the stereotypes of gay people and have the gays speak for themselves in a position of power. In his Hope Speech Milk says, that “A gay person in office can set a tone, can command respect not only from the larger community, but from the young people in our own community who need both examples and

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Introduction: Have you ever been so abominated that people make racist remarks at you? Well, Jackie Robinson was. Jackie Robinson was a baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947-1956, but he wasn't an average baseball player, he was an Activist, Philanthropist, and most importantly the first black player in the MLB. As Jackie went throughout his career he was despised and loved, fans would chant his name but others would throw things at him and call him racial slurs just because he was attempting to integrate baseball. While this was all going on Jackie wouldn't say a word, he wouldn't throw his fists up or attempt to fight them he would just let his game do the talking.

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A brochure for “Reminder Day” expressed that homosexuals were often not treated as equals and that the Federal, state and local governments have shown bias towards these individuals. Although some religions would perceive homosexuality as a sin, the individuals are still human and should be given the same opportunities as the rest of the population. In the past, the Declaration of Independence promised natural rights for all men, but some rights were not realized for minority groups. Over time, parts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were revoked and amended so that in today’s world, all “men”, including women and minority groups, all have the same rights.

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Rhetorical Analysis of a Harvey Milk Speech Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was a big advocate for human rights, especially LGBTQ rights. This speech was given at the San Francisco City hall to celebrate California Gay Freedom Day during a rally. In the speech, Harvey Milk uses rhetorical questions directed at the audience, repetition, a lighthearted and humorous tone, and uses emotional appeals to get the audience to empathize with him, seem more trustworthy, and to make the audience think about why they should vote for gay elected officials. To begin, Milk uses rhetorical questions to invoke thought and reflection in the audience.

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He makes a joke, compares other ethnic groups being treated unfairly to gay people, uses personal examples, and he discusses stereotypes. For instance in the speech Milk brings up how many people believe “all Black, Asian, and Latin people are criminals, every Italian person is in the mafia, and gay people are child molesters. ”This outlines how he uses various tips in his speech to get people to listen. Over the course of his speech, Harvey Milk furthermore uses negative denotation to help his audience visualize what he wants them to acknowledge. Milk says,” After Dade County, I walked among the angry and the frustrated night after night and I looked at their faces.

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Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician shook the people of the United States by going against the social norms and working as a gay rights activist. He gained his political popularity starting with the vibrant community on Castro Street in San Francisco, where he lived with others who shared his views on gay rights. Milk should not have been assassinated because while he may have made people uncomfortable with his new ideas regarding equality, he continued to use his political power and popularity to stand up to the status quo by showing people that it is okay to be open about your sexuality and he made it known that being openly gay should not affect your way of life. Harvey Milk used his political power and popularity to stand up to the status quo by representing the LGBTQ community, who have been “silenced and ignored,” as a non-violent activist making him a nationally known figure and symbol of this communities emergence as a political force (Cummings, 1). Throughout his life, he continued standing up for gay rights by publicly speaking and advocating for people to “Hope, hope for a better tomorrow (Milk),” that there will be a better future if they continue to work

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Milk Harvey had an urgent tone to convey a strong message. Milk's speech states “In San Francisco elections we’re asking -- at least we hope to ask -- that the U.S. government put pressure on the closing of the South African consulate.” This shows how Harvey Milk not only acknowledged the gay community, but he considers the different countries going though a hard time and wanting to make things right. Harvey also uses a personal/ emotional tone. The text states “ I will never forget what it was like coming out and having nobody to look up toward.”

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By coming together as a community and recognizing their interconnectedness of hardships rather than being divided by different ideological interests, the African American community can strengthen their solidarity across the country, which can effectively fight against racial prejudice in society. Furthermore, in a period of intense persecution known as the Lavender Scare beginning in the 1940s until the 60s, members of the LGBTQ+ community were harassed and discriminated against in everyday society on the grounds of their sexual identity due to fear and stigma against gay people caused by broader societal homophobia. Fueled by the strategies and successes of the civil rights movement, the LGBTQ+ community also began challenging the deeply entrenched systems of oppression. Harvey Milk delivered a speech to inspire hope for the LGBTQ+ community to continue fighting for their place in society and recognized the universality of human rights by expressing, "We are all different. But we all have the same rights, the same hopes, and the same dreams.

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Gay people have found themselves not having access to the rights promised to them by The Declaration of Independence. A pamphlet detailing this disparity said, “The homosexual American citizen finds himself denied many of the unique and special features of American life that are guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence.” (Document H). Gay people were prosecuted by many people in the 1960’s. Being an openly gay person opened you up for being unjustly arrested, losing your job for no reason, and other things similar to that.

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Her insistence on remaining ignorant was widespread as seen in Jones’ father’s response when he tells him he is gay, “Why are you telling me this,” he replies. The unwillingness to discuss LGBT rights is still relevant since there are colleges and institutions that would not have classes on these topics or allow open academic dialogue about

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When searching for advice, we often hear “do what you believe is right.” Harvey Milk did this precisely, as he did not care for the negative viewpoints of his sexual orientation, he was proudly open about it. Throughout his life, in fact, Harvey Milk struggled for the right to be recognized at all. Milk persevered through failed political campaigns – calling for fairer treatment for gay Americans and fighting for his voice to be heard. When he finally won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Harvey Milk didn’t just become a symbolic figure as the first openly gay man to win election to public office.

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951 Words | 4 Pages

Dear Bill Cosby as a child I use to watch your show almost every day as a child, I always thought your show was the best. I first saw you in a movie California pursuit with Richard Pryor when I was seven years old then, a few months later I saw you on the Cosby show know I admit when I saw your show your wife was the only reason I watched your show. But as I kept watching your show I realized that your show was great from the acting to the purpose of the show. But as I got older for some reason your show disappeared and you vanished so as I got older I thought you died so moved on. Almost 10 years later you resurfaced again, but it was for committing a crime.

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To the innocent adolescent soldiers who faced shell shock all throughout the first world war to the homeless veterans on the streets today. You may think that war does not hold any positive attributes. Our first instinct when we hear war is to think of bloodshed, hostility and destruction. Although these words express the negative sides to war. I am going to decipher the positive benefits of war and show you how it has benefited us greatly in our everyday lives and where we would be without it.

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