Journal 4 by Betsy Lyons

Part One:

One of the links that was the most interesting to me was the link about how the NCAA left North Carolina. The NCAA is not allowing their games, including March Madness, to play in North Carolina anymore. This poses the question as to why the NCAA would do this. The new legislation regarding the LGBTQ community has become the cause here. North Carolina decided instead of staying with the federal government, they decided to take their own stand within their state government. This proved to be different than the stand of the federal government because North Carolina is now allowing transgenders to choose whichever bathroom they allow. I thought this article was interesting because even though the federal government has given the LGBTQ community more rights, people are still against it when states are trying to provide equal rights to all people. This is a disappointment to the state of North Carolina and the people that live there because more than 200 games have been played there for the NCAA men's basketball and they have championship games scheduled there in the coming months.

One activism issue that I believe is worth our time is the discrimination of the LGBTQ community. This issue is important to me because everyone deserves equal rights. A lot of society believes that being apart of the LGBTQ community is a choice and that it is against the Bible, but our country does not run based on religion. We keep church separate from state, so when the federal government finally gave approved gay marriage throughout the whole country as opposed to letting states decide, people were upset. These people are the same ones that elected our federal government into office so how can they really be upset? They chose these politicians and lawmakers to make and pass legislation based on their beliefs and to speak for the people, which I believe is what they were doing. The source I found comes from the Civil Rights Leadership Conference. The source shows the timeline that the LGBTQ community has become apart of, where they started and where they hope to be. There are now laws including hate crimes, and human right campaigns in order to keep going on the right track that the LGBTQ community wants to go on. The source also brings in court cases that were addressed to the Supreme Court, and how the LGBTQ community has won.

http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/sexualorientation.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

Protesters protesting Gay Rights near the Capital Building

Part Two:

One of the profiles that I found interesting while reading this section of Holding On is the profile about Dan Field, the marriage broker. I found this profile interesting because not many people are real life marriage brokers. People actually came to Field and told them certain traits or characteristics that they want their spouse to be or do. He says, "'My friend, I'll put her in a mold, we'll take her out, and we'll give her to you'" when someone came to him asking for his help to find a woman he could potentially marry. Dan Field started doing this profession because it was passed down from his dad and his grandfather. He has been doing this for over thirty years and he has arranged thousands of marriages. You could say Dan Field is an expert in matchmaking. As technology advanced, people seek companionship online. Nowadays people can online date using sites like Eharmony, or Match.com. There is no more human contact anymore unless they set up dates with someone. You click through profiles to find one nearest to what you are looking for, and then maybe they like your profile as well and hopefully it works out between the two of you. Throughout this profile I've learned that you cannot change the inside of someone, so even if you meet them and think they are good looking, if they have an ugly personality, you will not last very long together. According to Dan Field, "If you want the outside to be changed you have to be able to convince them!"