부산대학교 도서관

This article looks into the future of the gay men and lesbians in the U.S. in 2054. The author discusses what could have been if during the past 50 years the gay community had not been shoved into secrecy about their sexuality. What if, since 1954, the gay community had the same wide-open, out-of-the-closet lives and the power to affect culture, law, politics and media that they have gained in 2004. Changes are expected with regards to adoption, how law makers would take the issue of AIDS epidemic and gay bashing. Presidential hopefuls Dennis Kucinich, Carol Moseley Braun, and Al Sharpton spoke out in support of marriage for gay men and lesbians. Walter L. Williams, professor of anthropology and gender studies at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, expects to see a progress in the gay movement in the next 10 years. Evan Wolfson, director of Freedom to Marry, a national group that advocates for marriage rights for same-sex couples, predicts a scenario in which a student in a rural classroom announces during recess that he's going to marry the boy who sits next to him. By that time openly gay soldiers could be part of a battalion led by an out lesbian commander. Openly gay priests and ministers in monogamous relationships could conduct services without fear of a schism ripping apart their denominations. The words gay and lesbian could fall into disuse in the United States. In 50 years it may seem as silly to define your friends by their sexuality as defining them by their hair color does in 2004.