Assignment 7: Sexual Tolerance: The Times They Are A’changing

People in the United States vary widely in their acceptance of the sexual and gender choices and orientations. The impact of those with views of lesser acceptance is felt the hardest by the most vulnerable among us- our children.

Watch the following video of a Ft. Worth City Councilman speaking about his experiences as a young man marginalized based on his sexual orientation and consider the impact such a message would have on a young person in a similar situation and on an adult who is intolerant of the LGBTQ community.

· Joel Burns: It Gets Better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax96cghOnY4 (transcript located on YouTube site)

Compare and contrast what you believe the experiences of these two individuals (the insecure LGBTQ youth and the intolerant adult) viewing this message would be. How might it reinforce existing beliefs about themselves or motivate them to see themselves and/or the world differently? What additional information would you propose to share with either or both of these individuals to persuade them into such a paradigm shift?

Write a 5-paragraph essay that includes each of the elements listed below in the grading rubric. Be sure to use at least 2 references to support your essay. Your paper must meet the minimum 750-word count requirements AND use the 5 paragraph structure.

All assignments and forums in the class are designed for you to demonstrate your understanding and your knowledge of the material content. It is never acceptable or appropriate to simply provide information that is copied and pasted from a source – any source. Even if the information were cited properly, copying and pasting does not demonstrate knowledge.

All assignments are submitted to Turnitin, which is a plagiarism checking tool. Any assignment receiving a score of 30% or better raises serious concerns about the originality of your work. An originality score should generally be no more than 20%. Assignments with originality scores between 20 and 50% will have points deducted. Any originality score over 50% after review will be graded with a 0. Please keep this in mind as you are submitting work.

Grading Rubric

Assignment 7: Sexual Tolerance: The Times They Are A’changing

	Possible points	Student points and instructor feedback
The writer provides a clear comparison and contrast of the experiences of the two individuals viewing the message	25
The writer provides a discussion on the motivation to change or reinforcement beliefs as a result of the video	25
The writer identifies additional information to share to help promote a paradigm shift.	20
At minimum, 2 appropriate references are used to support the writing and are listed according to APA 6th ed. formatting style. Citations are included in the body of the paper to show how and where the references are used.	10
Writing structure is clear and follows spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation rules.	10
Writing assignment meets the minimum 750-word count requirement and is written using a 5 paragraph format.	10
Total	100