Urvashi Vaid

During our IM 204 class we decided to go to a presentation that was being given by Urvashi Vaid on Campus so we had a half class and where given 6 questions to answer in a blog post about what we gathered through this presentation.


1. What where your expectations prior to this event? What did you know about the topic before you attended this event?
I suppose my expectations prior to attending this event where that I would probably learn many new things about some of the things the LGBT community is facing in the United states, and how they are fairing in their battle for equal rights.  I knew before attending this event that in the United States there have been some issues for the LGBT community in regards to them gaining the right to be able to have marriage rights with their partners.


2. How was the information presented? Did the information presented at the event differ in any way from what you had learned or believed in the past? How?
I believe Urvashi Vaid started out the presentation by talking about some current issues the LGBT community is facing with gay marriages, a lesbian activist trial, and a bias bill that was passed in New Jersey that was directed at a young man. The information presented did not differ all that much in any way to what I had learned or believed in the past but I did like how Urvashi brought up the point of how some of her friends who had achieved same sex marriage rights in their state would say that the LGBT movement was over now.  And how she brought up it is only the beginning and that because of the small victory it did not mean that the people who where against  gay marriage are now in favor of it and that society as a whole will welcome this group.  She points out that all that will take time and is not instantaneous.


3.What was one thing that you learned from this event that you did not know, or had never heard before?
I learned that only six states in the united states have marriage equality currently.  I knew that some states had won this vote, but I did not know how many and I am slightly surprised that it is not a higher number, and I hope that soon it will be legal in all 50 states.  I also learned one very odd gay antimalarial stature as to why it should not be allowed is that if it was allowed it would cause people to not reproduce and civilization as we know it would end because their would be no new births of children into this world.  Which was so ridiculous that I was just stunned by that stance.


4. Did the personal, professional, or academic background make the speaker an authority on the topic? Why or why not? Yes, Urvashi's personal, professional, and academic background on the subject all made her an authority on the subject she was speaking about. I mean Urvashi Vaid is a community organizer, writer and attorney who has been a leader in the LGBT and social justice movements for nearly three decades.  So it is a topic which affects her and she deals with on a regular basis, since she has a partner herself, and has written one book about social equality and has another one which is coming out soon, so she is quite the authority on the subject.


5.What can you take away from this presentation to assist you in your Alternative viewpoints paper?
Well for my own Alternative viewpoints paper there was not a lot which was addressed on the Singaporean LGBT community, so not much help in that respect. But there was a lot of general information about the LGBT community that was potentially useful on the subject.  I thought one interesting thing she had said was that in South Africa third gender had been written into law, which I found to be very surprising so for anyone who may have been addressing the LGBT community in Africa it would have been very useful information.


6. (I think this took place.... though what question was asked of Urvashi, I could not make out what was asked....) If someone in the class had the opportunity to ask a question, how did the speaker respond? Was their answer satisfactory to you? Why or why not? 
I think the person who asked the last question was in our class, and I know it had something to do with heterosexual individuals but I am not positive as to what was asked question wise so in turn I can therefore not really judge where Urvashi's response was a good one or not, though I am sure it was satisfactory and answered the question that had been posed to her.