Sociology 203

Winter, 2022

February 18
Assigned Reading #6

A. Textbook Readings- Chapter 5

1. What are the implications of “coming out” for gays and lesbians? (122-123; Coming Out)
 Most important step in sexual “career” of an LGBTQI+ Person is “coming out”
 At first they may have difficulty fully entering the LGBTQI+ community (major transition)
 people's identities are linked to the social roles they play and responsibilities they fulfill,
Can't fully support a new identity for themselves until they fully embrace the new role
that it entails
 coming out process underscores heteronormativity
 disclosure in workplace can have significant implications for the lives of sexual
minorities
 LGBTQI+ Face more than one system of oppression due to their race, ethnicity, social
status, or all three.
o reinforced whitening of homosexuality in order to paint a picture of their social
groups as respectable

2. What are some of the problems associated with using the terms “two-spirit” or “two-
spirited”? (127-128; LGBTQI+ and Indigenous Communities)
 Canadian indigenous approach to homosexuality
o Refer to North American indigenous beliefs regarding alternative representations
of sexuality and gender
o signals of fluid sexual identity, moving beyond the binary distinctions of
gay/straight and male/female that are common in western traditions
 Invoked by the western world as a synonym for transsexuality
o this assumed correspondence risks oversimplifying the idea of a third gender
may contribute to astral centric ideas about other cultures
3. Gregory Herek’s identifies 3 concepts reflecting the most important aspects of homophobia.
Explain. (134; Homophobia and Heterosexism)
1. Sexual stigma (shared knowledge of society's negative regard for any non heterosexual
behavior, identity, or community)
2. Heterosexism (cultural ideology that perpetuates sexual stigma)
3. sexual prejudice (people's negative attitudes based on sexual orientation)
4. The media has tremendous influence on how we understand sexuality and homosexuality
specifically. Explain. (143-144; Media and Technology)

Sociology 203- Assigned Reading #6 February 18, 2022

  responsible for teaching us ways to understand sexuality
 “Sanitized” image of gay men (television shows like Glee)
o idea of “good” gay
 Public understanding of homosexuality is gradually improving. traditional homophobia
significantly declined but not gone
 virtual communities can provide support and discussion

B. Article Assignment

Review the following document provided with this reading assignment:

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of

Canada: Calls to Action [Internet]. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
of Canada; 2015.

Answer the following Questions:

1. What are the Calls to Action concerning Justice?

-you must know only calls 27, 28, 30-33, and 35-42

27. We call upon the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to ensure that lawyers
receive appropriate cultural competency training, which includes the history and legacy of
residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal– Crown relations. This will require
skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-
racism.
28. We call upon law schools in Canada to require all law students to take a course in
Aboriginal people and the law, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights,
Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in
intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and antiracism.
30. We call upon federal, provincial, and territorial governments to commit to
eliminating the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in custody over the next decade, and to
issue detailed annual reports that monitor and evaluate progress in doing so.
31. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to provide
sufficient and stable funding to implement and evaluate community sanctions that will provide
realistic alternatives to imprisonment for Aboriginal offenders and respond to the underlying
causes of offending.
32. We call upon the federal government to amend the Criminal Code to allow trial
judges, upon giving reasons, to depart from mandatory minimum sentences and restrictions on
the use of conditional sentences.

Sociology 203- Assigned Reading #6 February 18, 2022

 33. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to recognize as a
high priority the need to address and prevent Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), and to
develop, in collaboration with Aboriginal people, FASD preventive programs that can be
delivered in a culturally appropriate manner.
35. We call upon the federal government to eliminate barriers to the creation of
additional Aboriginal healing lodges within the federal correctional system.
36. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work with
Aboriginal communities to provide culturally relevant services to inmates on issues such as
substance abuse, family and domestic violence, and overcoming the experience of having been
sexually abused.
37. We call upon the federal government to provide more supports for Aboriginal
programming in halfway houses and parole services.
38. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to
commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth in custody over the next
decade.
39. We call upon the federal government to develop a national plan to collect and
publish data on the criminal victimization of Aboriginal people, including data related to
homicide and family violence victimization.
40. We call on all levels of government, in collaboration with Aboriginal people, to
create adequately funded and accessible Aboriginal-specific victim programs and services with
appropriate evaluation mechanisms.
41. We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal organizations,
to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the disproportionate
victimization of Aboriginal women and girls. The inquiry’s mandate would include:
i. Investigation into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls.
ii. Links to the intergenerational legacy of residential schools.
42. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to commit to the
recognition and implementation of Aboriginal justice systems in a manner consistent with the
Treaty and Aboriginal rights of Aboriginal peoples, the Constitution Act, 1982, and the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, endorsed by Canada in November
2012.

continued 

2. Review the following chapter

Chapter IX, Prisoner at the Bar, (page 190-199) from the following book*:

Murphy, E. (1922). The Black Candle. Toronto, ON: Thomas Allen.

Available here: The Black Candle

Sociology 203- Assigned Reading #6 February 18, 2022

 1. Why did Magistrate Murphy believe that the penalties for those involved in the
drug trade (i.e., ‘The Ring’) were inadequate?

2. What solution did she offer and why?

* NOTE: Emily Murphy is writing 100 years ago about the opium drug trade** in Canada
and the United States. The language she uses is typical of that used by politicians,
government officials and the public at that time; some of the language in this piece is
offensive.
** morphine and heroin for example are made from opium; these drugs have
significant clinical value [e.g., for pain relief] but are also highly addictive. For this
reason, they have very high street value.

Sociology 203- Assigned Reading #6 February 18, 2022