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Cassandra Alviz
Mr. Moberly
WRI 010-02
19 March 2014
Topic Proposal: Misinformation / Research Bias Gay Rights

Background:
At the beginning of time, our Founding Fathers wrote a constitution that stated,
All men are created equal. Our Bill of Rights says something along the lines that every
one holds inalienable rights to the Pursuit of Happiness. With that being said, Throughout
American history, racial groups have fought for their rights. There is no doubt that these
new ideas took time to pass by a majority of Americans, but there is also no doubt that
discrimination towards these groups still exists. I am comparing these other groups
(women, African Americans, and Native Americans) to LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual
transgender) rights. This topic is so controversial that the United States federal
government has left LGBT rights up to the states to decide. Thus meaning that gay
couples (domestic partners or married) would have to change their whole lives in order to
live in a different state. That means that the domestic partnership or marriage could mean
nothing in another state. Along with states ruling for or against gay rights such as
marriage, the media plays a role in how LGBT rights pass. The way media portrays
information concerning this topic has affected and affects the way people of that state
think about the situation at hand. Which leads to the people to think about gay rights the
way media portrays it. But with constant persuasion from media and religion, will there
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ever be any hope for freedom for gays? Will society be able to think for themselves with
no outside influence? Will LGBTs be protected and able to truly live in The land of the
free?

Methods:
So far, my research process has mainly been on Academic Search Complete and
CQ Researcher. I have also used Google. I know that sources on Google are not always
reliable, but I used it in order to gain a perspective on how some people feel / have
reacted to Gay Rights. On Academic Search Complete, I have searched for
misinformation and research bias on the topic of gay rights. CQ Researcher was used in
order to try to understand the rights that gays have so far in society.
I plan to keep doing most of my research on Academic Search Complete and CQ
Researcher. I think that CQ Researcher will be a great source to discover and learn about
laws that restrict gay rights, as well as laws that show that every person should be treated
equally. Political sources are the most appropriate for this topic, but I also want to look at
the way media portrays gay rights (both for and against). Media plays a big role in the
way society reacts to what is going on in every day life, so I feel this is an important
factor to analyze. I feel that since this is a very controversial topic, most articles (or
written text in general) contain researcher bias.
Therefore, I think I will struggle somewhat trying to find articles that discuss both
sides of this topic. But staying on these databases will be very helpful in weeding out bad
information. If I do use Google to find resources, I will thoroughly check the articles
credibility.
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Research Question(s):
I want to investigate why it is so difficult for people to accept this change? What
factors stand against gays? When it comes down to it, they are still human beings
nothing in their DNA makes them any less human. Is it mainly religious stand points that
hold people back from allowing gays to be happy? Last time I checked, in the Bill of
Rights it says something along the lines that all men have the inalienable right to the
pursuit of happiness. I also want to investigate if media plays any role on research bias
and / or misinformation on this topic.
I want to discover statistics on what percent of gays are discriminated against and
compare it to the percentage of women, African Americans, Mexicans, and Native
Americans within the USA. These are all groups of people that have fought and are
continuing to fight for their rights. I also want to learn more about the laws of having a
domestic partner and compare it to the rights of marriage and how it all works. If people
are mainly against it because of their religion, I want to know why there is not a
separation of church and state.
I really just want to understand both perspectives. Once I feel I do, I want to see if
there is a solution to this problem.

Hypothesis:
From my preliminary research, I expect to discover a lot of articles declaring why
the author is for or against gay rights. I also expect to see what right protect or limit
LGBT rights.