For my “Personal is Political” (PP) blog, I have decided to focus on a free-ranging organization style and delve into different stories that are meaningful to me. I definitely want to focus on how my experiences being in the LGBTQ+ community has shaped the person I am to do, going along the lines with the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. Another avenue is education, as I think there is an overwhelming pressure to go to school and be successful. I see comparisons to my grandfather who did not go to college, but still made a career out of his own construction company. This could definitely go along the lines of affordability of higher education and how push for free college education, like in Europe, could be applicable in the US. My last idea so far is analyzing religion and its role in the United States, and how, in some cases, it has been overreaching. Growing up Catholic, I can definitely see ties of religious roots to issues like abortion and questions of morality.

With my Civic Issues (CI) blog, I definitely want to focus on “Identities and Rights” and how that relates to sexual orientation, gender, etc. The treatment of same-sex individuals and couples has been a bumpy road throughout American history. I do think that progress has definitely been made, but more can be done in acknowledging every person’s human dignity. Another civic journey has been the expedition of women’s rights and the impact of second-wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s. The individuality and treatment of women as second-class citizens has always interested me, making me want to understand why patriarchal standards have persisted. I hope to expand my knowledge on these civic issues as one’s identity, and their freedom of expression of it, affects the larger community at large, helping to showcase the humanity our rights are rooted in.