Pathos: Human Rights Day Speech, Hillary Clinton

In her "Human Rights Day Speech" Hillary Clinton addresses the need for change in gay marriage laws, and the need to accept members of the LGBTQ into society.  Clinton uses appeals to pathos when making these arguments in her speech.  For instance, she mentions an anecdote about when President Harry Truman ended segregation in the US military.  While some people were worried it would cause anger and disunity among the members of the armed forces, it actually resulted in a strengthening in the social aspect of the military, and of the US citizens as a whole.  This anecdote is a historical example of why she thinks the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy being dropped would be a success.  Over time, members of the military would become accepting of their fellow troops regardless of their personal private love preferences.  Clinton also calls out all the non-supporters of gay marriage and asks them to imagine what it would be like to walk in an LGBTQ member's shoes.  Clinton mentions how it wouldn't be fair to be discriminated against for something that cannot be controlled.  This appeal to pathos is a very powerful message to homophobic individuals because it gets them to really think about what is right and what is wrong.  Most people would be hurt emotionally if they were discriminated for loving someone, regardless of what sex they are. This part of the speech is crucial in Clinton's argument to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community.  There is more appeal to pathos in Dr. Franklin Kameny's speech "We Throw Down The Gauntlet," since Dr. Kameny is affected personally as a gay citizen in a divided nation.  However, Hillary Clinton is speaking on behalf of herself and the LGBTQ community, so she is appealing to the emotions of the entire community with a powerful message that really left its mark on the people of the United States.