"We Throw Down the Gauntlet": Style

Frank Kameny presents his case to the judge regarding the injustice against the homosexual community, in particular Benning Wentworth. Kameny is sincere in his attempts to make the judge understand his view and the injustices that the homosexual community faces. To emphasize his points, Kameny uses many different stylistic techniques with discreet integration with logos, pathos, and ethos. Presented in previous blog posts, Kameny mainly utilizes ethos and logos. However, his seriousness, sincerity, and earnest nature are also presented throughout his speech.
While Kameny had to present his viewpoints with clear facts and examples because of the formal audience but an undertone of emotion is obvious. Kameny must know that persuasion does not entirely rely on facts, emotions have to be put on the table for people to understand that there is a need for change because it will allow for a betterment for the people. The care that Kameny puts into his words and support for the issue at hand allows for the judge to know that this is an issue that has to be addressed now.
Not only does Kameny use emotions as a style technique, he also uses organization of his speech. While he does not have a clear organized path to follow, he uses his varied style to allow him to be more involved in his speech. Kameny could have used this varied style to allow for more emphasis on the points that he believed would make his argument more understandable and viewed as more eminent. He carries the same view throughout the whole opening statement, there is a clear injustice against the homosexual community, however he varies in the statements, facts, and examples that he uses to present his point.
He becomes more and more involved in the speech, using lots of "we"'s to make the whole piece seem more important to Kameny, instead of just another case. A clear example would be when Kameny is discussing the homosexual community and trying to convince the judge that just as other human beings have feelings, "We have our sensitivities. We have our feelings. We are human beings." Putting himself in the same boat as the man who he is defending, Kameny shows the judge that this case will not only impact this one man but a whole community.
His style techniques, the discreet use of emotions, his organization, and putting himself in the same boat as the man who he is defending, allows Kameny to present and seemingly successfully prove his case - there is a deep injustice on the homosexual community which has to be fixed now.