My day of living research included my immersion in the gay area of town with its shops, restaurants and bars dedicated to the homosexual community. Within this environment, I discovered a variety of forms of prejudice, discrimination, and stigmas. I also discovered my own ideas of equality, fairness, and tolerance were tested during this day of research. The outcome of this research was to help redefine my own definition of social justice. Social justice if often viewed as the distribution of advantages and disadvantages in society. However, after my day of living research I define social justice as the fair, equal, diverse and tolerant distribution of advantages and disadvantages in society.
My daily interactions included a number of diverse activities while in the gay section of the city. I attended breakfast at a gay diner, shopped in stores catering to gay interests and clientele, ate dinner in a gay restaurant and ended my day with a few beers in a gay bar. Ironically, I realized bars, restaurants and shops are not ôgayö at all, but merely cater to the sensitivities and interests of primarily gay clientele. This is one way I gained greater sensitivity of the gay community, by realizing we often use such terminology without being aware of its insensitivity or prejudice. Few people say I went to a ôstraightö restaurant or ôstraightö retail store.
My observations included both routine and unique ones. From a routine perspective, eating, shopping, and having beers in a pub were all routine activities engaged in by heterosexual as well as homosexual individuals. However, my engagement in this environment witnesses some unique observations, such as the names on the menu in the restaurants were often tailored to gay tastes and interests. Instead of an omelet, at the diner where I ate the omelets were named for different gay events, such as the ôGay Pride Omelet,ö the ôRainbowö Omelet, and the ôQueerö Omele...