Speech Analysis Essay: Morgana Bailey on Sexuality Inequality

Morgana Bailey, a human resources activist, linked sexuality inequality to her own experiences during her November 2014 “The danger of hiding who you are” speech for TED Talk’s event on State Street London. Sexuality inequality was a problem in the past and is still a problem today. “From January to August this year, at least 14,670 homophobia hate crime offences were recorded, compared with 11,841 in the same period of 2020 and 10,817 in 2019,” according to Léonie Chao-Fong’s December 3, 2021 The Guardian article “Recorded homophobic hate crimes soared in pandemic, figures show.” The number of hate crimes related to homophobia has increased in recent years. Bailey effectively used pathos and personal experiences to speak about the fear of sexuality inequality.

Bailey used ethos by using her authority to give examples of sexuality inequality. Since she is a human resources activist, her profession advocates for the diversity in society to be reflected in the workplace. Although she worked in a safe workplace, she never came out. Bailey never took advantage of the anti-discrimination policies at her office still out of fear. She also connected to the audience because of some of the reasons she hid. She grew up in Kansas, a conservative state, so she prided herself as a nonconformist (Bailey). However, when she realized she was lesbian, she no longer felt like a nonconformist because she never came out. Although Bailey does not have much authority, her connection with the audience through ethos was strong.

Throughout Bailey’s speech, her use of pathos was the strongest. Bailey stated in her speech, “Twelve years: the length by which life expectancy is shortened for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in highly anti-gay communities compared to accepting communities. Twelve years reduced life expectancy.” She used repetition to emphasize the importance of how homophobia affected the life expectancy of the LGBTQ+ community. There is a state law in Kansas making it illegal to be gay, according to Clay Wirestone’s February 3, 2022 Kansas Reflector article “This Kansas law makes being gay illegal. Legislators could fix it, but homophobia runs deep.” The law defines, “Sodomy between persons who are 16 or more years of age and members of the same sex,” as a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison (Wirestone). Being openly gay in Kansas makes one a criminal. Bailey had an experience with law. She said, “In February, the Kansas House of Representatives brought up a bill for vote that would have essentially allowed businesses to use religious freedom as a reason to deny gays services.” Then said directly after, “A former coworker and friend of mine has a father who serves in the Kansas House of Representatives. He voted in favor of bill, in favor of a law that would allow businesses to not serve me.” Bailey told her story of how she hid who she truly was, a lesbian, and how she didn’t stand up to her friend’s father. She wondered if he would have changed his mind if she just spoke up. Bailey used pathos to connect with the audience and told the facts of how serious homophobia and sexuality inequality are.

Bailey used examples of logos to give the audience statistics to help understand the importance of homophobia and sexuality inequality. Bailey stated, “Of all of the employees they surveyed, 61 percent reported changing an aspect of their behavior or their appearance in order to fit in at work.” Just a couple seconds later, she also said, “Of all the gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees, 83 percent admitted to changing some aspects of themselves so they would not appear at work ‘too gay’.” The statistics given to the audience only shows a small part of how the LGBTQ+ community changes themselves so they do not appear a certain way and get discriminated against. The personal stress involved with hiding oneself can impact their health significantly, both physical and mental. Bailey stated, “The study found that gays in anti-gay communities had higher rates of heart disease, violence, and suicide.” Thus, life expectancy of the LGBTQ+ community is reduced by twelve years.

Throughout the speech, Bailey used repetition. She kept repeating the story of when she went abroad for a semester in London. At sixteen years old is when she realized she was a lesbian. She kept repeating it to show how her trip abroad to London is an important story, and how it still impacts her. Bailey brought it up again towards the end of the speech where she stated how she looked through her London journal and scrapbook. She came across a quote from Toni Morrison’s 1997 book Paradise, which said, “Scary things not always outside. Most scary things is inside.” She wrote at the bottom of the quote, “remember this” to encourage herself to explore herself (Bailey). Through Bailey’s use of repetition and the small London anecdote, she successfully drew the audience’s attention in to create a strong connection.

Through Bailey’s usage of ethos, pathos, and logos, she effectively connected with the audience to show how unfair sexuality inequality is. She also suggested to those in the LGBTQ+ community to stop hiding who they truly are and be free. There should be no more fear. Ever since she came out as lesbian, she hoped she would change the data and she no longer fears because she feels she will make a change. As someone in the community, the fear remains. We are our worst enemies, but parents could be even worse. With the constant fear of parents potentially finding out could feel like the end of the world. If sexuality inequality and homophobia didn’t exist, then there would be no fear or insecurities. One can feel open to express themselves if homophobia was nonexistent. Her speech helped me come out to some of my close friends. Bailey effectively used pathos to connect to the audience, including me, in hope of a change soon.