Most of the economy is based on agriculture. The most important agricultural crops are durum, a type of wheat, which is grown all across the state. In the Red River Valley, there is more rain, and maize (corn) and sugar beets are grown as well. In the Badlands, there is less rain, and more cattle are raised than crops.
North Dakota has the only bank in the United States that is "owned" by the state. The Bank of North Dakota is where all of the money from all government agencies is held. Most banks in the United States are guaranteed by the FDIC (acronym for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.) The FDIC guarantees that people will not lose money if a bank fails. But the Bank of North Dakota is insured by the "state" of North Dakota.
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that means lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. It refers to the a community of people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. The initialism has been taken up by many sexuality and gender identity-related community centers.
Before the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s, there was no neutral word or group of words for people who were not heterosexual.
The word "homosexual" started being used in America to describe sexual orientations that were not heterosexual. However, this word began to have bad connotations, as many people thought that it sounded like a condition or mental illness, and therefore the word "homophile" was used instead. After that, the word "gay" replaced the word "homophile" in the 1970s.
As lesbians became more public about their sexuality in the 1970s, the group of words "gay and lesbian" was often used, and a phase of lesbian feminism started. This meant that certain lesbian feminist groups separated because did not have knowledge of if they should put feminism or gay rights first.
Lesbian feminists viewed the separation between "butch" and "femme" in mainstream gay (male) culture of the time in the same way that they viewed the separation in society over gender roles between men and women. They saw these ideas as patriarchal and did not want to join the mainstream gay rights movement because of what they saw as the chauvinism of gay men, and refused to take up their cause. Many lesbians who were not lesbian feminists saw this as not giving help to the gay rights movement.
This was followed by many bisexual and transgender people wanting to be seen as respected groups in the LGBT community. Before gender reassignment surgery was massively improved in later years, transgender people had a hard time being accepted. Still, they fought for their rights, and were greatly boosted when plastic surgery and hormone surgery helped them to be accepted as the gender they identify with.
After the Stonewall riots, there was a change in points of view among the gay and lesbian community. Many gays and lesbians became less accepting of bisexual and transgender persons in general. Many gays and lesbians thought that transgender people were acting out stereotypes and that bisexuals were actually gay, but in too much fear to "come out of the closet". This separation still exists today, and it only became common to speak of all members of the LGBT community with equal respect in the trouble for LGBT rights in the late 1990s.
Some people who are LGBT may not "come out", as they may be a target of discrimination or prejudice, such as homophobia or transphobia. Many countries have discriminatory laws against LGBT people, some even giving out the death penalty for being gay or bisexual.
When not including transgender persons in general, the acronym is sometimes shortened to just ""LGB"".
Many other letters are added to the acronym, so much so that it has been described as an "alphabet soup" by some. A few of the other letters added are:
Not everyone is in agreement what should or should not be covered in the acronym, or which order the letters should go in.
The group of words gender and sexual diversity (GSD) has been shown as a different option to LGBT by some, as it is seen as more inclusive and less limiting.
SGL (same-gender loving) is sometimes used among gay male African Americans as a way of distinguishing themselves from what they think of as white LGBT groups of persons.
MSM (men who have sex with men) is used to describe men who have sex with other men without having relation to their sexual orientation, often in a medical context.
WSW (women who have sex with women) is the opposite of MSM. It includes all women who have sex with women.
Rainbow flag
The rainbow flag is a multi-colored flag consisting of stripes in the colors of the rainbow that is displayed in many cultures around the world as a sign of diversity and inclusiveness. The German pastor Thomas Müntzer used a rainbow flag as a symbol of solidarity as early as the German Peasants' War of the 16th century. It is common as a symbol of the Peace movement, first used this way in a peace march in Italy in 1961.
In 1924 the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba designed a rainbow flag. It is flown each year near his tomb near Ahmednagar, India during the anniversary of his death on January 31, 1969. Baba explained the symbolism, saying, "The colors in the flag signify man's rise from the grossest of impressions of lust and anger – symbolized by red – to the culmination in the highest state of spirituality and oneness with God – symbolized by sky blue."
The rainbow is also a symbol in the Christian and Jewish Bible. It shows God's promise to Noah and his family to never cover the world in water again.
A Christian movement known as Cursillo, founded in 1944, uses these traditional rainbow symbols, including flags. Their version can have 5 to 7 colors, with red at the top, blue or purple at the bottom, and the Spanish words "De Colores!" ("of colors") in large letters on the front.
This rainbow flag in Italy was first used in a peace march in 1961, inspired by similar multi-coloured flags used in demonstrations against nuclear weapons. The most common variety has seven colours, purple, blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange and red, and is emblazoned in bold with the Italian word "PACE", meaning "peace".
It has also been the symbol of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community since it's creation in 1978. It is also called the 'Pride Flag.' The flag was created by Gilbert Baker of San Francisco, California in 1978.
Dualism
Dualism is the idea or theory that something (an object, an idea or the whole world) is split into two parts. These parts are separate from each other, and the thing cannot be divided up in any other way. The idea or theory that something cannot be split into any parts is called monism. The idea that something can be split into many parts is called pluralism.
In philosophy there are many kinds of dualism.
Dualism is also a common sense idea. For example, it is a form of dualism to say that a thing is either hot or cold, good or bad, mine or somebody else's, with no allowance for possible states in between.
In theology, dualism may also refer to "duotheism", "bitheism" or "ditheism". This the doctrine or belief that there are two independent divine beings or eternal principles, one good and the other evil. Examples of ditheism include Zoroastrianism, Wicca and Marcionism. Although the Bible mentions Satan, this is not ditheism as he is not equal to God, but merely an angel. (See Epistle of Jude, verse 6). Ditheism is not the same as dualism, but they are similar. Ditheism implies (at least) two gods, while moral dualism does not imply any "-theism" (belief in a god) whatsoever.
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