A well-intentioned woman said, “ I have gay friends but I don’t agree with their lifestyle”.
The well-intentioned woman is like many others who share her beliefs. In all aspects of their lives, they are kind, considerate, and fair-minded. This is until it comes to the subject of homosexuality.
Others believe homosexuality to be a “life choice” that can be controlled and even changed. To some, it’s completely “unnatural” and shouldn’t be tolerated under any circumstance. Time and time again, these types of phrases are made with little understanding of the pain and hurt they can cause. The “gay lifestyle” is nothing more than a stereotype. A phrase generates a negative reaction and should not be used.
Some heterosexuals find the mere thought of gay sex nauseating but for homosexuals, it’s as natural as life itself. This brings up the question. What is natural? This body part should go here, but not there and this part doesn’t fit with that part, all sounds a little ridiculous. Naturality is in the eyes of the beholder. Therefore, in that sense, gay sex, by definition, is as natural as heterosexual sex.
There was a period in the United States when homosexuality was considered a mental disorder, until 1973, when The American Psychological Association (APA) declassified homosexuality. Christian fundamentalists accused activists of pressuring the APA into the decision to declassify homosexuality. While some pressure was used, the final decision was made after Robert Spitzer, head of the nomenclature committee, observed some of his colleagues, in a gay bar, behaving normally. This prompted his action.
So homosexuals behave in as natural a way as heterosexuals. Homosexuality is nothing more than an alternative. It’s neither nasty nor sick nor depraved. It’s just another aspect of human sexuality.
Some believe that it’s possible to control your orientation and indeed, change it. Neither homosexuality nor heterosexuality for that matter is a behavior that can be controlled. It’s true that a person’s orientation can change over time but there is no active control over this
This belief continues, particularly among Christians and other religious groups. “If you put your mind to it, you can change,” or “Pray to god for help,” and the ridiculous “Marry someone of the opposite sex”. Ridiculous because the mere act of marrying someone of the opposite doesn’t change your orientation nor can it “fix” it. The ability to produce children neither is a reflection on orientation.
It’s no surprise so many gay people are losing interest in god. The demands placed on gay people to conform are demands that are impossible to meet and unacceptable.
While there are cases or, at least, claims of orientation change, this does not necessarily mean that someone has changed from gay to straight. There are often circumstances behind the claims and the change is superficial. This can be for family, social or religious reasons. The simple fact is we can choose how to live our lives but we have no control over our orientation.
Most Christians in the US do not consider marriage a civil right yet married couples enjoy many civil benefits because of marriage. Couples who are not married are denied the right to these same benefits. This creates an inequality in society and is prejudiced against gay people. The US Supreme Court ruled, in 1967, that marriage is a basic civil right.
If God is against homosexuals, then homosexuality has to be wrong. That’s the thinking within the Christian community. It’s there in black and white in the bible. That may be true, but does it really represent how modern society should be treating homosexuality. In the bible, homosexuality is written about alongside rape, lust, incest and prostitution. Clearly, the bible was written at a time when the views we held were much less informed and a little less civilized. It shows the way homosexuality was viewed to be primitive and doesn’t represent modern society’s beliefs. So it’s clearly absurd to be using the “God is against homosexuals” as an argument against homosexuality.
This blog post was an interesting read.