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Homosexuality:
Divergent beliefs about the nature of homosexuality
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Some quotations -- some nasty, others rather funny:
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"There could be hundreds of millions of straight men walking around with this gay allele [variety of a gene] but who are straight simply because it didn't penetrate."Chandler Burr, "A Separate Creation" 1
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"As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children." Anita Bryant, 1977 2
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"There is no scientific data that substantiates a genetic or biologic basis for same-sex attraction. Anybody can change." Richard Cohen, at the year 2000 PFOX convention, 2000-MAY-19. 3
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Some comments added by readers of a newsletter in BoredPanda.com:
- Simon H: So. Gays. When Y'all choose to be gay? For me, it was a beautiful spring day and I just thought: 'You know what. I really want to disappoint my parents, offend my church, limit my options, lose my rights, live in fear of homophobic abuse, be afraid to hold my partner's hand..."
- Kaisu: "The fact that there are queer people existing in countries where it's punishable by death is proof enough that being queer isn't a choice."
- Antinbath: "With the lack of education on relationships and sex, I thought I had pioneered being gay so had to keep it to myself in case anyone found out before I could patent it. So I lived in anguish for years. Turns out it had already been invented."
- TotchosinaBox: "Someone told me I could be gay temporarily, you known, just try it for a year. After my 365 day trial ended, I just went from month to month. Now I can't find the support number of email aaddress too cancel, so I just stay gay."
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Davy gravy: " when I was born, the doctor handed me the clipboard. I checked off the rainbow box because it was pretty. ... I had no idea what it meant at the time." 9
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"The epitome of evil is having spiritual leaders condone hate, in the name of God, against others such as our gay brothers and sisters." Rory Lewis (performer) |
Comparison of diverse beliefs about the nature of homosexuality
One author identified six different belief systems about homosexuality. Of these, the two most extreme belief systems are explained below -- one rejecting and the other accepting. It is important to realize that many -- perhaps most -- North Americans hold beliefs that are intermediate between these two viewpoints. There is a strong variation of belief with age. Many youth and young adults have much more liberal views; many middle aged and elderly persons hold strongly conservative views. A major cause of this age difference is that hundreds of thousands of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth have refused to stay in "the closet." They have openly revealed their sexual orientation to fellow youth and given the latter an opportunity to learn the facts of homosexuality. Many older adults have never had this opportunity. Sadly, there appears to be no way to resolve these differences. The two "solitudes" differ on their definition of truth; they differ in the meaning that they assign to important terms; they are both quite rigid in their beliefs. There is probably no study that could be created that would convince both solitudes to settle on a common belief on most of these factors, even if they agreed to cooperate.
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The most conservative view,
typically promoted by conservative religious groups, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, etc.
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The most liberal view,
Typically followed by religious progressives, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, mental health professionals and human sexuality researchers.
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| What it is |
Something that one does; a chosen lifestyle. |
Something that one is; an unchosen orientation that one discovers.
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| What causes it? |
Multiple causes including: poor parenting, sexual molestation during childhood, perhaps demon possession. Once they start experimenting, addiction traps them in the lifestyle.
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Genetically predetermined perhaps with some unknown environmental factor in early childhood which "turns on" the gene or genes. |
| At what age does it become obvious in an individual? |
Teenage years, after puberty, when it is chosen. |
Homosexual orientation can be reliably predicted in pre-school children.
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| Is it sinful? |
Yes. Some consider it more serious than many other sins. It endangers the family and thus social stability. It prevents sexually active homosexuals from attaining heaven after death.
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Neither heterosexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality are inherently sinful. All three are free of sin if it is safe, consensual and, perhaps, within a committed relationship. |
| Is it natural and normal? |
It is an unnatural, abnormal, deviant, and disordered behavior.
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It is normal and natural, for a minority of humans. |
| What should a homosexual do with their life? |
Choose to remain celibate, or attempt to change their orientation to heterosexual. |
Choose either celibacy or monogamy with a same-sex partner. Changing sexual orientation is not possible in all, or essentially all, cases.
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| God's attitude towards the homosexual and towards homosexuality |
He loves the sinner, but hates same-gender sexual activity , which is always sinful, irrespective of the nature of the relationship.
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Loves the person. Various beliefs: Approves of the activity if it is based on love and commitment. Approves if it is safe and consensual. |
| Is it changeable? |
Yes, through counseling, reparative therapy, and/or prayer. But it requires effort because it is so addictive.
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No. Sexual orientation is always or almost always fixed and cannot be changed in adulthood. |
| Is reparative therapy effective? |
Yes; it is an effective method to changing homosexuals into heterosexuals with very high success rates to those who really want to change.
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It is a useless, ineffective, and potentially dangerous therapy that can trigger suicide. |
| Are anti-discrimination laws beneficial? |
No. It would grant them special privileges, and encourage more young people to choose homosexuality. |
Yes. They are a heavily discriminated-against minority in need of protection. Nobody chooses homosexuality. Rather, it is something that is discovered.
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| What happens to children raised by gays or lesbian parents? |
A large percentage will become homosexuals. Those who don't will be disturbed by the presence of homosexuality in the home. Children need their biological mother and father in the family for proper development.
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The vast majority of their children will be heterosexual -- apparently more accepting and less judgmental than average. Studies have shown that children raised by two men or two women develop as well as those raised by a man and woman. |
| Should churches recognize committed same-sex relationships? |
No. Gay relationships are an abomination, hated by God and intrinsically sinful. |
Many feel that all loving, committed adult relationships should be recognized and supported by religious groups.
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| Should same-sex couples given benefits now given to opposite-sex married couples? |
No. Same-sex marriages or civil unions threaten regular families and thus the stability of society.
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Yes. Official recognition of their relationship and government benefits are a fundamental civil right and contributes to the stability of society.
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| Should sexually active gays be eligible for ordination as clergy? |
No. It would be a major lowering of standards. It would condone seriously sinful behavior.
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Yes. One's orientation has no bearing on the ability to be a priest, minister, rabbi, or pastor. |
Some additional beliefs by religious conservatives are:
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Some conservative Christians believe that a homosexual's feelings of attraction to members of the same sex will dissipate once they repent of their lifetime of sin, trust Jesus as Lord and Savior, and are thereby saved. They base this on a Biblical passage at: 1 Corinthians 6:11. One interpretation of that verse is that some of the recipients of his letter to the church at Corinth were homosexuals before they became Christians, but were converted to heterosexuality after becoming saved.
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Some religious conservatives believe that homosexual behavior is an addiction similar to drugs and alcohol.
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They feel that all efforts to treat homosexuality as a normal and natural practice must be resisted. Otherwise, more youth will experiment with it and get trapped in the lifestyle.
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Some religious conservatives believe that the institution of marriage was created by God thousands of years ago. They interpret the Bible as saying that marriages must only be between one man and one woman, apparently because all of the marriages mentioned in the Bible were between one man and one or more women, and because of other biblical statements that any sexual behavior outside of marriage is forbidden. Thus, they feel that all same-sex sexual activity is a sin, irrespective of the nature of the relationship. They are aware that gays and lesbians can marry each other throughout Canada, in the U.S., and a growing number of other countries. However, they do not recognize these as true marriages. They conclude that homosexuals who cannot become heterosexual must remain celibate. Some conservatives favor a return to the criminalization of same-sex sexual activity.
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Bisexuality -- feelings of attraction to both men and women, although not necessarily to the same degree -- is often ignored and sometimes regarded as non-existent. |
One's sexual orientation is defined by sexual attraction to men and/or women, by self-identification, and by one's sexual fantasies. Some people believe that there are only two sexual orientations:
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Heterosexual - a person who is sexually attracted only to members of the opposite gender, or
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Homosexual - a person who is sexually attracted only to members of the same gender.
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This is not a useful model, because it ignores two minorities:
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Asexuals - people who have feelings of sexual attraction to neither gender.
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Bisexuals - people who are attracted (usually to different degrees) to both genders.
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Most researchers into human sexuality look upon sexual orientation as a continuum:
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Those with solely heterosexual feelings form one extreme. They are free to select celibacy, or to seek sexual activity with members of the opposite sex.
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Those with solely homosexual feelings form the other extreme. They are free to enter into relationships with members of their own sex; some can choose to remain celibate.
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| In the middle are bisexuals. Being sexually attracted to both genders they can choose:
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Only heterosexual relationships |
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Only homosexual relationships |
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Relationships with both men and women |
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Celibacy |
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Human sexuality researchers generally believe that one's orientation is fixed and unchangeable. Exceptions are those specialists in human sexuality who are also religious conservatives. Many of the latter are members of NARTH, a tiny professional organization that promotes conservative religious beliefs about homosexuality. A number of techniques have been used to try to suppress homosexual feelings and/or create heterosexual feelings in gays and lesbians: 1
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Lesbians had their breasts amputated.
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Lesbians had their perfectly healthy uteri removed.
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Male gays were given aversion therapy; e.g. clients were shown pictures of naked men and simultaneously shocked with electricity. |
Other "treatments" included:
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brain surgery in the form of frontal lobotomies.
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castration.
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counseling and psychotherapy.
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drug therapy: e.g. animal-organ extracts, cocaine, estrogen, testosterone.
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positive therapy: e.g. men were asked to masturbate and then were shown pictures of women just before orgasm.
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prayer and spiritual counseling.
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therapy by tedium: men were shown homoerotic pictures until they became totally bored.
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During the Nazi regime in Germany, Himmler attempted to "cure" gays by requiring them to visit the camp brothel at Flossenburg. "Ten Ravensbruck women provided the services with little success. The women [were later]...shipped to Auschwitz" for execution.
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During the previous apartheid regime in South Africa, gays and lesbians were considered deviants. They were sent to a special ward of a military hospital to be "rehabilitated." This involved electric shock treatments and chemical castration. Those who could not be "cured" were given sex-change operations. A number of "patients" died.
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The success rate of these therapies in actually changing clients' sexual orientation appears to have been extremely low or zero. The success rate at changing clients' sexual behavior is much greater. Some of these techniques can persuade homosexuals to be celibate -- perhaps only for a short interval -- either through terror, guilt, or persuasion that God considers same-sex behavior to be an abomination. They can persuade bisexuals to choose to confine their sexual activities to members of the opposite sex. They may even be able to train gays to successfully have sex with a woman, while fantasize about making love to another man. But therapies do not seem to be capable of changing one's feelings -- one's sexual orientation -- in the vast majority of people. 4 Recent research has traced the cause of homosexual orientation to epigenetics. This refers to a layer on a person's DNA that turn various genes on and off. A saliva test has been developed to detect homosexuality in men. In its original form, it was 83% accurate. Since this layer is present, unchanged, in embryos, fetuses, newborns, children, youth, and adults, most researchers have concluded that homosexuality is determined before birth and is unchangeable throughout life. There have been many types of bias against women and minorities down through history that have gradually been reduced -- sometimes over centuries. These include slavery, racism, prohibiting marriage by profoundly deaf couples, denying women the vote, biases against women; bias against gays, lesbians and bisexuals: and now transgender persons. Our impression is that biases have been dissipating more quickly in recent decades.
Related essays on this web site:
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Chandler Burr, "A Separate Creation: The search for the biological origins of sexual orientation", DIANE Publishing, (1996), Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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"Quotations," at: https://www.goldenvoid.com/ and many other places on the Internet.
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"Best of the Federalist," at: https://www.msu.edu/
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Paul Kirk, "Apartheid army forced gay soldiers into sex change operations," q-online, 2000-JUL-28, at: https://www.q.co.za/news/2000/07
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Richard Green, "The 'Sissy Boy Syndrome' and the development of homosexuality", Yale University Press, New Haven CT (1987)
- Op Cit, Chandler Burr, Page 116-7.
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Frederick Whitam & Robin Mathy, "Male Homosexuality in Four Societies: Brazil, Guatemala, the Philippines and the United States," Praeger, New York NY (1986)
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Bruce Bagemihl, "Biological Exuberance: Animal homosexuality and natural diversity," St. Martins Press, (1999) Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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Gerda, "25 Guys Are Sharing The Exact Moment They Decided To Be Gay, And It’s Irony At Its Purest," Bored Panda, at: https://www.boredpanda.com/
Copyright © 1996 to 2019 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2019-APR-07
Author: B.A. Robinson
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