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HOMOSEXUALITY:
Beliefs about homosexuality;
Studies of sexual orientation
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Quotations:
 | "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 |
| "As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children." Anita Bryant, 1977 2 |
| "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 |
Beliefs about the nature of homosexuality
We have identified six different belief systems about homosexuality. Of these, the two most extreme belief systems are explained below. 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 follow the liberal view; most middle aged and elderly persons hold strongly conservative views:
| Item | The most conservative view, typically promoted by the conservative religious groups, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, etc. |
The most liberal view, Typically followed by religious liberals, gays, lesbians, mental health professionals and human sexuality researchers. |
| What it is | Something that one does; a chosen lifestyle. | Something that one is; an unchosen orientation. |
| What causes it? | Multiple causes including: poor parenting, sexual molestation during childhood, perhaps demon possession. Addiction traps them in the lifestyle. | Genetically predetermined plus 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 detected in pre-school children. |
| Is it sinful? | Yes. It is more serious than many other sins. It endangers the family and thus social stability. | Neither heterosexuality or homosexuality are inherently sinful. It is 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 behavior. | It is normal and natural, for a minority of humans. |
| What should a homosexual do? | 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. |
| God's attitude towards the homosexual and towards homosexuality | He loves the sinner, but hates homosexuality, which is always sinful. | Loves the person. Various beliefs: May approves of the activity if it is based on love and commitment. May approve if it is safe and consensual. |
| Is it changeable? | Yes, through counseling and prayer. But it requires effort because it is so addictive. | No. Sexual orientation is always or almost always fixed. |
| Is reparative therapy effective? | Yes; it is an effective method to changing homosexuals into heterosexuals. | 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 youth to choose homosexuality. | Yes. They are a heavily discriminated-against minority in need of protection. |
| 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. | The vast majority of their children will be heterosexual -- apparently more accepting and less judgmental than average. |
| Should churches recognize committed same-sex relationships? | No. Gay relationships are an abomination, hated by God. | Perhaps. Some feel that all loving, committed adult relationships should be recognized and supported by religious groups. |
| 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. | Yes. Official recognition of their relationship and government benefits are a fundamental civil right. |
| Should gays be eligible for ordination as clergy? | No. It would be a major lowering of standards. It would condone seriously sinful behavior. | Yes. One's orientation has no bearing on the ability to be a priest, minister or pastor. |
Some additional beliefs by religious conservatives are:
| Some conservative Christians believe that a homosexual's feelings of attraction to members of the same sex will dissipate once they trust Jesus as Lord and Savior and are saved. They base this on a Biblical passage: 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. |
| Some religious conservatives believe that homosexual behavior is an addiction similar to drugs and alcohol. |
| 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. |
| 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, and that any sexual behavior outside of marriage is forbidden. Thus, they feel that all same-sex sexual activity is a sin. They are aware that gays and lesbians can marry each other, in Massachusetts, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, British Columbia, etc, but they do not recognize these as true marriages. They conclude that homosexuals must remain celibate. |
Studies of sexual orientation:
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:
| Heterosexual - a person who is sexually attracted only to members of the opposite gender, or |
| Homosexual - a person who is sexually attracted only to members of the same gender. |
This is not a useful model, because it ignores two minorities:
| Asexuals - people who have feelings of sexual attraction to neither gender |
| Bisexuals - people who are attracted (usually to different degrees) to both genders |
Most researchers into human sexuality look upon sexual orientation as a continuum:
| 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. |
| 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. |
| In the middle are bisexuals. Being sexually attracted to both genders they can choose:
|
Most human sexuality researchers 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 small 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
| Lesbians had their breasts amputated. |
| Lesbians had their perfectly healthy uteri removed. |
| Male gays were given aversion therapy; e.g. clients were shown pictures of naked men and simultaneously shocked with electricity. |
Other "treatments" included:
| brain surgery in the form of frontal lobotomies. |
| castration. |
| counseling and psychotherapy. |
| drug therapy: e.g. animal-organ extracts, cocaine, estrogen, testosterone. |
| positive therapy: e.g. men were asked to masturbate and then were shown pictures of women just before orgasm. |
| prayer and spiritual counseling. |
| therapy by tedium: men were shown homoerotic pictures until they became totally bored. |
| 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. |
| During the recent 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. |
The success rate of these therapies in actually changing clients' sexual orientation appears to have been between 0% and something less than 0.1%. 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 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
When in life is a person's sexual orientation determined?
There appears to be no agreement between the beliefs of conservative Christians and results of scientific studies:
| Religious conservative belief: A common theme running through literature from the larger Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Christian organizations is that homosexual behavior is unnatural, abnormal, and despised by God as an abomination. This is echoed by many Jewish and Muslim writers. They derive this from their interpretation of some key biblical passages. They also believe that a person chooses their sexual orientation after puberty. Some individuals then experiment with homosexual behavior, and quickly become addicted to it. Because of this belief, many conservative Christians are opposed to positive representations of lesbian and gay characters on TV. (Ellen, Friends, Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy....). They feel that any move towards accepting homosexual orientation and behavior as normal and natural will cause more youth to experiment with same-sex relationships. Religious conservatives also frequently oppose educational programs about homosexuality, high-school support groups for gay and lesbian youth, etc. because they tend to also promote homosexuality as normal and natural for a minority of persons. | ||||
| Scientific studies:
|
These types of studies indicate that the factor or factors which determine sexual orientation often effect very early in a child's life (perhaps before birth). 5,8
Related essays on this web site:
Sponsored links:
References:
- 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
- "Quotations," at: http://www.goldenvoid.com/quotes.html and many other places on the Internet.
- "Best of the Federalist," at: http://www.msu.edu/
- Paul Kirk, "Apartheid army forced gay soldiers into sex change operations," q-online, 2000-JUL-28, at: http://www.q.co.za/news/2000/07
- 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.
- Frederick Whitam & Robin Mathy, "Male Homosexuality in Four Societies: Brazil, Guatemala, the Philippines and the United States," Praeger, New York NY (1986)
- 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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Copyright © 1996 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2008-MAR-15
Author: B.A. Robinson
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