Homosexuality and bisexuality

Introduction: Please read this or the
rest of this section won't make sense

Sponsored link.

Quotation sampler:

The core problem:

There is no consensus in North America about homosexuality:

There is a major divide between those under 40 years of age -- who tend to have more liberal and inclusive beliefs about homosexuality -- and those over 60 who are much more conservative. As younger adults come into positions of power and older adults retire, a major shift in the acceptance of homosexuality is expected.

Oppression based on race, sex, sexual orientation, and sexual identity:

Over the past 150 years, there have been many groups who have sought the North American dream of "liberty and justice for all." Examples are:

The dispute over homosexuality is a little different from the previous two conflicts based on race and gender:

The "warfare" among science & religions:

Normally, there are minimal conflicts between scientists and theologians. They usually work in different areas of interest. Theologians are rarely interested in the tensile strength of steel. Scientists -- at work, at least -- are rarely interested in the soul, salvation, Heaven or Hell. But there are shared areas where both scientists and theologians promote their own beliefs. Often, these beliefs are in conflict.

As of 2003, the main areas of religious conflict are the origins of the universe, discipline of children through corporal punishment, and various human sexuality topics:

Two opposing definitions:

In the above text, there are two opposing concepts as to the nature of homosexuality:

This difference in definitions makes dialogue almost impossible. As examples:

To make matters even more confusing, some religious and social conservatives have redefined the term "sexual orientation." The American Family Association and Traditional Values Coalition state that there are 30, not three, sexual orientations. They have taken the three generally accepted sexual orientations -- heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality -- and added to them 17 paraphilias from the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." _1,2,3 According to Wikipedia, paraphilia:

"... is a term that describes a family of persistent, intense fantasies, aberrant urges, or behaviors involving sexual arousal to nonhuman objects, pain or humiliation experienced by oneself or one's partner, children, or nonconsenting individuals or unsuitable partners." ₄

Examples are voyeurism, bestiality, necrophilia, sexual masochism, sexual sadism, etc. Finally, these groups tossed in some definitions of their own, including incest, prostitution, transsexuality, etc. If conservatives adopt such a broad definition of sexual orientation, they could argue that civil rights legislation intended to equally protect heterosexuals, homosexuals and bisexuals would also protect persons engaging in incest, bestiality, prostitution, etc. It is thus of critical importance for such legislation to clarify exactly what it includes under its definition of "sexual orientation." More information.

Beliefs of the American public:

By far the most vocal groups in the media who discuss homosexuality are religious conservatives debating supporters of equal rights for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. But there are more than two viewpoints concerning homosexuality. We have been able to identify at least six viewpoints which we refer to as:

For simplicity, most of our essays compare and contrast very conservative with very liberal positions.

Equal rights for homosexuals is one of the most controversial and divisive social topics in North America. Evangelical Christians consider it to be the most important social conflict at the present time -- more important to them even than restricting or eliminating abortion access for women. Polls report that public beliefs about homosexuality are in a state of flux.  Barna Research found that:

About the morality and legality of homosexuality:

Again, we see a split between:

As noted above, many, perhaps most individuals have beliefs that are intermediate between these two. Many conservative and mainline Christians, for example, advocate protection of gays and lesbians in employment, while still believing that homosexuality is unacceptable, sinful behavior.

About homophobia:

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. defines homophobia as an "irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals" Unfortunately, the term has more than one meaning. This leads to a lot of hard feelings, confusion, and an inability to dialog. By this definition:

The term "homophobia" is similar to such words as: sexism, racism, and religious hatred. Sometimes they mean simple hatred or aversion; other times they refer to activities intended to restrict the human rights of people on the basis of gender, race, religion, etc.  In terms of the victims' lives, simple hatred and aversion has little effect. It is action of oppression and discrimination which harm people.

We will use homophobia to refer to the latter activity -- desire and/or actions to oppress and discriminate against gays and lesbians. More details.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Rev. Lou Sheldon, "What is a 'Sexual Orientation'," News release, Traditional Values Coalition, 2007-JUN-04.
2. "What is a 'Sexual Orientation'," Special report, Traditional Values Coalition, undated, at: http://www.traditionalvalues.org/
3. "What is a 'Sexual Orientation'?" American Family Association, undated, at: http://www.afa.net/