Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality PSY/256 Kayce Hodos Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Is homosexuality a choice or genetic? Homosexuality is becoming more and more common all over the world. There are many different perspectives and theories regarding homosexuality. There are historical, culture, species, scientific, and psychological perspectives on being a homosexual person but which is true and which is simply a theory. Homosexual Perspectives Historically being a gay man or a lesbian was a sin.
In the past, in many cultures, people who thought that they were homosexual kept that information to themselves because they could be stigmatized or even persecuted if they disclosed the truth (Shriner & Shriner). In the news today, you hear about businesses refusing to make “gay wedding cakes” that are against their beliefs. Religion has played a large role in forming the stigma against homosexuals in all cultures. You often hear of homosexuality being a sin and not of god. However, there seems to have been a noticeable change in the attitudes and perceptions of those living in Western cultures (Shriner & Shriner).
The amount of coverage that Matthews murder received gave a lot of people the idea that his death was of more importance than the death of others in the town. It overshadowed other stories because unlike other murders or deaths, it was motivated by one boy’s sexuality and categorized as a hate crime. It served as an eye opener not only to the people of Laramie but also to the people of the country because discrimination against homosexuals was in some ways a social norm ( and still is), but because someone had actually been murdered because they were homosexual, this was considered by most to be downright unacceptable. In today’s society when you hear that someone was shot to death, it might get a couple days, or a couple minutes of media coverage and then the story will soon fade away, but when you hear that someone was shot and the motivation of the murder was race, or sexual orientation it is often more publicized and gains more media coverage. Although the media makes it out to seem that one’s person’s life is more valuable than another’s, what it comes down to is America’s response, if the media believes that America will have a greater response to one story, that is the story that will be the focus of the media.
The homophobic (the irrational fear or hatred of homosexuality or gay people) individuals in today's society are the main cause of negative stereotypes against lesbians and gay parents. These negative stereotypes all prove to be untrue and irrational, revealing that gay and lesbian parents are as equally able as straight parents. The accusation that majority of gay men are
Christians and Homosexuality The issue of homosexuality has been a much discussed topic, and Christians feel as though we either have to accept everything about the issue, or we have to condemn the people who identify as homosexual. The fear of being homosexual or “catching” homosexuality is called homophobia, and it is everywhere in our society. In the media, our families, songs, and schools, such as “Snowtown” we have heard the idea that homosexuality is the most unforgivable sin there is, and that being friends with someone who identifies as homosexual will cause you to be the same way. Although we have a broad knowledge about the harmful effects these attitudes have on homosexuals, many of us still believe that it is just simpler to pretend nothing is happening. The two major results of the attitudes toward homosexuals are suicide and mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.
When homosexuality “made a public appearance” in history, it was known as a “sickness, relabeled, medicalized, or morbidified by Kraft-Ebing, Havelock Ellis, and their less famous European and American colleagues.”(Hansen, 14). During this time homosexuality was undergoing a change. The change was the idea that it went “from a form of sexual behavior (a pattern of actions) to a condition (a way of being)” (Hansen, 14). If you consider what patterns of actions are, you wouldn’t think that it had anything to do with a disease. With that in mind you can conclude that diagnosing
People have the right to choose who they want to love weather that be male or female. Typically a person will identify themselves as being one of three categories; either heterosexual (having emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to members of the other sex), homosexual (having emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to members of one’s own sex), or bisexual (having emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to both men and women) (American Psychological Association). Historically, we have been a predominately heterosexual society. In our society homosexual and bisexuals are the minority and have had higher risks of being criticized for their sexual preferences. This is because unfortunately there still remain a large number of people who believe being heterosexual is the only acceptable form of sexual orientation in our society.
Assignment: Historical and Scientific Perspective on Homosexuality PSY/265 Historical and Scientific Perspective on Homosexuality I believe that the historical and scientific perspectives in the text have shaped the way that gay individuals may perceive themselves in that they give these particular individuals different views of other people and the way that they look at gay people and their chosen lifestyle. The cross-cultural perspective is one perspective that gives gay individuals the perspectives from different cultures and the way that they view and think of the gay sexual orientation. While some cultures believe that gay relationships between two individuals of the same sex is wrong, some other cultures believe that it
MSM is a classification of men who engage (or have engaged in the past) in sex with other men, regardless of whether they identify themselves as homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual. This group is considered to be at high risk for HIV/AIDS and some types of hepatitis, viruses that can be transmitted in blood transfusions. Restrictions on donors are often called "deferrals" since in some cases blood donors who are found ineligible may be accepted at a later date. The restrictions vary from country to country, and in many cases men are deferred who have not had sex with men for many years. The restrictions affect MSM and the female sex partners of MSM.
Each group of individual in the United States has had their share of hate crimes against them, but the key is to learn from them, teach the youth and move on. Body: If one were to look at crimes that are based on sexual orientation, the number of crimes is astounding. A hate crime based on one’s sexual orientation is when an individual is bullied, threatened, harassed, or even killed due to his or her sexual likings. For instance, look at Matthew Shepard. He was a gay man who was beaten and tied to a fence post and left for dead, all because he was gay.