The Activity Dawn Chose For This Assignment Was To Take

As a follower of Christ, there are many factors to be considered when ministering to those who struggle with homosexuality. Some of those factors are environmental where those who deal with same gender attraction admit to growing up in a fatherless environment with a “domineering wife or a mother, who work[ed] outside of the home and may have something to do with creating gender confusions, by which effeminate[d] boys or overly-masculinized girls [were] created.” Another factor to consider is not only the family dynamics, but also society’s role in the sexual development process wherein many images and opinions of sexuality are thrown about in the media, television shows and other social outlets. Parents must be careful not to label their child or adolescent as homosexual because they don’t fit the normal gender stereotype. If, for example, a young boy prefers music or the arts over sports, this shouldn’t be discouraged if it doesn’t fit the parent’s ideals of true masculinity or femininity. In fact, what should be acknowledged is the Bible’s true definition of masculinity and femininity? Is there a definitive answer that the Bible gives to define masculinity and femininity? To attempt to answer that question, we would need to comb the Bible to examine the many illustrations of men and women’s lives that either confirm or deny those stereotypes.

The way people ultimately view homosexuality, whether in religion, politics or modern popular culture, is all determined by traditional or changing points of view. This essay will discuss mainly liberal and conservative Christian interpretations of the Bible, including many verses that may support or condemn homosexuality. It will also discuss the political views and laws against same-sex marriage and the social activism in the homosexual community. This is all about view points and it has many conflicting views and arguments.

Before we can address the issue of homophobia. We must distinguish what exactly homophobia is, Homophobia is a term to describe hate towards homosexually oriented people. Homophobia is a form of stigma based on sexual ideas. This is also explained in the book “The Challenges of being a gay rural gay man, coping with stigma”. It states “sexual stigma is defined as social disapproval of any-non-heterosexual behavior”. Stigma that is based on hate towards people that are different, or people we don’t understand.

A heterosexist is someone that discriminates in favour of heterosexual and against homosexual people. An example of people showing heterosexist beliefs in the public services is how people associate men in The Royal Navy as being gay when in fact according to The Navy Times in 2010 there are around 66,000 homosexuals serving in military which make up just 2.2%.

This book Pray the Gay Away by Bernadetta C. Barton discusses about certain areas in the United States called Bible Belts were they have made absolutely no progress in securing rights for gay people. They lag behind the rest of nation were people are accepting homosexuality (Pray the Gay Away 15). Barton argues that in small towns were Christian institutions serve as a foundation for both passive and active homophobia in these areas (Pray the Gay Away 19). This article is related to the play because the two dominant religions discussed in the play was Judaism and Mormonism and both religions strongly oppose homosexuality and this lead to homophobic attitudes and themes within the play.

Homosexuality is one of the most debated issues among Christians today, regardless of the denomination of their church. Some churches view homosexuality as a sin and have no tolerance for it, while other denominations are more accepting and consider it a non-sin. Even though some denominations have taken a stand on homosexuality, there seems to much discord within the governing bodies of the churches regarding this issue. It has moved from a topic rarely discussed and considered very personal and private, to a mainstream topic of conversation.

In the past ten years, the nonstop discussion and stress has been over the question of homosexuality. Are homosexuals to be excluded from the community of faith? Article writers, Richard B. Hays and Walter Wink explain their perspective and answer the ongoing talk.

A culture that views heterosexuality as natural and superior reproduces inequality by prioritizing the rights and voices of heterosexual individuals. Ingraham views this as a product of heteronormativity, where ideas of heterosexuality are deeply embedded in all aspects of society, thus becoming the norm and the standard to which all individuals and sexualities are measured (2994:204). In a heteronormative society, gender and sexuality are understood as biologically acquired—men are naturally attracted to women and vice versa. Heteronormativity is embedded in institutions such as religion, family, government and the workplace (Bakehorn, 9/13/16). Because of an investment in heterosexuality, inequality is reproduced when homosexual

In, “Heterosexism and homophobia among college students,” Larry M. Lance starts off by explaining the difference between heterosexism and homophobia. Heterosexism is thinking that everyone should be attracted to the opposite sex and homophobia is having an irrational fear of gay men and lesbians. He mentions that efforts have been made to reduce heterosexism on campuses by encouraging homosexuals to be proud of who they are and not hide. However, with homophobia, he states that these negative attitudes are seen more in heterosexual males than heterosexual females. Heterosexual males could have more homophobic views on lesbians and gay men because of their exotic value even though they seem to be less homophobic towards lesbians. Lance

The “Mattachine Society: Statement of Purpose” document’s intent is to emphasize the social ostracism the unsusceptible culture has executed on the homosexual minority. However, the “Southern Baptist Convention: Resolution on Homosexual Marriage” document’s intent is to illustrate how devilish homosexual marriage is. The Mattachine Society writes, “The Society provides the instrument necessary to work with like-minded and socially valuable organizations, and supplies the means for the assistance of our people who are victimized daily as a result for our oppression” (Gosse 41). To explain, the Mattachine Society is providing a dignified standard for one of the largest minority groups in America today, and its ethical and social principles serve as an example for homosexuals to pursue. Ultimately, the support group want to take action to elevate themselves from the image the public has created fro them. Furthermore, the SBC writes, “Whereas, God makes it clear in the Scripture that even desire to engage in a homosexual relationship is always sinful, impure, degrading, shameful, unnatural, indecent, and perverted (Rom. 1:24-27), so any effort to extend the meaning of marriage in order to sanction the satisfaction of such desire must also be in every case sinful, impure, degrading, shameful, unnatural, indecent, and perverted” (Story and Laurie 155). In this quote, the Convention is enumerating how homosexual marriage is completely and thoroughly evil according to God’s standards in the Bible. Uniquely, the tone of the Gosse document is remarkably polite and sympathetic, whereas the tone of the Story and Laurie document is repulsive and

Homosexuality has become accepted by many in our culture today. PBS estimates that there are 9 million members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community (Greve, Joan. “LGBT America: By the Numbers.”). This makes up 3.8% of the US population. Some of these members identify as Christians. So this poses a couple of questions: does the Bible really condemn homosexuality, can you be a gay Christian, and can two people of the same sex be legitimately married? These are important questions for churches to have answers to as the LGBT movement is becoming very popular.

This documentary addresses the idea of the social, cultural, and parental power it has on those who are attracted to the opposite sex, whether it be a man attracted to a man or a woman attracted to another woman. This film argues that those who are attracted to the opposite sex are under so much stress from the world around them that have to deny who they are, according to the bible which is wrong. I noticed key concepts that were represented in the documentary that go along with our learnings in the classroom, such as xenophobia and socialization. These two concepts were very big within the arguments that were made in this documentary, and both are extremely important to understanding what these people go through in their lives.

There are many movies directed towards the LGBT population. Many movies are based on documentaries to educate the public about the LGBT population; other movies are based on comedies that feed into the incorrect stereotypes of the population. After watching some movies based on the population, common reoccurring themes were acceptance, rejection, exploration, stereotypes, discrimination, and depression. For example, in the movie Bridegroom, Tom and Shane are a gay couple who were in a serious committed relationship; however, after Tom died, Shane was unable to attend his husband’s funeral because Tom’s family would not allow it. Shane faces rejection from the family of his husband.

Most homophobism stems from people not understanding what it means to be queer. “An estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender”(Gates 1). Since so few people identify themselves under one of those categories, not many people understand what it means. Someone who is a lesbian is a girl attracted to a

(2009)” Studies showed that these children and young adults are as popular as children reared by heterosexual parents; at school they have grades within average, the same level of stress as other kids. In general, they have normal relationships with peers and adults. Most of them accept their parent’s sexual orientation; some even get inspired by their parent’s courage to be different.