What It Means To Be Gay

In chapter five what really caught my attention was the section on community of the church. Personally, I believe the church communities are failing to reach out to others, and reach the full potential of what the church can be. I believe many churches are slowly becoming a social club that merely mimics what Christianity should be. Many people go to church for the popularity and inspirational quotes. “The church as a community does not require conformity. Christians are not meant to be cookie-cutter copies of one another” (90). I have been told by friends about the hurt their family member has felt because the church rejected them due to he or she being gay. Hearing these stories broke a piece of me because this is not how a Christian community should behave. God does not reject us for our unworthiness, however, he loves us. Which in my eyes means we are not to reject anyone from attending the church, yet, show them love. “The church is the place where the story of our personal redemption branches out and intertwines with the stories of other persons seeking redemption on the road towards full salvation” (91). As a community, we are not to reject

The meaning gay has changed tremendously over time. In the past, the term gay was not used as frequently and as freely as it is used today. The term originated from the Old French and dates back to the 1600s, “Deriving ultimately from Germanic source” (Wikipedia). The word means “Joyful, carefree, bright and showy” (Wikipedia). Gay also means to be “Addicted to social pleasure and dissipations,” as a noun “of a person:

One of the largest dividers in the U.S. is the issue of marriage equality. Marriage equality is the quest for equal civil and social rights for homosexuals. Currently, many Americans are unwilling to accept homosexuals and provide them with equal civil and social rights. Marriage equality is a problem because homosexuals feel oppressed by society. Similar to racial problems, people are scared of things that are different from societal norms and that they do not understand. In turn, they suppress and criticize homosexuals for their non-standard behavior. Marriage equality has become a topic of controversy in the United States. Legislation accepting homosexuals could improve society’s opinion on marriage equality. When people have a better understanding of something, they tend to form a more educated opinion on the

Many people from the United States hold the belief that being gay is something that has always been considered to be okay. They believe that it is just a given. Despite people’s current beliefs on the subject, for a very long time, it was something that was widely believed to be taboo. In the past, people were imprisoned due to their sexuality. Regardless, throughout the decades, people have pushed for the widespread acceptance of people who are part of the LGBT community. Today, homophobia still exists in some parts of the United States, but we have come a long way since the early 1900s.

The word “gay” has gone through drastic changes. Traditionally, it was a positive term that meant to be “happily excited” or “jolly” (Merriam Webster, “Gay”). It was used regularly to express one’s feelings about life. Today, it has a far different meaning. Now people use the word gay to label homosexuals, those with feminine qualities, or those who do something thought to be outside of the norm for their gender. “Being gay” went from expressing someone’s happiness to describing his sexual preference. The definition of gay has changed so much that its original meaning has become archaic and lost to the times.

“Being gay is much more profound than simply a sexual relationship; being gay is part of that person’s core identity, and goes right to the very center of his being. It’s like being black in s society of whites, or a blonde European in a nation of black Asians” (Tamara L. Roleff). Although marriage, cohabitation and parenting styles of homosexual families pose no threats to the heterosexual society; many still believe same-sex marriage goes against its true purpose. “At the national level, American public opinion on the issue remains split (44 percent support legalizing same-sex marriage; 53 percent oppose same-sex marriage in a May 2010 Gallup Poll) even as opposition toward legalizing same-sex marriage is at its lowest point in decades

According to the CBS News Poll, 58% of Americans believe it should be legal for same-sex couples to marry (Polling Report, June 9-13, 2016). Since recent years, the support for same sex-marriage has steadily increased. In fact, according to the Gallup Poll, 61% of Americans believe that same-sex couples should validly be recognized by the law with the same rights as traditional marriages (Gallup Poll, May 4-8, 2016). Over time, the idea of marriage has transformed from the union of a man and woman to the union of two people who love each other regardless of their sexual orientation. In fact, according to the CNN/ORC Poll, 59% of Americans support the ruling of the Supreme Court regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage in all fifty states (Polling Report, June 26-28, 2015). Based on these polls, Americans generally support equal rights for all individuals regardless of their sexual orientation. Therefore, a majority of Americans favor government involvement to ensure equal rights for all individuals regardless of their differences. Therefore, the position of most Americans regarding same-sex marriage supports the idea that Americans are generally reform liberalists in their

Arguments for gay and lesbian families is a concern for the sanctity of marriage is often accompanied by a discomfort with the idea of gay and lesbian families, based on misinformation about the quality of those relationships and their impact on children (Kimmel 184). Arguments that support gay and lesbian families are mainly focused on having the same equal rights as heterosexuals. Many gay and lesbian couples want to get married because of the benefits they acquire such as the right to inherit from a spouse who dies without a will, the right to consult with doctors and make crucial decisions (Kimmel 184). A meta analysis of social studies of gay and lesbian parenting suggests that children are more accepting of homosexuality and maybe more likely to indicate a willingness to consider homosexual relationships themselves (Kimmel 186). Another great example is daughters of lesbian and gay parents are more assertive, confident, and ambitious, and sons are less conforming to traditional masculine aggression and domination and have a better understanding of their gender identity (Kimmel

Same-sex marriage, a controversial social issue in the U.S. for several decades, is constantly evolving. When viewed historically, great change has happened in a short period of time, in the movement for same-sex marriage, given that until recently, no society in thousands of years has ever allowed it.

“…Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone. Jesus stood up and asked her, "Where is everyone? Isn 't there anyone left to accuse you?" "No sir," the woman answered. Then Jesus told her, "I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don 't sin anymore.”

Romans 1:26-27 says, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” The Bible does not discriminate against the LGBT community, but it does say that homosexuality is a sin. God lovingly warns against homosexuality and offers grace for those who have strayed from His will. Mark 10:6-9 says, “But at the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” This testifies against multiple genders, as God created just two genders, male 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.

We look at the generation before us and seem to forget how much ideas have changed. Radical concepts are constantly developing, and my generation has a peculiar open-mindedness to this. Lately, there has been a lot of controversy about the LBGT community due to marital legislation that was in the process of getting passed. Growing up when this is much more accepted, I hardly blink an eye at the mention of it. My parents grew up in a time where this kind of thing was an uncomfortable/unaccepted topic, and it happened to come up at dinner one night. Although choice of sexual freedom is exemplified in the case of the LGBT marriages; it transcends further than that. It epitomizes allowing people to live their lives in a manner that makes them happy

The youngest generation, consisting of those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-nine, are more accepting of gay adoption while the oldest generation, consisting of those over the age of sixty-five, are least accepting of gay adoption. Those who are opposed to gay adoption consider the acceptance of gay adoption by the youngest generation to be an “erosion of traditional cultural values” (Chittom and Wagner).

There are many controversies surrounding today's world, such as abortion, animal testing, and social reform issues. It seems that no one can come to a common agreement on the legitimacy of these topics. Personal characteristics, such as upbringing, culture, religion and ethnicity, all play a role in determining one's feelings on a given controversial issue. However, one of the most protested and discussed issues in current political debate is same-sex marriage. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, only hard pressed arguments expressing speculation regarding supposed outcomes, benefits and possible tribulations that would come along with the endorsement of gay marriage. Such ideas are shown