Homosexuality and Society

The ideal society as homosexuality is concerned is a society which is very understanding and acceptable to the way of lives of its members. Ideally, the world should be very accommodative, where everybody would live with harmony and do as they wish, loving whoever they want without being judged by the others. However, as grand as it seems it is impossible to have such ideal societies. There are too many generational gaps and varying views that may bar this from happening; the society is a combination of people with different views depending on their educational, religious and cultural back grounds. Homosexuality is not an individual’s choice; there are scientific evidences that gayness has some genetic orientations and to discriminate someone because of being gay is just similar to saying that it is a sin for one to be a black or a white, a man or a woman. This type of society believes that the homosexuals should be allowed to marry because this is one way one can ultimately express the love they have for the other (Chadee, 16).

Question two:

The minimally acceptable society is that which consider homosexuals as sinners and insane criminals; an example such society is Washington DC during the period between 1950’s and 1960’s when it was full of homosexuals who were seen as criminals in the year 1970’s. a good number of such societies which are Christianity oriented; the church has consistently condemned the homosexuals simply because of the lifestyle they have chosen. As much as it is preached in the church that one should love their neighbors, homosexuality is seen as an abomination which must be changed. Apart from the Christianity point of view, the other section of such a society would also see homosexuality as very unacceptable and a swipe and very offensive to the religious freedom; moreover, the society sees homosexuality as a means of degenerating families and a danger to the healthy society. Finally, the gay people are considered not morally upright and therefore cannot raise morally upright children (Chadee, 18).

Question three:

I believe the present condition of society towards homosexuals is that society tends to be more acceptable today than ever before. Especially with Millennial who make up the majority of the population. Millennial tend to be more open to homosexuality than their elder counterparts. I believe this is due to the fact that they have grown up in a society where same sex couples are more prevalent and it is not as “weird” as when younger generations were growing up. For example, in Washington DC, the states with large numbers of republicans have pulled out of the tea party and now accept the same sex marriage; the adults who are younger than 30 tend to support that the homosexuals be given the right to wed. Generations keep on changing, including the constitutions of various countries; the elderly counterparts are resistant to changes as opposed to the millennial, and will always want to insist on what had taken place before (Edsall).

In a recent study titled, How Race and Religion Shape Millennial Attitudes on Sexual and Reproductive Health, co-authors Dan Cox and Robert P. Jones found that Millennial see homosexuality as more “morally acceptable” than casual sex. The goal of the study was to see if Millennial differ from past generations in terms of diversity and religious affiliation. Cox says the researchers were interested in seeing how the younger generation will influence future culture, and their thoughts regarding a host of reproductive issues. (Samuels) “Culture has changed dramatically now with gay and lesbian characters on TV, and a lot of Millennial have known gay and lesbian people from a very young age,” Cox says. “The idea of homosexuality seems perfectly normal, whereas in the previous generation, homosexuality wasn’t talked about. People now live in a different environment, which affects their outlook, and you see more Millennial more accepting of gay people.” (Samuels)

Question four:

The Actual Condition of society towards homosexuality is more acceptable today than ever before. There are more and more states allowing same sex marriages. More and more commercials and television shows featuring same sex couples. We would digress from the actual condition to get to the minimal acceptance. The human rights campaign reported in 2000 that very many people in the United States were living in gay marriages and raised millions of children who were morally upright, unlike the belief most people have had. The American constitution, for example, offers all its citizens equal protection and also forbids the laws which discriminate the citizens from their rights; it deems same sex marriage and provides them with protection. The laws are changing and the society is getting into terms with the fact that every individual has a right to do whatever they wish, provided it is within the law (Herdt).

Question five:

We are slowly progressing from the minimally acceptable state of society and our view of homosexuality. Which is the older generations idea that homosexuality is a choice or disease (ex., mental illness) to where the younger generation, the Millennial, are more accepting of homosexuality almost as a norm. The younger generation are shifting from the beliefs which are religious oriented to more factual scientific concepts; scientifically, homosexuality is has genetic orientation and is controlled by hormones. Those who have been determined by nature to be gay are therefore understood not to be having any choice but to behave the way they do; it calls for understanding from the society. The older generations are resistant to shift their cultural and religious beliefs to the new generation of science (Edsall).

Works cited

• Chadee, D., Brewster, D., Subhan, S., Palmer, D., De Gannes, A., Knott, D., & ... Philip, J. Persuasion and Attitudes towards Male Homosexuality in a University Caribbean Sample. Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies. 2012. 37(1), 1-21
• Edsall, Nicholas C. Toward stonewall: Homosexuality and society in the Modern Western World. University of Virginia Press, 2003.
• Herdt, Gilbert H. Same sex, different cultures: Gays and lesbians across cultures. Westview Press, 1997.
• Samuels, Alexandre. "Millennials More Accepting of Homosexuals than Casual Sex." USA Today 3 Apr. 2015, College sec. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
• Williams, Howell. Homosexuality. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1999.

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