We hold these truths to be self-evident -That all men [and women]are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ~~
Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence
America has, since its founding, struggled
to fulfill the Founding Fathers’ vision.
Traditional dogmas supporting the subjugation of women, prohibition and slavery
have been abandoned. Now is the time for
the United States to allow yet another
stigmatized group of its population to share
in “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
We hope that the following information will help
you understand the issue better, and will give data
that aids in discussions with family and friends.
DEFINITIONS:
JUST WHAT ARE WE
TALKING ABOUT?
Homosexual: Attracted physically and emotionally to members of
the same sex. The root is from the Greek homo, meaning “same” (as in
“homogeneous”), not the Latin homo, meaning “man” (as in “homo sapiens”).
Gay: De-emphasizes the sexual aspect and is less clinical than
“homosexual.” Used since the 1700s for people who lead an
unconventional lifestyle.
Lesbian: Many women (though far from all) prefer this term,
because: 1) it makes them more visible 2) it points out a
different life style from that of some gay men. (less consumerist
and less promiscuous, more emphasis on sisterhood and support.
Greek Island Lesbos where the poet Sappho (b. 612 B.C.) lived.)
From the
Kinsey Scale: from Alfred Kinsey, et al, Sexual Behavior in the
Human Male (W. B. Saunders, 1948), 638. Kinsey uses it to
cover only one year, but often used to describe an entire life.
May include emotions, physical experience, or both. Numbers
run 0-1-2-3-4-5-6.
0—”All of their psychological responses and all of their overt sexual
activities are directed toward persons of the opposite sex.”
6—”if they are exclusively homosexual in their psychological responses .
. . even though they may never have overt homosexual
contacts.”
1 and 5 -- “almost entirely . . . respond only incidentally”
2 and 4 -- “definitely respond toward and/or maintain a fair amount of
contact”
3 -- about equal response; a “perfect bisexual”
DEFINITIONS:
SOME FINER
DISTINCTIONS
Sexual Identity: Which gender one feels as if one belongs to. Most
homosexuals are happy with the gender they were born into. But some
people feel as if they are “a man trapped in a woman’s body” and vice versa—
see transsexual.
Sexual Orientation: Which gender one falls in love with.
Parallel: one is
oriented to using the right or left hand; efforts to change a child’s “handedness” are
unsuccessful and cause problems.
Sexual Preference: Which gender one would prefer to fall in love with.
Since this term implies a choice, it is a favorite of people who oppose LGBT
rights. Psychologists say that Kinsey 5’s and 6’s, at least, don’t have a choice.
Parallel: one prefers Coke to Pepsi, but it doesn’t make much difference which one drinks if one
is thirsty. One isn’t “orientated” to a food or a color, nor is one “orientated” to multiple partners.
Transsexual: A person who desires to change genders, is in the process, or
who has changed.
Transvestite: A person who responds sexually to wearing clothing of the
opposite gender. Note: Most transvestites are heterosexual males; very few women
are transvestites, though there are fewer stereotypes about appropriate clothing for women.
Drag Queen: Often a professional entertainer or one hoping to be so.
May
be a transvestite or transsexual but often is not; may have believed that all homosexual men
were supposed to behave like this.
Homophobia: The irrational fear and/or hatred of homosexuals and of
homosexuality.
GLBT OR LGBT: Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. Occasionally an I
or an IQ are added, for “intersexed” and “queer,” but this becomes awkward. In
academic and activist circles, the trend is toward using “queer” as inclusive.
Queer: Once a slur (and still used as such occasionally), reclaiming this term
began with a group called the “radical fairies” in the 1980’s. Many academics
now use the term not only to indicate sexual orientation but to signify other
unconventional methods of thinking, “thinking outside the box.”
STEREOTYPES:
WHAT PEOPLE THINK THEY KNOW, BUT DON’T
1.
Gays are sick and can be “cured.”
On December 15, 1973, the
American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list
of mental disorders. The American Psychological Association followed suit the
next year. “Ego-dystonic homosexuality,” problems adjusting and accepting
oneself, remains, so that people with such problems can be covered by health
insurance.
Historically, homosexuality has frequently been accepted,
especially in ancient Greece and in Western Europe till around A.D. 1200 (c.f.
John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe
from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century, Chicago UP, 1980) and other
titles.) Two/thirds of the cultures reported on in the Human Relations Area Files
accepted some form of homosexuality.
2.
Gays become homosexual as a result of a homosexual
seduction and thus try to “recruit” others, especially
children. Nobody knows the cause of homosexuality, but psychological
thinking today stresses the likelihood of an inborn predisposition combined
with an unknown environmental trigger; one’s orientation is
determined by age six, certainly before adolescence. (c.f. Alan P. Bell, Martin
S. Weinberg and S. K. Hammersmith, Sexual Preference: Its development in Men and Women,
Indiana UP, 1981.) “The definitive study in this country, conducted by the
Children’s Division of the American Humane Society, reported that 11 of every
12 incidents of child molesting in America were committed by heterosexual
males against young girls. A large proportion of these incidents involved incest.”
For further statistics, see http: // www. acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs. For decades
young people were told to marry and “get over it.” Recent examples of political
figures and evangelical ministers show that even with high motivation, this
doesn’t work.
3.
Gay men are extremely promiscuous. Some are; some aren’t, just
like heterosexual men. This behavior is encouraged by the problems which
society places on their forming permanent attachments. Question: what would be
the fidelity rate of heterosexual couples if they had no hope of marrying; if they could not
introduce their partners to their parents; if their church refused to accept them; if they could be
fired from their jobs if anyone found out about their relationship?
MORE STEREOTYPES—
SOME FALSE, SOME TRUE
•
Gays are easily recognizable. Some people may feel this is the only
way to meet people, or (especially before prominent politicians and
evangelists were “outed,”) that this is the proper way for a lesbian or gay
man to act. But you probably know many such people without having a
clue about their sexual orientation. (Fantasy: imagine that one morning when
people wake up, everyone is shaded according to their rank on the Kinsey Scale. Zeros
remain as they are, 1s and 2s are tinged with lavender, but 6s are deep purple. What
surprises the population would be in for! As many as 10% would be purple, said Kinsey.]
4.
Gays are unhappy. Yes, many glbt people are unhappy. The most
unhappy are teenagers, who are coming to terms with their orientation in a
hostile society. A GLSEN survey found over 90% of LGBT youth reported
hearing homophobic comments in school regularly, 1/3 of them said no one
ever intervened, and 1/3 reported hearing such comments from teachers and
staff. Another study showed nearly 1/3 of GLBT students had been threatened
with a weapon at school in the past month, compared with 7% of heterosexual
students. http://www.aclu.org/issues/gay/Statistics.html
However, those who accept themselves and live accordingly may
end up fine. A 1982 study of older gay men, Gay and Gray,
(Raymond M. Berger, Allyson Press) showed many of its subjects to be
happier than older heterosexuals.
5.
”I thought that people like that killed themselves.”
[The title of a
1983 study by Eric E. Rofes subtitled Lesbians,Gay Men and Suicide.]
Unfortunately, this may too often be true. Fourteen studies listed at
http://www.youth-suicide.com/gay-bisexual/news/studies.htm#10 in a table entitled
“Gay/Bisexual Male Youth Lifetime ‘Suicide Attempt’ Data Studies with
‘Heterosexual’ Male Control Samples” varied from 2 to 14 times more likely
for a gay youth to try suicide than for a heterosexual one; the median was
5.8 times more likely. This, of course, lists only obvious suicide attempts;
those who die in an “accident” or who contract AIDS on purpose because
they think they are worthless are not counted. Very few studies on lesbian
suicides have been conducted, but articles generally agree their statistics
would be similar. Cf. an old newspaper story about two teen-age boys, best friends,
who shot each other several times till both died. No one in their small town could figure
out why they did it. Were they just playing with guns? Both knew how to hunt. (from an
old newspaper clipping I can’t locate at the moment.)
MYTHS: UNLIKE STEREOTYPES, MYTHS FORM PARTS OF
BASIC BELIEF SYSTEMS. IT IS HARDER TO COMBAT THEM
WITH EVIDENCE, BUT SOMETIMES A MYTH MAY FADE
AWAY WHEN CHALLENGED BY ANOTHER BASIC BELIEF.
1.
Gays choose their orientation (“preference”) and therefore can
change if they want to. This belief is the most detrimental of any. It is
sometimes based on lack of information about what professional psychologists say,
sometimes on not realizing that there are degrees of orientation as described in the
Kinsey Scale, sometimes on wishful thinking. Perhaps the best evidence that basic
orientation cannot be changed is the sad stories of such prominent citizens as Governor
James McGreevey, Senator Larry Craig, and televangelists Ted Haggard and Paul Crouch.
All of these men apparently struggled against their orientation for most of their lives.
They married, but were caught having same-sex affairs. We must pity them and others,
such as a Denton man who died in his late forties of a stroke brought on by high blood
pressure. He was married and loved his wife and child, did not act on his feelings though
he confessed them to a few friends and through his research, and took his medicine
irregularly till the tension of living a life that was essentially a lie killed him.
2.
Gays are against family values. It is all too often the families who discard their
gay members. It is impossible to get accurate figures, but ABC’s program 20/20 for Sept.
13, 1999, estimated that 63,000 children a year are thrown out of their homes when their
heterosexual, often fundamentalist, parents find out that they are gay. Older persons
may be rejected when their families finally realize their orientation.
If this myth were true, why is same-sex marriage so high on the list of political goals of
LGBT groups? And why are there so many long-term same-sex couples, in spite of the
dangers associated with being found out? Again, accurate figures are impossible to find,
but the 2000 census lists 601,209 same-sex couples, about half and half gay men and
lesbians. 85% of these lived together five years earlier; 30% have children under 18.
Denton county statistics include 867 such couples, 378 of them male, 489 female. For
more information, see http://www.gaydemographics.org /USA/PUMS/nationalintro.htm
3.
Gays hate members of the opposite sex, yet they want to be
members of the opposite sex. Let’s hope Will and Grace ended the first part
of this belief; like them, many homosexuals have good opposite-sex friends. As for
wanting to change, that is true of transsexuals, not of gay men and lesbians.
MYTHS
(CONTINUED)
•
Homosexuality is illegal; if it isn’t, it should be. “Lawrence v. Texas, 539
•
Homosexuality is against Biblical teachings; if one is a Christian,
one must condemn homosexuality, and believe in . . .
U.S. 558 (2003) was a landmark U. S. Supreme Court case. In the 6-3 ruling, the justices
struck down the criminal prohibition of homosexual sodomy in Texas. The court had
previously addressed the same issue in 1986 in Bowers v. Hardwick, but had upheld the
challenged Georgia statute, not finding a constitutional protection of sexual privacy.
Lawrence explicitly overruled Bowers . . . The majority held that intimate consensual
sexual conduct was part of the liberty protected by substantive due process
under the Fourteenth Amendment. Lawrence has the effect of invalidating similar
laws throughout the United States that purport to criminalize homosexual activity between
consenting adults acting in private.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas Here the
conflict between value systems is clear. Our country is not a theocracy, but the main
arguments against homosexuality are religious. The Supreme Court has ruled that our
Constitution takes precedence in law.
Allowing employers and landlords to discriminate against same-sex couples
Denying health insurance, hospital visitation, inheritance of property, and similar
partnership benefits to long-term committed couples
Refusing to allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military though currently those without
high school diplomas and those with criminal records can, and most of our allies allow
such service (For instance, badly needed translators of Arabic were discharged when they were “outed.”)
Not allowing adoptions nor foster care by same-sex partners
Prohibiting public schools from discussing homosexuality and from including books in their
school libraries which feature positive information on the topic
Amending the Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one
woman, thus striking down state laws such as that in Massachusetts which allow same-sex
partners to wed. Many states have passed such amendments to their own constitutions
SO -- LET’S SEE WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS.
Does the Bible condemn all homosexuals
and all homosexual relationships, even
loving ones?
How much does it really talk about the
topic, and in what contexts?
Genesis 1-2, The Creation Story Yes, God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and
Steve. But is the Genesis account the whole story? Why does 1:27-28 say
that both male and female were created in God’s image and both given
dominion over the earth, but 2:21-23 show woman created from Adam’s rib
and subservient to him? And where do the “daughters of men” (6:2) come
from? Did Cain, Shem, Ham and Japheth have sisters whom they married
incestuously? Who else was there for them to marry?
Is not a great deal of history left out here? Are we not choosing which parts
of Genesis to follow? If the marital relationship is the only approved one,
why did the early church promote celibacy? Is friendship wrong, since it is
not mentioned here? Why aren’t Ham’s descendents still slaves, as not only
Genesis but many other Biblical passages support? 9:21-27 was long used to
justify slavery. Why isn’t it practiced today? In other words, Genesis does
not form a good pattern for the entire future world.
Genesis 19:1-9, Sodom and Gomorrah (also Judges 19 and Ezekiel 16:46-56)
The people of Sodom sinned; angels were sent to warn Lot to escape; his
neighbors demanded the angels so they could rape them; Lot offers his virgin
daughters instead but is rejected; the angels blind the Sodomites and the
family escapes. Nobody today condones rape, homosexual or heterosexual.
When Jesus spoke of the sin of Sodom in two passages (the only times he
spoke about a topic that can be interpreted to deal with anything approaching
homosexuality), he makes it clear that the sin of Sodom was lack of
hospitality (Matthew 10:14-15, Luke 10:10-12), as do other O.T. passages.
Victor Paul Furnish, in The Moral Teaching of Paul, (Abingdon,1985), says that
“In every instance … where the term ‘sodomite’ is used, the reference is to
male prostitutes associated with places of worship” (57). The main problem
of pastoral religions, like that of the ancient Hebrews, was keeping young
men with the tribe. The Old Testament is full of injunctions about avoiding
rituals of the surrounding agricultural people with their many gods of fertility,
because “Our God is a jealous God.” (Agricultural people have many gods because
their main problem is fertility, thus requiring gods covering areas like rain, heat, insects, etc.
The story of Samson is an example of a young man thinking of straying.)
The rest of the passages in the Bible —
yes, folks, that’s all there is.
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, The Holiness Code. Leviticus begins with a long list of
dietary and other restrictions for the Israelites—no eating of beasts with cloven hoofs nor fish
without fins and scales; no red dresses for women. Then God promises to lead them out of
their subjugation in Egypt and tells them: “For all these abominations have the men of the
land done, which were before you” (18:27), clearly saying the problem with the forbidden
practices in Ch. 18 is that they were practiced by the pagans. (He does not forbid polygamy;
mostly the chapter deals with incest.) Ch. 20 continues the theme, prescribing the death
penalty for “adultery with his neighbor’s wife,” (10) “mankind,” (22) “beast,” (23) and for
incest with stepmother, mother-in-law or daughter-in-law. Incest with a sister is less serious,
as are relations with a woman having her period: the couple will be banished. Ch. 21 forbids
men to “shave off the corner of their beard” (5) nor can any man who is lame or “has a
blemish” or broken bones “approach to offer the bread of his God,” (17-21), thus forbidding
priesthood to them. Nor shall crops be planted or grapes harvested every seventh year
(25:4-5, passim.) Does it make sense to pick out two verses to obey and disregard all the
others? Even incest does not result in the death penalty today; men shave; crops are planted
and harvested every year.
Romans 1:26-27, “Dishonorable passions” among wealthy Romans. Peter J. Gomes
in The Good Book (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) states that when Paul says Roman women
“exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations
with women and were consumed with passion for one another,” Paul “is writing about the
fallen nature of humankind. It is this fallen nature, this ‘corrupted will’ . . . that has caused
both Gentile and Jew to suppress the truth [about God] by their wickedness” (155). The
wealthy Romans were decadent, and Paul continues that they were “Full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty,
boastful, inventors of evil,disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (1:2931; cited on 156). Homosexual relationships were generally power relationships. (c.f. the
conversation between Laurence Olivier’s and Tony Curtis’s characters in Spartacus). Does condemnation of
such behavior imply condemnation of a faithful relationship between two people who love
each other? Does giving up “natural relations” show an understanding of an inborn sexual
orientation, in which same-sex relations seem natural and opposite-sex ones feel wrong?
I Corinthians 6:9 and I Timothy 1-10, St. Paul’s lists of vices. Paul has discovered in
Corinth a man living with his father’s wife, and so he repeats the list of vices forbidden to
Christians. This list “includes references to ‘effeminate males’ and ‘men who have sex with
them’. . . [meaning] youthful call-boys and their customers. . . . Such conduct Paul regards as
one of the forms of unrighteousness by which ‘unbelievers’ are distinguished from ‘saints.’ . . .
The various kinds of vice and wickedness listed here and elsewhere are understood by Paul to
be symptomatic of sin, not its roots and essence” (Furnish, 72).
TWO THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN
YOU THINK ABOUT THE BIBLE PASSAGES
Until the work of Freud, Ulrichs, Hirschfeld, Hooker, Kinsey and others, beginning less
than 150 years ago, there was no understanding of a homosexual orientation.
Note: Nor was there an understanding of schizophrenia, which is similar to possession by
demons as described in the Bible, nor of certain other psychological conditions.
Is it fair to “cherry pick” the Bible and accept some of its teachings while rejecting other
teachings in adjacent verses, chapters or books? Some parts clearly were
written to guide the early Hebrews in specific circumstances.
And for further reading . . .
Websites
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://www.equalitytexas.org/ EqualityTexas. A statewide organization, this year
concentrating on creating anti-bullying policies in Texas school districts. (Denton ISD has one,
the fifth in the state to include lgbt students specifically.)
http://www.hrc.org/ Human Rights Campaign. See in particular New Report Finds
Unprecedented Growth in Employer Policies for Gay and Transgender Workers , showing 195
businesses employing 8.3 million persons now meet all of the HRC’s top rating on treatment of
lgbt persons.
http://www.lambdalegal.org/ Lambda Legal. The main legal defense organization, this website
covers both national and state issues.
http://www.nbjcoalition.org/ Look in particular at “Jumping the Broom: A Black Perspective on
Same-Gender Marriage,” which has much useful material on homosexuality in general; and at
“Black Leaders Speak Out.”
http://www.pflag.org/ Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/debate.cfm?issue_type=gay_rights
www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/ The Rockridge Institute deals with how to frame
issues of all kinds.
http://www:TheCarrolltonProject.com “The Carrollton Project is a nonpartisan effort to expand
the gay & lesbian community. . . Include educational outreach, forums, voter drives, and
outreach to other communities who share our aims.”
A Few Ground-Breaking Books: (In addition to those cited in the text above)
Abbott, Sidney, and Barbara Love. Sappho Was a Right-On Woman: a Liberated View of Lesbianism.
Stein and Day, 1972. A classic work.
Berzon, Betty, ed. Positively Gay. Mediamix Assoc., 1979. Collection of essays on how to handle various
aspects of one’s life as a glbt person.
Clark, Don. Loving Someone Gay. Celestial Arts, 1977. “A sympathetic and perceptive guide for gays and
the friends, families, and therapists who want to understand and support them” (back cover).
Katz, Jonathan. Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. Crowell, 1976. A collection of
documents 1566-1972, with commentary.
Masters, William H. and Virginia E. Johnson. Homosexuality in Perspective. Little, Brown, 1979.
Research study “. . . showing that there are no physiological norms clearly distinguishing
homosexual and heterosexual function . . .” (vii).
AND A FINAL COMMENT ON THE SUBJECT
FROM A LONG-TIME CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER
Is gay rights a civil rights issue? Julian Bond, Board Chairman, NAACP
ARE gay rights civil rights? Of course they are. "Civil rights" are positive legal prerogatives--the right to equal
treatment before the law. These are rights shared by all--there is no one in the United States who does not-or should not--share in these rights.
Gay and lesbian rights are not "special rights" in any way. It isn't "special" to be free from discrimination--it is
an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship. The right not to be discriminated against is a commonplace
claim we all expect to enjoy under our laws and our founding document, the Constitution. That many had to
struggle to gain these rights makes them precious--it does not make them special, and it does not reserve
them only for me or restrict them from others.
When others gain these rights, my rights are not reduced in any way. Luckily, "civil rights" are a win/win
game; the more civil rights are won by others, the stronger the army defending my rights becomes. My rights
are not diluted when my neighbor enjoys protection from the law--he becomes my ally in defending the rights
we share.
Objections to "gay rights" take many forms. For some, comparisons between the African-American Civil Rights
Movement and the movement for gay and lesbian rights seem to diminish our long historical struggle with all
its suffering, sacrifices and endless toil. However, we ought to be flattered that our movement has provided so
much inspiration for others, that it has been so widely imitated, and that our tactics, methods, heroines and
heroes, even our songs, have been appropriated by or served as models for others.
No analogy between movements for rights is exact. African-Americans are the only Americans who were
enslaved for more than two centuries, and people of color carry the badge of who we are on our faces. But we
are far from the only people suffering discrimination--sadly, so do many others. They deserve the law's
protections and civil rights, too.
Some who object to gay rights see homosexuality as a choice, but science has demonstrated conclusively that
sexual disposition is inherent in some, not an option or alternative they've selected. In that regard, it exactly
parallels race--I was born Black and had no choice. I couldn't and wouldn't change it. Like race, our sexuality
isn't a preference--it is immutable, unchangeable, and the Constitution protects us all against prejudices and
discrimination based on immutable differences.
Some who believe in Biblical literalism find sanction for their anti-homosexuality there, but selectively ignore
Biblical injunctions to execute people who work on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2) and to crack down on those
who get haircuts (Leviticus 19:27) or who wear clothes with more than one kind of thread (19:19). There's no
Biblical mention of lesbianism--are we to think that male homosexuality is wrong but female homosexuality is
not?
Many gays and lesbians worked side by side with me in the '60s Civil Rights Movement. Am I to now tell them
"thanks" for risking life and limb helping me win my rights--but they are excluded because of a condition of
their birth? They cannot share now in the victories they helped to win? Not a chance.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_9_59/ai_n6100475/print