By: Logan Fairgrieve-Park
Introduction:
The rights and wrongs of homosexuality and transgenderism have been topics of debates for centuries with talk about the rights of these two minorities heating up over the past few decades. This is a very global opinion and is treated extremely differently depending on what country or area you are in, with varying reasons and explanations for why people feel certain ways about this topic. I believe that homosexuality should be treated as human rights, as that is exactly what gays, lesbians and transgender men and women are, humans.
History on Homosexuality
In many societies, same gender love has been referred to since earliest recorded history. In Europe and the middle east, homosexuality was often punished by beatings and death. However, in different areas around the globe, many were indifferent and even respectful to homosexuals. This was prevalent in East-Asia, Africa, South Pacific and the America's. This nearly universal global hatred of gay demographic was not brought about until European colonialists converted the indigenous people of their colonial regions to Christianity. Homophobia was often associated with many western religions, including Christianity. This has persisted even to modern day, with many areas still in opposition of many LGBT rights, and only a few with high support for these rights.
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| The first recorded Homosexual couple, Egyptian Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum 2400 BCE |
Global Opinions On Gay Lesbian and Transgender Rights
Even today, there is still large debate and disagreement on LGBT rights. For example, only 11 countries and certain parts of Mexico and the United States allow same sex marriage. This ia proof that even today global opinion on this issue greatly changes with world regions. Saudia Arabia is an extreme example of a country's negative opinion on homosexual and transgender people. Capital punishment is still enforced for a variety of crimes, including homosexuality. In accompaniment to this, there is no privacy rights in Saudia Arabia either, so the government may use any means to determine your sexual orientation, and then punish you for it. This is not going to change anytime soon either, because there is zero media advocacy or support for LGBT rights. This means that the Saudia Arabian government can effectively determine your sexual orientation, eliminate support for it and punish you. This is the opinion only held by a few countries. A more global opinion on homosexuality is best represented by a country such as Russia. Although there is no laws strictly forbidding homosexuality or gender change, there is no LGBT advocating media allowed, no openly gay military service or marriage, as of 2005, there is only 14% support for legalization of gay marriage, and 43.5% of Russians believe in the re-criminalization of homosexual acts. Sadly, this is a view held by a large group of people around the world. Sweden is considered to be the worlds most gay friendly country in the world. Almost every law regarding same sex activity and transgendersim has been legalized, including same sex marriage, adoption, military service and discrimination protection, with the only exception being a one year deferral for male blood donors. This is just a taste of all the different opinions on LGBT rights. Saudia Arabia being the negative extreme for these rights, Russia being the middle ground, and Sweden being the area with the most support. The future of these rights is uncertain. Although progress is being made for equal rights for these groups in more modern, liberal countries, many countries have certain laws in place that are halting the advancement of these rights, so it may be a while before there is a global agreement on these rights.
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| Public beheading is the usual form of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia and 345 executions were carried out between 2007 and 2010, any of those potentially for homosexuality |
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| This Russian milk carton, created by PepsiCo's Russian unit, was accused of being gay propaganda by a group of Russian Anti-Gay Activists |
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| Sweden has one of the highest levels of LGBT support in the world, so the gay pride parade is always a big event |
Mine and
Others Opinions
Why
Homosexuality and Transgenderism is Wrong:
1. Religion: At many points in the bible,
there are excerpts that may interpreted as being in support of heterosexual
relationships. A popular saying is "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and
Steve" which is implying that God made man and a woman to be together. A
scripture from the Bible says "You shall not lie with a male as with a
woman. It is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22) and it is said that
disregard for this is a complete rejection of God's authority.
2. People Choose Lifestyle: Many argue
that being homosexual, or feeling you were born in the wrong body, is
strictly optional and people choose it for a variety of reasons, including
attention and a need to be different.
3. It's Not Natural: It is said
that man is not made to be attracted to members of the same gender, as that
makes procreation impossible, and examples of homosexuality in nature are
rare to find. As well, one would not find an animal of one gender fulfilling the role of its opposite gender, as you would see a transgender person doing.
 Why Homosexuality and Transgenderism is Okay:
1. Equality: This reason focuses mainly on
how everyone is equal to be who they want without fear of discrimination. If
two people of the same gender love each other, that is not our place to judge them, with the same for transgenderism.
2. Hiding it Hurts You: Hiding your
true sexual orientation can take it's toll on oneself. Many people experience
depression and anxiety having to lie to others while living in a constant
fear or being judged or exposed.
3. It Doesn't Concern Others: Sexual
minorities will never be respected by everyone in the world. That is
realized, but they also feel that they don't have a place in deciding how
they should live their life and govern themselves.
My Opinion:
Gay and
transgenderism is just as okay as drinking water and breathing air. Religion
should not lead you to have a negative opinion of any group of people.
Religion should be about living a life free of discrimination and support and
love for everyone. And if you don't like everyone, then you are best keeping this belief to yourself. Being gay, or feeling you were born in the wrong body is not a
choice, as no one would choose to be constantly discriminated and hated by
people that don't agree with their orientation. Finally, the argument that LGBT individuals is not natural is ridiculous. For one, homosexuality has been demonstrated in
close to 1500 animal species including penguins, dolphins and primates. Even
so, humans have defied the "natural" way of life since we first
built beds and learned to cook our food. Any opinion that advocates the
discrimination of gays, lesbians and transgender men and women is usually
based on reasoning that lacks reason, and ignorance to its normality.
With a little hope, support for LGBT rights will substantially increase
in the future, and we can do away with the discriminatory opinions of
the past.
Conclusion;
Homosexuality
and transgendersim is still even today a topic of great debate. It has a rich
history, and talk about its morales have gone back for centuries. It's a
widely debated global opinion, and the different levels of support can be seen by
just exploring the different laws put it place surrounding the
issue. Accompanying these views is a large trough of reasons, either
advocating support or rejection of the issue, with my personal opinion being
that they shouldn't even be treated as a separate kind of right. In
conclusion, I hope this blog was accurate and informative, please feel free
to comment or debate in the comments and watch this, it may make
you smile. As well, here is my Animoto video, hope there are some Queen fans out there.
Sources
Factual Sources:
Picture Sources:
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