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Homosexual and psychology
Research on homosexuality
Compare the biological and sociological theories of homosexuality
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Recommended: Homosexual and psychology
Since the 1800's, psychiatrists and psychologists have concluded that homosexuality is a mental disorder. They have believed it is brought about by misguided upbringing and their social environments. For instance, it was believed that if the child was lacking a male - figure in the home, he would most likely be gay. Or that child abuse can lead to lesbianism when the special needs of a little girl are denied, ignored, or exploited and the future womanhood of the child is in risk. However, inconsistencies in the research subjects' abuse records ruled these theories out. And if this were the case, then why is homosexuality present in different cultures? Some believed homosexuality was caused by a difference in brain structure. In 1991, Simon LeVay published research stating that sexual orientation may be the result of differing brain structures. The hypothalamus, a region in the brain that governs sexual behavior, was the structure that LeVay was pointing as the structure at fault. In his studies of the hypothalamus, he found that in homosexual men, the hypothalamus was smaller than that of heterosexual men. Instead, it was the size of the female hypothalamus, consequently explaining their sexual tendencies.
What I believe, is that everyone has the right to live his/her life in the manner which suits them and makes them happy providing that they themselves do not in any way influence someone’s else life negatively.
I also believe that a person who is homosexual should be given the same rights as any other heterosexual person because after all, we are all human beings. Many may say that “oh yes, the Bible condemns it” but the Bible also said to “Do unto others as you would like them do unto you.” I think that we as humans have developed this negative behavior to when it comes to difference. Some may compare homosexuality to incest and molestation and rape but such a comparison is quite unfair, as with incest, molestation and rape, there is no free consent to it.
On May the eighth of this year, the Conference of United States Religious Leaders and Ministers was held in Chicago, Illinois. The conference is an annual event coordinated by church leaders who each send a representative to take part in the discussions. Father Gregory McAllister of the Diocese of Arlington traveled to Chicago to attend the conference and share his knowledge. He spoke on behalf of the Catholic Church, while ministers and clergy from various religions from across the country also shared their views on the topics discussed.
For the Bible Tells Me So is a documentary that was made in 2007 by Daniel Karslake. The Film takes a look at the implications and results of raising children in a conservative religious context, and what happens when they are gay, and what the bible actually says about being gay, and how it is being misinterpreted to suit anti-gay rhetoric.
Richard Mohr believes that outing closeted homosexuals is morally justified. He argues that sexual orientation is not a private matter and therefore, does not violate a homosexual's right to privacy. He believes that outing will increase the homosexual community by creating positive role models. He argues that remaining in the closet is morally debasing and creates indignity to one's self. Claudia Card on the other hand, argues almost the complete opposite. She takes a utilitarian stance on outing "the big secret." The big secret is referring to one being a homosexual. She believes that outing is justified as long as it does no harm, which she believes is unlikely.
The essay by Peter J. Gomes, entitled �Homophobic? Read Your Bible,� can be analyzed in many ways. The essay discusses the issue of homosexuality as it relates to religion. The Baptist minister provides an unexpected approach to the subject. Mr. Gomes�s thesis statement in this essay is, �The army of the discontented, eager for clear villains and simple solutions and ready for a crusade in which political self-interest and social anxiety can be cloaked in morality, has found hatred of homosexuality to be the last respectable prejudice of the century� (�Homophobic� 414). This essay uses effective evidence to prove the thesis statement while also doing a good job of refuting opposing views.
The quest to find a biological substrate for homosexuality resembles an earlier movement in research to determine the nature of I.Q. scores. Both revolve around finding a biological basis for differences in human behavior. Like the previous research on intelligence, the research on homosexuality is plagued with difficulties. One large obstacle in this type of research is the difficulty in making statements about causality from correlational studies (simple, linear relationships between two variables) (4). In other words, it is difficult to determine what comes first the chicken or the egg.
Gay and lesbian people should have the same rights as everyone else in America. They are being driven away from their rights due to some rumors that Christian observationalists have assumed because of their own religious morals. I feel as though gay and lesbian people should have their rights because they are not as horrid as they assumptions that Christian officials have made them out to be.
What controls a human's sexual orientation? The long-standing debate of nature versus nurture can be extended to explaining human sexual orientation. Is it biological or environmental? The biological explanation has been gaining popularity amongst the scientific community although it is only based on speculations. It is argued that sexual orientation is linked to factors that occur during sexual differentiation. The prenatal exposure to androgens and their affect on the development of the human brain play a pivotal role in sexual orientation (2). Heredity is also part of the debate. Does biology merely provide the slate of neural circuitry upon which sexual orientation is inscribed? Do biological factors directly wire the brain so that it will support a particular orientation? Or do biological factors influence sexual orientation only indirectly?
Homosexuality can be described as a romantic or sexual attraction or act between people of the same gender, and it can also be a term used to refer to a person's sense of identity based on the same attractions or behaviors. Homosexuality is among the three main categories of sexual orientation, alongside heterosexuality and bisexuality, and up to the present day, the scientists have not been able to know the factors that determine the sexual orientation of different people. Some of them, however, guess that sexual orientation of different people is caused by a complex interplay of the hormonal, genetic and environmental influences, and it is not a choice for the people concerned.
The first possible cause of homosexuality is genetic factors. Homosexuality is a trait from birth (Buchanan, 2000). Studies found that identical twins share many common traits. A study found that identical twins normally share homosexual behavior if one of them is homosexual. This proved that genes are likely to cause homosexuality. In addition, according to (Santinover, 2002), homosexuality is a heritable behavior. Based on heritability studies, almost any human trait is heritable including the homosexual behavior. He stated that behavioral genes are found in specific chromosome. Thus, the behavior is obviously heritable. Moreover, Italian University of Padova (2004) believes that homosexual trait is passed from mother to male offspring by natural ...
As the years have passed, homosexuality has become a very controversial topic. The fact that day by day they fight for equality just to be happy, I think it is an injustice that many people refuse to give them the rights they deserve.
”There are numerous theories about the origins of a person's sexual orientation…orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factor …there are probably many reasons for a person's sexual orientation and the reasons may be different for different people.” (“Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality”)
When is it considered okay to take away someone's rights? A person cannot be defined by one word. Homosexual is only one word. Television and movies have not perfectly portrayed all of Americans since it started. Having two moms or two dads isn't the worst thing that could happen. A child growing up with two dads or two moms will believe that it is normal. According to many cultures and religions, being a homosexual is wrong and it does not really exist. Homosexuals are being shunned by followers of these faiths. LGBT teens are more likely to think about or attempt suicide because they encounter bullies at school, work, and in other public areas. The issue of gay rights was similar to women's rights in the 1920s. Homosexuals do not look any different from heterosexuals. Marriage is a topic of many young girls and even some boys daydreams. Russia recently passed laws that make gay rights nonexistent. Nothing can change an LGBT male or female.
“All men are created equal, No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words,” Harvey Milk. A homosexual, as defined by the dictionary, is someone of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another of the same sex. Homosexuality is ethical, and I will provide rational arguments for, and irrational arguments against the topic. A few objections are as follows: It is forbidden in the Bible and frowned upon by God; It is unnatural; Men and women are needed to reproduce; There are no known examples in nature; and the most common argument that concerns homosexuality is whether it is a choice or human biology.
Homosexuality in Today's Society. In today's society, there exists a mixture of issues which tend to raise arguments with people all over. There are a handful of topics that always seem to escalate these differences between people to the point where one who earnestly participates in discussion, debate and argument can direct their anger towards their feelings on the person themselves. Some examples of such delicate subjects are the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia.
Starting in April of 1952 homosexuality was listed as a “sociopathic personality disturbance” by the American Psychiatric Association (PBS). Four years later, on August 30th, 1956, Evelyn Hooker conducted many psychological tests