Thursday, December 18, 2014

Gay Culture

I have long felt that the gay/straight dichotomy that we use today is largely a product of our culture, and not something that is inherent to human beings.  We commonly use our culture as a lens in which we view the world.  That means that many of our views are very ethnocentric.  There's a strong cultural aspect to the Church, too.  I don't believe that culture is bad, but it's important to recognize it for what it is.

So when I came across this article, I was pleased (and somewhat surprised) to find that most scholars of gay history (most of whom are gay, themselves) agree with me.  Don't get turned off by the unfortunate title that claims that nobody is "born that way."  The article is referring to the lens in which we view sexuality, not that our predilections are somehow our choice.  In other words, when we say "I was born that way" or "God made me this way," it's not precisely true because we are actually defining our sexuality according to our culture, not biologically.  Defining our orientations is a decidedly modern aspect of our culture that, according to the article, may have come about when "doctors began to pathologize those who spoke of same-sex desires or experiences.  Those patients developed homosexual identities, which led others to distinguish themselves as heterosexual."

The whole commercialization of erotic desires in the past century or so has changed the way we see sexuality through our cultural lens.  The culture of the Church is trying to counter that view with an alternate culture that sees human sexuality in a different way.  Sometimes this leads to misunderstandings between people of differing cultures.  I think that is a large part of the dichotomy that we see when dealing with sexual orientation and the Church.  With patience and healthy communication, things will get better.

As an aside, I want to make something clear.  According to this view, orientation is not inherent biologically, and so is not like racial identification.  But discrimination is not merely a racial issue.  Religious discrimination is often not racial, either, but I still think it is wrong.  Support for gay rights does not need to depend on "born this way" arguments.  It's enough to assert that just because some people disagree with you, that is no reason to limit their protection under the law.

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