Free Essays on Homosexuality

Is Homosexuality A Mental Disorder? No. All major professional mental health organizations have gone on record to affirm that Homosexuality is not a mental disorder. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association’s Board of Trustees removed homosexuality from its official diagnostic manual, The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Second Edition (DSM II). The action was taken following a review of the scientific literature and consultation with experts in the field. The experts found that homosexuality does not meet the criteria to be considered a mental illness. What causes Homosexuality/Heterosexuality/Bisexuality? No one knows what causes heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. Homosexuality was once thought to be the result of troubled family dynamics or faulty psychological development. Those assumptions are now understood to have been based on misinformation and prejudice. Currently there is a renewed interest in searching for biological etiologies for homosexuality. However, to date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality. Similarly, no specific psychosocial or family dynamic cause for homosexuality has been identified, including histories of childhood sexual abuse. Sexual abuse does not appear to be more prevalent in children who grow up to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, than in children who identify as heterosexual. Is It Possible To Change One’s Sexual Orientation (â€Å"Reparative Therapy†)? There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of â€Å"reparative therapy† as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation, nor is it included in the APA’s Task Force Report, Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders. More importantly, altering sexual orientation is not an appropriate goal of psychiatric treatment. Some may seek conversion to heterosexuality because of the difficulties that they encounter ... Free Essays on Homosexuality Free Essays on Homosexuality Homosexuality has been a source of constant conflict among many organizations of today’s society. Perhaps the most prominent disputes of this issue exist within the disagreement of same sex relationships from the views of society, homosexuals, the Christian church, and scientist’s biological theories. Society’s view is that homosexuals influence others; therefore, it is a chosen lifestyle. Most homosexuals believe they were born with a homosexual gene and they did not choose this lifestyle for themselves. The Christian church teaches that â€Å"homosexuality† is not God’s design for people, but believes there are ways of changing. Several scientific theories show no observations of a homosexual gene, but believe there could be certain happenings in one’s life that could change one’s sex subconsciously. Though society is a vast majority, this does not assure that its beliefs are right. In any event, society does play a major role in a homosexual's life. The view is that homosexuality is something that one does and is a chosen â€Å"lifestyle,† which can be influenced by others. People say that it is not inherited but caused by poor parenting skills. If a child is unable to form a loving relationship with the parent of the same gender, the child would take this incompleteness into adulthood, where he would seek love from another adult of the same gender. The result would then be homosexual activity (Tatchell 1). Society also believes that a person chooses his sexual lifestyle after puberty. They say when peer pressure comes into play in a teen’s high school years; individuals begin to experiment with homosexual behavior and eventually become addicted to it, thus, making it more and more natural for that individual. Natural is what homosexuality is NOT in society’s eye. Many people think homosexuality is some sort of disease that you cannot cure, and they stay clear of homosexuals for the fear of turning gay themselv... Free Essays on Homosexuality The simple explanation of homosexuality has baffled scientists, theologians, philosophers and the general public for hundreds of years. In many cultures homosexuality is looked upon as a sin or an unforgivable crime against morality, however, there are a few scattered cultures throughout the world in which homosexuality is favored or even encouraged. According to our social norm a man should be attracted to a woman and a woman should be attracted to a man, deviation from this norm creates an entirely new group of â€Å"sexual deviants† (Rollyson,23). For many decades, primarily at the beginning of this century these sexual deviants were thought of by doctors and psychologists as mentally ill individuals and were treated as such. Some underwent painful procedures to â€Å"straighten out† their brain function, others found themselves locked up in institutions heavily medicated and labeled a danger to society, still others endured a battle far worse than any treatment a doctor could prescribe the emotional torture of coming to terms with who they really were and then having to keep it locked up for fear of being found out. There are many opposing viewpoints dealing with the nature vs. nurture debate regarding homosexuality. Some ask if it comes from a variation in our genes or our physiology, from details of our personal histories, or a union of these. Is homosexuality a choice or compulsion? Can it be controlled? Truly, there is no one solid solution these questions and it has become very clear that no one single study or bit of information can clearly explain the mystery surrounding homosexuals and their feelings. Since homosexuality is now seen as â€Å"life left-handedness† many studies and debates have taken place in order to better explain this social anomaly. There is strong evidence on both sides of the debate however, due to the conservative nature of our culture the argument that homosexuality is unnatural and is very much b... Free Essays on Homosexuality Homosexuality By: Desiree Shone What exactly is a homosexual? It is a person sexually attracted to a person of their own sex. Why do people become homosexuals? This is a question that has been asked ever since the first homosexual person "came out of the closet." People do not choose to become homosexuals. There has never been a proven theory of why people become homosexuals. There are three theories that try to explain why people become homosexuals, they are: the Biological theory, Psychiatric theory, and the Sociological theory.(Thio, 211) The Biological theory is broken down into three different parts. The first one is the hormone theory which states that homosexual men have a low level of male sex hormones and a homosexual female have a low level of female sex hormones.(IBID, 211) the second one is the genetic theory. The genetic theory states that people are born gay and society only helps their homosexuality advance. Researchers announced that there is even a "gay gene".(Nardo, 66) The last Biological theory is the brain theory. The brain theory states that a person who has a smaller brain is most likely going to be gay.(Thio, 211) The Psychiatric theory has evolved through many different thoughts about what is homosexuality. At first, psychiatrists thought that it was a mental illness. After it was proven not to be an illness many assumed that homosexuals were going through sexual orientation disturbance. Psychiatrists helped gays to accept themselves as being homosexuals. Another psychiatric theory was that homosexuals had a bad parent-son relationship when they were growing up.(IBID) The last theories are the Sociological theories. Sociological theories state that society affects a person's sexual preference. The biological predisposition says that some people are more likely to become gay when they are born than other people.(IBID, 212) The socializing process states that children will decide their sexuality from contact... Free Essays on Homosexuality Is Homosexuality A Mental Disorder? No. All major professional mental health organizations have gone on record to affirm that Homosexuality is not a mental disorder. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association’s Board of Trustees removed homosexuality from its official diagnostic manual, The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Second Edition (DSM II). The action was taken following a review of the scientific literature and consultation with experts in the field. The experts found that homosexuality does not meet the criteria to be considered a mental illness. What causes Homosexuality/Heterosexuality/Bisexuality? No one knows what causes heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. Homosexuality was once thought to be the result of troubled family dynamics or faulty psychological development. Those assumptions are now understood to have been based on misinformation and prejudice. Currently there is a renewed interest in searching for biological etiologies for homosexuality. However, to date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality. Similarly, no specific psychosocial or family dynamic cause for homosexuality has been identified, including histories of childhood sexual abuse. Sexual abuse does not appear to be more prevalent in children who grow up to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, than in children who identify as heterosexual. Is It Possible To Change One’s Sexual Orientation (â€Å"Reparative Therapy†)? There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of â€Å"reparative therapy† as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation, nor is it included in the APA’s Task Force Report, Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders. More importantly, altering sexual orientation is not an appropriate goal of psychiatric treatment. Some may seek conversion to heterosexuality because of the difficulties that they encounter ... Free Essays on Homosexuality Homosexuality within the Church: An Issue of Religious Liberty The Argument If one were to ask your stance on homosexuality within the Christian church and your reasoning behind your views, how would you answer them? I find that most Christians I have talked with take a rather conservative, traditional view and base their beliefs upon a few key passages in the Bible - I Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:5-6; Jude 5-7 and about a dozen more. The basic problem with limiting your view to these various scriptures is that homosexuals who claim to be Christians use these same passages in defense. Many claim that these passages have been translated incorrectly from their original texts (Hebrew and Greek). An exhaustive study by Pastor Ken Coulter which has been published by Logos Ministries under the title Dispelling the Myth, attempts to prove that throughout the centuries the translations of the original texts have been incorrect. For example, I Corinthians 6:9 is translat ed in the New King James Version as follows: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites.... The Greek words malakos arsenokoitai are translated into the modern word homosexual in this particular translation. However, Coulter makes the statement that malakos has a double meaning. The first of which means "softness," the second describes a character flaw which he translates as meaning "weak willed" or "easily beguiled." Arsenokoitai has been translated several different ways. Coulter says that the true meaning is a mystery, but that it could mean a "male prostitute who takes an active role." He also claims that there were many other words in the Greek that the apostle Paul could have used to make his meaning clearer if he was referring to homosexuality. What Coulter doesn't say is that Paul's meaning was not lost on the audience...