Homophobia should not remain an anomaly of our society

Sohail Monga/ Contributing Writer

Constant attacks on minorities and communities have created such a vicious cycle that the term ‘hate crime’ has become a common thing.

Since the election of President Donald Trump, attacks on those who are portrayed as a threat to society have been frequently targeted — one of the more frequent targets being the LGBTQ community.

For many years, homosexuality has been one of the most debatable and controversial issues of society. Funny enough though, LGBTQ history dates back to ancient civilizations, where records of same-sex love and sexuality involving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peoples and cultures around the world go as far back as 3,000-5,000 B.C.

So it’s no surprise that such practices still exist today, but what also survived after many centuries of persecution was shame, suppression, and secrecy.

One of the many arguments against homosexuality is how the practice goes against religion. But, what these people have to understand is that the practice of homosexuality existed even before the birth of most common religions today.

There are many Christian denominations that condemn homosexual acts as sinful and therefore should not be accepted by society, but there are other denominations that see it as morally acceptable.

Christians who see homosexuality as sinful tend to interpret biblical verses on homosexual acts to mean that the heterosexual family was created by God, therefore, same-sex relationships contradict God’s design for marriage, violate his will and are overall unnatural.

On the other hand, some Christians believe that Biblical passages have been mistranslated and such passages do not refer to LGBT orientation, therefore, they are misunderstood.  

In the case of Islam, homosexual acts are prohibited, with scholars citing reasons based on teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah like “It clashes with the ‘natural’ order in which God created human beings” and “It brings destruction of the family and the institutions of marriage.”

There are two sides to every coin, and it’s important to note that there are those that accept homosexuality.

But many people in the world still do not accept it — which are few excuses for people’s cold attitude and ignorance towards homosexuality. This mind thought however, can lead sometimes to violence.

On Sept. 21, the police found the remains of 17-year-old transgender Ally Lee Steinfeld, who was gruesomely murdered. The three mains suspects — Andrew Vrba, Isis Schauer and Briana Calderas — have been charged with first-degree murder.

Steinfeld is the 21st transgender person who has been killed in the U.S. in 2017, according to the Human Rights Campaign, and details of Steinfeld’s death have prompted many to call for the suspects to face hate crime charges.

“As details of her brutal murder are confirmed, it seems likely that anti-transgender animus played a role,” HRC legal director Sarah Warbelow said in a statement to CNN. “This broader epidemic of violence against the transgender community, often motivated by hatred, must come to an end.”

I believe Steinfeld’s murder was indeed a hate crime. It’s hate crimes like this that lead to retaliation, and it’s absurd to think that people resort to such measures.

Homosexuality or gender preference is never taught and it cannot be unlearned. People need to learn how to live with the fact that this is just a normal thing.

If some people despise homosexuality, they can just choose to stay away from the people who practice it.

Moreover, if homosexuality is one of the oldest practices, then we need to accept the fact that attraction towards someone, regardless of their gender, cannot be controlled by the relatively newer elements of the world like the religion or modern civilization.

 

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

 

Photo taken from Flickr.