Acceptance Of The Gay In Society free essay sample

The term gay has changed dramatically through out the 20th centaury. The term derives from the old French word gai that meant†happy†, â€Å"carefree†, â€Å"showy and bright†. The word started gaining sexual connotations in the 17th centaury. The word was used to mean† addicted to pleasure and dissipations†. This was by extension from the primary meaning â€Å"carefree†: implying â€Å"uninhibited by moral constraints†. By the late 19th centaury the term â€Å"gay life† was a well established euphemism for prostitution and other forms of extra marital sexual encounters that were considered immoral in society. The word gay on the other hand came to mean â€Å"homosexuality† by the extension of the words â€Å"sexualized connotation† of â€Å"carefree and uninhibited†, which implied the willingness to disregard any respectable sexual mores. By the 20th centaury, the term gay came to be used permanently when referring to anyone who was considered to have sexual inclinations that were considered to be immoral. We will write a custom essay sample on Acceptance Of The Gay In Society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This term was preferred to terms such as â€Å"queer† which was considered to be derogatory and homosexuality which was considered to be so clinical and was used to mean â€Å"men with mental problems† (Gallup Survey. September 1989- May 2004). WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TERM GAY? The meaning of the term gay is the sexual preference that people have towards people of the same sex as they are. An example can be a sexual relationship that is between two women or two men. More rarely though, the term gay is used in a shorthand manner for the LGBT: lesbians, gay, bisexuals and transgender. Some transgender though find the inclusion in the larger grouping to be offensive. LIFE OF A THE GAY PEOPLE. Gay people usually in most cases never find out about their preferences until when they are teenagers when they are more sexually active. This usually in most case comes to them as a shock. The girls find out that they are not attracted to the opposite sexes when their friends are so engrossed in the male species. They find that they prefer their female friends have feelings for then that are normally not allowed. The males on the other hand find that they are attracted to their male counterparts and not the females as it is supposed to be. This causes the victims of this kind of feelings towards their like sexes to withdraw from the public and become introverts. This is usually a very hard time to the homosexuals. When they get to know their preferences, they are usually very scared to share their knowledge with anyone since they know that will be looked down upon by the society. This is because; this kind of preference is not socially accepted. The victims will start performing poorly in school and also shed off all their friends because they are scared of their friends getting to find out their BIG secret. This in most cases causes a lot of questions from the people around but they never in most cases share with others when they have found out. When one finally finds the strength to share their secrets with family members, they are usually condemned and criticized. This causes a lot of distrust from the victims towards other people. The only people that the gay individuals can open up to are the ones that they share the same preferences when it comes to their sexual relationships (Bulter, Judith. 1990). THE SOCIETIES VIEW ABOUT THE GAY. The gay in societies are looked down upon by the so called â€Å"righteous† in the society. This is a practice that is considered to be very immoral and wrong. The society does not take the gay relationships to be serious, some consider the gay individuals to be bewitched or simply condemned. Some also say that there is no thing like people finding themselves to be inclined sexually towards people of the same sex, they claim that the gay society is a group of people that just want to be disrespectable to the ways of the society that are dimmed to be appropriate (Bulter, Judith. 1990). The society when they get to know the people that have such inclinations, they shun them and detach them from any activities in the society. They also ask their loved ones to have nothing to do with them since it will be considered a disgrace to an individual to associate with them. The society generally views such a relationship to be wrong an immoral in all kinds of ways. Some of the people actually become very violent towards the homosexuals. There have been incidents where ones someone has been identified to be a homosexual, they have been killed through all types of ways with no second thought from the murderers. The homosexuals are either stoned by a mob or some individuals who have taken it upon themselves to rid the society of the homosexuals who use different ways to get rid of them. This causes the homosexuals to be constantly scared for their lives. They live with fear every time they walk out of the safety of their houses, any time they walk o the street and any time they are somewhere they consider to be unsafe. At times, even the places that the victims consider to be safe like their homes tend to be no longer safe when people break in to harm them. This is a life that is really very hard to live with (Featherstone, Mike. 1983). BIBLICAL VIEW ON HOMOSEXUALITY. According to Rev. Bruce Roberts, homosexuality is the deepest issue separating churches today. Whether the faithful look upon down upon the gay and lesbian community or accept them, mostly depends entirely on how the faithful take the Biblical reference interpreted as condemning homosexuality. It depends with whether they try to interpret the laws of Moses in the Old Testament or the one commandment uttered by Jesus in the New Testament â€Å"thou shall love your neighbor as you love yourself†. It also depends if the faithful take homosexuality as an illness, a born with trait or free choice. Finally, it depends on how much the faithful know about what homosexuality is and how it is manifested, their personal fears and their willingness to learn about such things (Bulter, Judith. 1990). Below are passages from the Revised Standard Edition of the Bible usually cited as the basis for condemning homosexuality. Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. It is an abomination. Leviticus 20:13 If a male lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them. Deuteronomy 23:18 You shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a sodomite into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God. Romans 1:26, 27 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. Other books in the Bible that has reference to homosexuality are; Genesis 19:3-5, 10-11, Judges 19:22-23, 25, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 and Timothy 1:8-10. These are verses in the Bible that condemn the practice of homosexuality. This is what causes the faithful to condemn this kind of relationships since the Bible condemns it. GAY MARRIAGES. These marriages were at particular time condemned completely by the church and the society. Nowadays, some of these marriages have been united by some church leaders. Not everyone has accepted the act, but what is done is done. More of the gay couples have started coming out of hiding and declaring their love for each other publicly. After their declarations they ask for a priest to unit the in Holy Matrimony. After their weddings, they also get to adopt children that they raise up as their own in the kind of family atmosphere that any family can give a child( Berber B. , 1966).