FREE ESSAY ON HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Imagine you were born into a world where being straight was taboo. You were raised by same
sex parents, as all of your friends. Fornication of the opposite sex was merely to have
children, but a relationship between the two was virtually unheard of. It was believed
that same sex parents provided a better home for children. Love between a man and a man
(or a woman and a woman) was believed to be the perfect love because it was loving an
equal. If one should love the opposite sex it was believed that they secretly wanted to
be that sex. Everything you have ever known and been taught was based around same sex
relationships. When you watch television every program along with every commercial is
same-sex oriented. After a short period of time, at a relatively early age, you realize
that there is something a little different about you. Think of the isolation you would
have felt when you found yourself walking down the street and instead of turning your
head at the same sex, your head was turned at the opposite. A feeling that you might be
straight in a homosexual world would be terrifying. You know if you were to ever express
your attraction to the opposite sex you would be outcast, beat up, made fun of, or maybe
even disowned by your own family for being different.
These are the kind of fears homosexuals must face in our heterosexual world. It is our
lack of compassion that has chosen to outcast them instead of trying to understand why
they are the way they are. Sexual orientation cannot be chosen, yet still small minded
people discriminate against homosexuals. The Catholic Church does not condone homosexual
activity, but she also does not condemn homosexual orientation. Instead, the Catholic
Church encourages celibacy with the help of various support groups.
Homosexuals are persons who find themselves attracted to members of their same sex. The
terminology generally used for male homosexuality is "gay." In the same, homosexual women
generally prefer the term "lesbian." Before one can understand homosexuality, the person
must first understand sexual orientation. 
Sexual orientation is one of the four components of sexuality and is distinguished by an
enduring emotional, romantic, sexual or affectionate attraction to individual of a
particular gender. The three other components of sexuality are biological sex, gender
identity, and social sex role. Three sexual orientations are commonly recognized. These
being : homosexual; attraction to one's own sex, heterosexual; attraction to the opposite
sex, and bisexual; attraction to both sexes (Clausen 25-27).
The way a particular sexual orientation develops in an individual is not well understood
at this point. Various theories have proposed different sources, including genetic or
inborn hormonal factors and life experiences during early childhood. Many scientists
share the view that sexual orientation is shaped for most people at an early age through
complex interactions of biological, psychological and social factors. Sexual orientation
emerges for most people in early adolescence without any prior sexual experience.
Psychologists do not consider sexual orientation for most people to be a conscious choice
that can be voluntarily changed. Some people report trying very hard over many years to
change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual with no success
(Blumenfeld 122-133). 
Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professional agree that
homosexuality is not an illness, mental disorder, or emotional problem. Homosexuality was
thought to be a mental illness in the past because mental health professionals and
society had biased information about homosexuality since most studies only involved
lesbians and gay men in therapy. When researchers examined data about gay people who were
not in therapy, the idea that homosexuality was a mental illness was found to be untrue.
Then in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association confirmed the importance of the new
research by removing the term "homosexuality" from the official manual that lists all
mental and emotional disorders. This helped end the idea that the homosexual orientation
is a mental illness (Genovesi 449-451).
Even though homosexual orientation is not a mental illness, some therapist believe they
can still change the sexual orientation of a homosexual person to that of a heterosexual
person. Some therapist have reported success in these types of treatments, but in 1990,
the American Psychological Association stated that scientific evidence does not show that
conversion therapy works and that it can do more harm than good. Changing one's sexual
orientation is not simply a matter of changing one's sexual behavior. It would require
changing one's emotional. romantic, and sexual feelings, reconstructing their own
self-concept and social identity.
There are many up-to-date sources of the Catholic Church's views on homosexuality, but
homosexuality can be found even mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. In Leviticus
18:22 it states, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an
abomination." Homosexuality has been an issue since the beginning of sexuality itself.
Homosexuality is also found in the animal kingdom. Unequivocally, homosexuality is an
issue that is impossible to ignore. The human race is at the point that homosexual issues
enter world news daily.
In 1976, the American Catholic bishops in their pastoral letter, To Live in Christ Jesus,
wrote a concise, yet understandable and balanced view of homosexuality from a Catholic
perspective. In it they wrote:
"Some persons find themselves, through no fault of their own, to have a homosexual
orientation. Homosexuals, like everyone else, should not suffer from prejudice against
their basic human rights. They have a right to respect, friendship and justice. They
should have an active role in the Christian community. Homosexual activity, however, as
distinguished from homosexual orientation, is morally wrong. Like heterosexual persons,
homosexuals are called to give witness to chastity, avoiding, with God's grace, behavior
which is wrong for them, just as non-marital sexual relations are wrong for
heterosexuals. Nonetheless, because heterosexuals can usually look forward to marriage,
and homosexuals, while their orientation continues, might not, the Christian community
should provide them a special degree of pastoral understanding and care."
The Catholic Church does not condemn homosexual orientation. It condemns the homosexuals
activity, as it condemns premarital sex. The Catholic Church encourages homosexuals to
pick up their cross, despite its difficulties, and strive to live a Christian life. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church states: " Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By
the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of
disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually
and resolutely approach Christian perfection."
The Catholic Church has not always been so understanding of the homosexual condition.
Their first recognition of the need for Christian support of homosexuals was in 1969,
when an organization called Dignity was begun. It was the first spiritual support group
for lesbian and gay Catholics. As Dignity spread it forced church hierarchy to deal with
the issue of homosexuality. By 1982 eight dioceses had established some official outreach
to the lesbian and gay community (Blumenfeld 187-189).
In 1977, another organization was founded. The group called themselves, New Ways
Ministry. It provided the non-gay community education enabling them to learn more about
the hidden minority within our Church and society. With the increase of education about
homosexuals and the rise of support groups for them, there was evidence of an attitudinal
shift in the Catholic Church by the 1970's (Blumenfeld 187-189).
Despite the advance of information available about homosexuals, there will,
unfortunately, always be controversy and discrimination. The general prejudice against
homosexual people has come to be called homophobia. Homophobia literally translated means
"fear of the same." Studies have revealed that individuals who manifest homosexual
prejudice also exhibit other attributes. Generally such people tend to be "more
authoritarian, intolerant of ambiguity, status conscious, and cognitively rigid; more
dogmatic; more sexually rigid and more guilty about their own sexual impulses" (Kirk
120-129).
It seems that individuals who are afraid or intolerant of homosexuals seem to react the
same way to other social situations as well. The personality characteristics of
homophobic people can easily be identified in others that belong to another group of
prejudiced people. From the personal perspective, homosexual prejudice can be a form of
anxiety regarding one's own sexual feelings. Ignorance often spurs such feelings as fear
and anxiety, and this also can be attributed to these prejudices.
There seem to be points in history where, because of discrimination going too far one, a
new social movement was started bringing about new social changes. The incident credited
with igniting the recent struggle for gay and lesbian liberation occurred at a small gay
bar, the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, in New York's Greenwich Village, on June
27, 1969. On that Friday evening, Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine along with seven other
officials from the Public Morals Section of the First Division of the New York City
Police Department attempted to shut down a local bar frequented by gay street people,
drag queens, and others. The charge was selling liquor without a license. This was a
common event, for there were frequent raids of gay bars in that city. Patrons usually
accommodated the officials. This evening, however, was different. Feeling they had had
enough of this treatment, people fought back by flinging bottles and rocks at police on
this night and on successive nights (Clausen 87-99).
It was no coincidence that the revolt began in a bar, for bars have been significant to
gay culture long before Stonewall. Bars were places where people could meet others like
themselves. They were also targets of longstanding state harassment. In New York City,
for example, a law dating back to 1923 was used to arrest and fine any man who invited
another man home for sex on grounds of "degenerate disorderly conduct." Behavior
considered "campy," same-sex dancing, touching, and kissing were also classified as
"degenerate." In the 1930s the Liquor Control Law was passed in New York City giving the
State Liquor Authority the power to close bars it deemed "disorderly." "Homosexual" was
often placed in the category and subsequently gay and lesbian bars were constantly
threatened with closure and in many instances actually shut down. Though small pockets of
resistance on the part of bars and bar patrons was in evidence, the Stonewall Riots
marked a turning point in the struggle for equality (Clausen 100-103).
The first gay and lesbian group coming from the new wave of gay liberation to take a
national focus was the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). It was founded in
November 1973 as a professionally staffed organization which blended the old homophile
and newer reformist gay and lesbian liberationist strategies. As originally stated,
NGLTF's purpose is : "...to re-educate society, including its homosexual members, to
esteem gay men and women at their full human worth and to accord them places in society
which will allow them to attain and contribute according to their full human and social
potential." (Bruce Voeller, in first NGLTF Newsletter.)
NGLTF and other civil rights advocates have been working with Members of Congress and
officials at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for more than two years towards the
introduction of stronger and more effective federal hate crimes legislation. Just before
Congress recessed for this year, legislation was introduced in the Senate and House to
enhance the federal government's enforcement of hate crimes and to broaden coverage of
bias crimes to include not only those based on race, color, religion, and national origin
but also those based on sexual orientation, gender and disability (Blumenfeld 311-312).
Legislation to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation was reintroduced
in both the House and Senate on June 10, 1997. Efforts to educate about the advocate for
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a high priority for the Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights, a national coalition of 180 organizations representing people
of color, women, labor organizations, people with disabilities, older Americans, LGBT
groups, and major religious groups. The Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee held a
hearing on October 23.
As in the last Congress, there was another unsuccessful attempt this year to deny joint
adoptions by gay men and lesbians in the District of Columbia using the annual DC
appropriations bill. There was also an attempt to limit joint adoptions to ?spouses? of
the person petitioning for adoption. The same approach was tried this year, although
language was added to this year's amendment to make clear that unmarried persons could
still adopt so long as no one else joined in that adoption.
On October 29, Representatives Barney Frank introduced The Domestic Partnership Benefits
and Obligations Act of 1997 to extend domestic partnership benefits to federal employees
and their partners. It would apply to both same sex and opposite gender couples. The
benefits would be available to partners of government employees and would cover civil
service or federal employee retirement programs, life insurance, health insurance, and
compensation for work injuries.
In Indiana, the government party and House party is that of democrats. The senate party
is that of republicans. Control of the House was divided after the 1996 elections.
Democrats control Speaker and Committee Chairs. In the legislative session of January 8 -
March 13, the governor condemned anti-gay intolerance in the state and replaced Indiana
Civil Rights Commissioner, Ruth Benevente, who wanted to fire all gay and lesbian people
in the state. 
Indiana seems to dodge sexual orientation in many of there laws where it is definitely
called for. Civil rights law includes no sexual orientation. Hate crimes law includes no
sexual orientation. There is no sodomy law in place. Yet, same gender marriages have been
considered and banned, in Indiana, by law.
With the extent of the progress being made in the education of the homosexual condition,
there is no excuse for prejudice. The Catholic Church embraces everyone. Homosexual
activity is not right, but homosexuals may still live a full life within the church. They
are called to chastity as demonstrated in this bible passage:
"That [celibacy] is something which not everyone can accept, but only those for whom God
has appointed it. For while some are incapable of marriage because they were born so, or
were made so by men, there are others who have themselves renounced marriage for the sake
of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let hose accept it who can" (Matthew 19: 11-12).
In many cases the wisest words ever stated on various subject were stated years and years
ago. This last Bible passage, if carefully read, demonstrates the way in which we, as
human beings, should act towards one another when differences of our persons arise.
"Do not conform to the standards of the world around you, but change your attitudes
through a complete renewal of mind, that you may discern the will of God and know what is
good, desirable, and right... Just as there are numerous parts in the human body, all
with different functions, so too we - though many - form one body in Christ and belong
individually as members to each other and yet have different personal attributes
according to the favor God has bestowed on us... Love each other with the affection of
sisters and brothers, and have a profound respect for one another... Treat all people in
equal consideration; never be haughty, but go about with humble folk; and under no
circumstances allow yourself to become self-satisfied... Do whatever possible, on your
part, to live at peace with everybody... (Romans 12: 2, 4-6, 10, 16, 18.)
If we can all live by these words, whether we are educated on a subject of prejudice or
not, we can all live in harmony around one another complementing all the wonderful
attributes God has bestowed on us differently. The only way one can attempt to tackle
such an issue is to keep reminding oneself how Jesus would have reacted if put in the
same position as such controversies today.
Bibliography
Backous, Timothy, and Graham, William C. Common Good, Uncommon Questions. Minnesota : The
Liturgical Press, 1997.
Blumenfeld, Warren J., and Raymond, Diane. Looking At Gay And Lesbian Life. 
New York : Philosophical Library, 1988.
Califia, Pat. The Advocate Adviser. Boston : Alyson Publications, 1991.
Clausen, Jan. Beyond Gay Or Straight. Philadelphia : Chelsea House Publishers,
1955.
Downing, Christine. Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love. New York : 
Continuum, 1989.
Gramick, Jeannine, et al. Homosexuality and the Catholic Church. Illinois : The Thomas
More Press, 1983.
"Homosexuality." Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine. 1997. ed.
"Homosexuality, Social Implications of." The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought.
1994. ed.
Isay, Richard A. Being Homosexual. New York : Avon Books, 1990.
Kirk, Marshall. After the Ball. New York : Doubleday, 1989.
Leviticus. Holy Bible. Kansas : Catholic Bible Publishers, 1970. 18:22.
Nugent, Robert, et al. A Challenge to Love. New York : Crossroad, 1983.
Regeneration. No Easy Way. Baltimore : Regeneration, Inc., 1991.
The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Missouri :
Liguori Publications, 1992. p. 566.
Sullivan, Andrew. Virtually Normal. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.