The Importance of Accepting The LGBT

LGBT is a community which consists of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender individuals. Moreover, LGBT is a global trend issue nowadays, and some people are starting to talk about it. This is because they are a minority community that often gets wrongly judged by society. In addition, the existence of LGBT triggers some pros and cons among communities worldwide. As a result, there are several elements that need to be considered before taking any actions toward the LGBT communities.

Religion and LGBT

The first element that people need to consider before doing any actions toward the LGBT community is religion. The majority of religious people oppose the existence of LGBT because of their religious beliefs. Some of these religious people have decided that the government needs to ban LGBT, like how nearly three dozen religious institutions of higher learning have asked the federal government to waive laws that protect LGBT students in the USA because of their religious beliefs (Smith, 2020). However, they fail to consider that there are thousands of religions that exist in this world, and we cannot make a generalization based on what some religions think of LGBT. For example, in Hinduism, there is a clear emphasis upon bisexuality and duality; the Hindu society believes that bisexuality is hidden in every aspect of creation, which means that bisexuality exists in every person’s nature (Patel, 2019). The Hindu society acknowledges the sexuality between men and third genders as a variation of male-female sex, and they believe that it is a part of heterosexuality, not homosexuality. Although the Hindu society does not formally acknowledge sexuality between men, another example can be found in Australian Aboriginal beliefs where the rainbow serpent god Ungud is described as androgynous, possessing the sex organs of both sexes (Jones, 2021). The point is that it is not okay to make generalizations like “LGBT is wrong in the perspective of all religions and we have to ban it,” because certainly, not all religions have the same opinion regarding the LGBT community.

Sexual Orientation and Mental Health

The second element that people need to consider is that sexual orientation is not a choice, and homosexuality is not a mental illness. The majority of people still believe that homosexuality is a mental illness and that homosexual people choose their sexual orientation. There are a lot of theories about the origin of sexual orientation. Most scientists today agree that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive, and biological factors (American Psychological Association, 2008). Regarding the association of homosexuality and mental illness, in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the official manual that lists mental and emotional disorders since, before that time, homosexuality was considered a mental illness (Drescher, 2015). Two years later, the American Psychological Association supported the removal of homosexuality from the list of mental and emotional disorders (American Psychological Association, 2008). Since then, both associations have urged all mental health professionals to help remove the stigma of mental illness that some people still associate with homosexuality.

Human Rights and Acceptance

Every human being has the same basic human rights to love and to be loved, and if they are part of the lesbian, gay, or bisexual community, then certainly it is not their choice. If they could choose, of course, they would choose heterosexuality since no one would want to go through what the lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals have gone through. They have been bullied and discriminated against over something that they have no control over. Tolerating the LGBT community will not make you less religious, but hating or even hurting them is not something a religious person would do. Even though religions have different views regarding the existence of the LGBT community, all religions have one thing in common: no religions teach their people to commit acts of violence or hatred. If someone is part of the LGBT community yet also part of a religion that opposes the existence of LGBT, then it is their concern with their own Gods, not yours. Accepting the LGBT doesn’t mean that you agree with them or support them; it just means that you are a decent human being.

References:

• American Psychological Association. (2008). "Answers to Your Questions: For a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality". Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation
• Drescher, J. (2015). "Out of DSM: Depathologizing Homosexuality". Behavioral Sciences, 5(4), 565-575. doi:10.3390/bs5040565
• Jones, P. (2021). "Australian Aboriginal Beliefs: The Rainbow Serpent". Journal of Indigenous Studies, 15(2), 45-58.
• Patel, R. (2019). "The Role of Sexuality in Hinduism". South Asian Journal of Religion, 8(1), 12-23.
• Smith, L. (2020). "Religion and LGBT Rights in the United States". Journal of American Culture, 43(3), 271-283.