Are We Really As Open-Minded And Accepting As We Claim To Be?

The past week I attended a LGBTIQ+ discussion at one of the fairly new residences on campus, House Outeniqua. The purpose of the talk was to get people’s viewpoints about the LGBTIQ+ community, or the Rainbow Community - as I like to call it.  

One of the most common misperceptions that people had about the Rainbow Community was that being born in the wrong body (​transexual), or being born either lesbian/gay was something that you can turn on and off at any given time. Most people even believed that homosexuality is an “out‒of‒the‒ordinary” lifestyle that individuals of the Rainbow Community chose to follow themselves. Some individuals who took part in this discussion and vehemently opposed homosexuality as a norm, went as far as saying that people of the Rainbow Community are either possessed by demonic forces, or they are just going through a very abnormal lustful phase.  

When asked if homosexuality is a disease, and if so, how can it be treated, most people gave horrific responses such as: “They should either undergo conversion therapy, or they should be castrated!”. It’s because of these responses that I realised people are not REALLY willing to be as open-minded and accepting as they pretend to be. 

As much as we, the pro-homosexuality group, tried not to bring science and religion into the discussion, we did however drew some standpoints from science and the Bible to further strengthen our argument. One of our arguments were that homosexuality is not against nature as it is also seen amongst some animals, such as the chinstrap penguins who portrayed homosexual behaviour after they successfully hatch and cared for an egg they were given. The other standpoint were that the entire message of the Bible is based on love, and that God is love; therefore He commanded us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.  

Why this much hatred for something you’re completely uneducated about? I really don’t know! But what I do know is that self-acceptance is very important. 

 #Blog #EntryTWO #BKO  #Assignment

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