Sexual Orientation and the Struggle for Equality, Essay Example

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), “Sexual orientation refers to an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes.” A person’s sense of identity is based on these attractions, as is the individual’s related behaviours and membership in a community of others who share those attractions. Sexual orientation is usually discussed as being heterosexual, gay/lesbian (homosexual), and bisexual (having romantic, emotional, and sexual attractions to both men and women). Gay is the term used for homosexual men and lesbian means homosexual females. Sexual orientation is not solely an individual’s characteristic such as gender or age, but is defined in terms of relationships with others. “In addition to sexual behaviours, these bonds include non-sexual physical affection between partners, shared goals and values, mutual support, and ongoing commitment’ (ibid.). Nevertheless, there is strong prejudice, discrimination, and violence against homosexuals in the United States even though recently legislation has opposed such acts. Verbal harassment and abuse are nearly universal and discrimination in housing and employment is widespread. The fact that gay and bisexual men have been disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS helps to keep discrimination at a fairly high level. Furthermore, some people believed that all homosexuals had HIV/AIDS and this resulted in added discrimination against these people. Sexual orientation is definitely a social problem that, though lessening, will not fade away completely for some time to come. Although legislation has been enacted to oppose harassment and abuse, it has long been found that it is virtually impossible to legislate how people should feel about things, especially when it comes to the possibility of catching HIV/AIDS through bodily fluids. This fear has, however, through education subsided to a large degree, something that the late Princess Diana helped along quite a bit by being one of the first female royals to shake hands without having on gloves and also by visiting hospitalized AIDS patients.

In 1975 the APA called upon psychologists to take the lead in removing the stigma of mental illness surrounding homosexuals; and over the years that stigma has lessened quite a bit.

However, everyone who can and who is inclined to do so must pitch in to remove it completely because as long as homosexuals believe they are viewed as mentally ill—along with verbal abuse and discrimination—their state of mind and self-esteem will keep lowering and may even result, as it has in the past, in suicide or murder, all of which are certainly societal problems. The Sexual Orientation and Human Rights lays out a number of rights that homosexuals are unable to

enjoy such as the right to a family and the right to privacy because of the existence of sodomy laws. The Campaign to end homophobia states that the social problem is not homosexuality but homophobia. If that is true, then individuals and institutions should search within themselves to see if they are guilty of that social problem. What was intended to be a debate in St. Petersburg on homosexuality was anything but that, with calls for homosexuality to be criminalized. (Coming Out). In Global Comment, racism gets brought into the picture making the social issue even more complex. Blacks believe that when white homosexuals want to be equal, they want to be that with other affluent whites and not with blacks. There is a long road ahead.

Works Cited

American Psychological Association. Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality. (2008). retrieved on May 01, 2012, from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx.

Coming Out. Homophobia is an acute social problem in St. Petersburg. Retrieved on May 01, 2012, from http://www.comingoutspb.ru/en-news/wahpostrelease.

Global Comment Where the World Thinks Out Loud. Homophobia and racism: the failed policy of ranking oppression. Retrieved on May 01, 2012, from http://globalcomment.com/2009/homophobia-and-racism-the-failed.

The Campaign to End Homophobia. Retrieved on May 01, 2012, from http://www.endhomophobia.org/homophobia.htm.

University of Human Rights Library. Sexual orientation and human rights (2003). Retrieved non May 01, 2012, from http://www.umn.edu/humants/edumst/studyguides/sexualorientation.