Persuasive Essay On Homophobia

Gay rights has been a controversial topic for decades among religious people due to the fact that America’s foundation, along with the Constitution, being under God’s authority. The Declaration of Independence states that “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Two hundred years ago, people were more open minded than some of people in today’s society. As time goes by, individuals have become more and more open minded about the topic of discussion. Even though some people refuse to move along with the rest of society, that being with gay rights and equality. Every person on this earth who has issues with same-sex marriage uses religion …show more content…
This fear is called homophobia. By its very definition, homophobia is the dislike of or prejudice against homosexual person or in extreme cases fear of hatred of them. Two men named James and Edward Westermarck came up with the idea that the disgust of homosexuality originates from any religion that states it is a sin to lay with another man. Their work was the first of its kind, in terms of how raw it was and how true it was. It explained why and how homophobic came to be in many conditions. They state in their work that an individual who grows up under normal religious circumstances with little to no gay people, tend to be more homophobic than the average person who befriends homosexuals. Gregory M. Herek wrote an article explaining the work of both Westermarck’s and their ideas along with that. “He was willing to assert that societal censure of homosexual practices is due to the feeling of aversion or disgust which the idea of homosexual intercourse tends to call forth in normally constituted adult individuals whose sexual instincts have developed under normal conditions (Herek).” There are obviously more than one cause of homophobia, some could be a very serious mental condition that makes them terrified of gay people, but more cases are just parents trying to show that gay people are immoral and that ultimately leads to a fear or hatred towards them. Herek also mentions that homophobic people tend to be more conservative and traditional with sex or intimacy. They are less likely to have had personal connection with lesbians or gays and they are more likely to be religious, to attend church frequently, and to subscribe to a conservative religious ideology. But again, as time goes by the existence of all of these things, like homophobia and hate crimes, are starting to diminish into