Facultad de Filisofa y Humanidades

Departamento de Lingstica
English Language III: Written Discourse
Professor Pascuala Infante
Paula Vargas C.

Allowing and accepting homosexual marriage and homosexual parenting within Chilean
culture. Rebuttal of the most common arguments against homosexuality

Introduction
Even having a little bit more of acceptance among people, homosexuality in Chile is still a
taboo concept that many people try to avoid. It is surprising for me to being argue about
this issue, taking into account the era where we are living and all the progress that has been
in terms of human rights and laws against discrimination. But there is still a great level of
discrimination and we can see that homosexual people are constantly attacked and frowned
on by their social environment. I think that the best way to combat discrimination against
homosexuality is to put the subject on the table and to create a discussion about it.
Currently, in Chile, we lack of laws that approve and allow homosexual couples to get
married and have children, this fact affects negatively the view that people have over
homosexuality. I think that homosexual marriage and parenting should be allowed by
Chilean Government, this would probably mean a decrease in the level of discrimination,
and hopefully a greater acceptance of homosexuality among people in Chile. In the
following paragraphs I will be arguing against the more typical arguments against, first,
homosexual marriage, and second, homosexual parenting. The structure of the text is given
by the rebuttal of the arguments against my position.

1. Common arguments against homosexual marriage

1.1 Man and woman were created to be together and procreate.

One of the main reasons that people against homosexual marriage consider to defend their
positions is the religious one, which is connected with the biological fact that homosexual
couples cannot have children. The Bible says God created man in his own image, in the
image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them,
and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it." (Book of
Genesis 1:27-28, English Standard version).From the book of the Genesis, it is possible to
infer that men and woman were created to be together and procreate children. God chose
man and woman to continue with his creation, the human race. For the supporters of this
idea, marriage, in order to be legal must be between a man and a woman, who,
subsequently, must form a family. Within this view, the most influential point is the one that
has to do with biological traits, the reason why same-sex couples cannot reproduce
naturally. There are even some people who claim that society will die out if homosexuality
continues increasing, this society will die out. Of course this argument sounds a little
ridiculous considering the worldwide total population, and that among this population iit is
possible to find great diversity of sexual orientation. Also, this argument assumes,
curiously, that all humans would become exclusively homosexual if given the chance.
(Boswell, 1981), which is almost impossible. Even taking into account a probable increase
of the amount of homosexual people, this would not mean a threat to society. Of course, the
fact of not being able to have children naturally does not mean a big deal nowadays, there
are lots of methods that help people, not just homosexual couples, but also heterosexual
ones, who cannot breed children, as artificial insemination. So the fact that homosexual
people cannot procreate would not signify a problem.

1.2 Homosexual people is more promiscuous than heterosexual people, and they are the
culprits of the spread of venereal diseases
Another much known argument against homosexual marriage is the one which says that
homosexual people are more promiscuous than heterosexual ones, so they are the main
culprits of the spread of venereal diseases. In most of the cases, these assumptions point to
male, but not female homosexual. First, it is necessary to give a definition of promiscuous,
and it is define as having a lot of different sexual partners or sexual relationships, or

(of sexual habits) involving a lot of different partners (Cambridge Dictionary online). It is
clear that promiscuity is a concept associated to human beings en general, and not just to
homosexual people. According to Joseph Nicolos (2015) the promiscuous nature of gay
relationships, especially those of gay men, is becoming more widely recognized, it is
impossible to deny that this view of homosexuality is shared by a great amount of people,
but that does not mean that is true. Some researchers have concluded that the incidence of
promiscuity is not related to sexual orientation, but, what is determinant in this behavior is
gender. Usually, men are more promiscuous than women, men express a higher level of
sexual desire, and experience sexual desire more often than women do (Regan & Atkins,
2006). So, the fact that homosexual men are considered to be more promiscuous than
homosexual women has to do with a difference of gender, not with their homosexual
condition. Therefore, sexual promiscuity, when it occurs, is a human phenomenon that is
not uniquely linked with one particular type of sexual orientation (Lipp, 2013). And, in
relation to the spread of venereal diseases, which are particularly linked to promiscuous
behavior, it can be inferred from the previous lines, that men also play an important role,
they are often the ones who transmit diseases to their sexual partners, and according to
some statistics, women are the most affected. For instance, among female adults and
adolescents who were diagnosed with HIV infection in 2009, 84.9 percent were infected
through heterosexual contact (R.Usher & L.Davis, 2015). A decrease of the amount of
homosexual people would not decrease the spread of venereal diseases, the best way to
combat the spread of these diseases is educating people on how to prevent them, and
promoting sexual responsibility.

2. Common arguments against homosexual parenting

2.1 Kids need parents of both genders in order to thrive.
Opponents of homosexual parenting say that children must have parents of both genders to
thrive, that it is necessary for them to have male and female gender role figure. It is
believed that children who grow up without a father are more likely to live in poverty,
commit crime and even to end up in prison. But this view that considers the male figure as

indispensable in a child development seems to be obsolete considering that, currently, there

are a great number of single mothers and couples that are divorced who are able to raise
their children properly. Successful parenting is not gender specific, any gender
configuration of adults could parent well (Silverstein & Auerbach 1999, in Biblarz &
Stacey 2010). Consequently, it is possible to say that homosexual parenting is also
considered by the previous statement. According to some studies, strengths typically
associated with married mother-father families appear to the same extent in families with
two mothers and potentially in those with two fathers (Biblarz & Stacey, 2010). It also
important to mention, that, in most of the cases, women seem to have better parenting skills
in comparison with men, this includes lesbian couples, who have demonstrated that is
possible for a child to be raised by a same-sex couple successfully. Even considering the
first assumption, that children need both genders role figure, as true, it would be valid
taking into account that parents are not the only gender figures present in childrens life.
Children are always exposed to different gender role figures in their daily life, as, for
example, teachers and classmates in schools, relatives and even they can observe
expressions of both female and male gender role figure in the mass media.

2.2 Children raised in homosexual families are more likely to have childhood difficulties
and to be homosexual than those raised in heterosexual families.
There are two arguments against homosexual parenting which are commonly associated,
one says that children raised by same-sex parents tend to have childhood difficulties, and
the other one, which is usually heard, suggests that children raised by homosexual couples
tend to be homosexual, or to have gender disorders. In relation with the first argument,
there is no enough evident to confirm this, as it possible to see in the following lines:
Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged
in any important way relative to children of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the
evidence to date suggests that home environment provided by gay and lesbian
parents are as likely as are those provided by heterosexual parents to support and to

enable childrens psychosocial growth (Patterson & Redding 1996, in Cameron &
Cameron 2002).
In fact, there are many reported samples of children raised by homosexual couples who
have been very successful in their life, as the case of Alexis Castillo, a Chilean boy raised
by a lesbian couple who obtained the highest score in the PSU- the university admission
test implemented in Chile. He declared that his family has always supported him and thanks
to it he obtained great academic results. And, referring to the second argument, that
children who grow up in homosexual families are more likely to be homosexual or to have
gender disorders, the first thing that comes to our mind is; it that be so, how we explain that
heterosexual couples should raised children that are homosexual in the future. This
argument seems to be contradictory and lacks of clear evidence. Besides, this point of view
shows a great level of discrimination, because is considering homosexuality as something
negative that should not occur.

Conclusion
It is clear that the arguments against homosexual marriage and parenting are not solid
enough and lack of hard evidence. First, the fact that homosexual people cannot reproduce
naturally would not mean the end of the human race, nowadays there are lots of methods
that help people who cannot have children. Second, promiscuity is a concept applied to
humans in general, is not linked with homosexuality. It is possible to see some difference in
the level of promiscuity between male and female, but sexual orientation does not
determine promiscuity. Therefore, homosexual people cannot be labeled as the culprits of
the spread of

venereal diseases which is produced mainly by promiscuous behaviour.

Third, related to homosexual parenting, children does not need both genders parents,
studies have proof that children raised in same-sex families have the same strengths of
those raised in mother-father families. In addition, parents are not the only gender role
figures that children have, they are always exposed to different gender role figures in their
daily life. Also, the belief that children from homosexual families will be homosexual
adults in the future is ludicrous, if this was true, there would not be an explanation for the

existence of homosexual people raised by heterosexual couples. And finally, children

raised in homosexual families are as successful as children of heterosexual families, there
are solid examples that proof this. Hence, there are not valid reasons to forbid homosexual
marriage and parenting in Chile, Chilean Government should implement new laws for them
to have the same rights as heterosexual people.

Number of words: 1834.

References

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