We need to take a second look at our assumptions

about gay marriage1

Almost 60% of people surveyed by researchrs from the UCR in 2017 oppose same-sex marriage.

The recent ruling by the Inter-American Court

of Human Rights confirming the marital rights
of LGBTQ people has elicited multiple
responses throughout Latin America, with
some welcoming it with open arms and others
rejecting it outright. Here in Costa Rica, the
reaction to this monumental decision has
energized an entire presidential campaign
based on fear, ignorance and misinformation regarding the LGBTQ community. Over our
lifetimes we have heard numerous arguments against gay rights and marriage from those
who claim to have the authority to speak for God. Some of these arguments have been
so widely and powerfully disseminated that thinking people should take time to examine
them more closely: it is important for any democracy that we do so. We should begin with
the premise that in a democracy, religions cannot impose their dogmatic views on all
citizens, even if their members constitute the numerical majority. Certain inalienable
human and civil rights are guaranteed to all citizens in a democracy, including those who
are part of a religion with few members, or those who don’t believe in religion at all. The
political power of the majority does not override the human rights of the minority.

One overused argument against gay marriage appeals to tradition, yet throughout human
history both internal and external changes obligate societies to ignore or discard certain
traditions, and to embrace and perpetuate others. Whether or not any tradition is
preserved or terminated depends on many factors. In a democracy, that includes opposing
traditions that violate the basic human rights of individuals or groups due their race,
gender, belief, nationality, economic status or sexual orientation. Another set of
arguments against equality for LGBTQ people are based on the Bible. Having read the
Bible closely since childhood, I know that it contains inspiring poetry, wise proverbs, and
sometimes even universal values in its myths, legends, and historical accounts. Yet the
most viable historical, scientific, and scholarly sources have clearly demonstrated the
Bible is not the word of God but rather the word of man. The Bible contains and often
justifies abuse, cruelty, and inhumanity, thus demonstrating just how much it is a product
of human and not divine creation. The fact remains that the Bible was written in a pre-
scientific era, where ignorance, superstition, and illiteracy abounded, and thus hardly
serves as a reliable moral guide for modern enlightened living.

1
Dr. Julio Noboa is a writer and retired Social Studies Professor. He joined the faculty at the University of
Texas at Brownsville in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of Social Studies and subsequently the faculty at the
University of Texas at El Paso in 2008. His research interests focus on multiculturalism, curriculum studies
and critical pedagogy. He retired in 2014, and is living now in Santa Ana, Costa Rica.
Another argument often expressed is that being a LGBTQ person is somehow unnatural
or a mental malady, but this is contradicted by the evidence of human history, as well as
by the most objective and current scientific research. There have been gay people in
practically every human society ever recorded or systematically observed; in some of
them they were welcomed and well integrated, while in most others, as today, they were
derided, persecuted and even murdered. Homosexuality as a general phenomenon is quite
natural, despite the wide variety of cultural responses to it in different societies.

In the scientific fields of psychology and psychiatry, research has consistently confirmed
that gay people are not suffering from any mental illness and that given the equal
opportunity, as just as capable of forming significant and enduring relationships,
marriages, and families. Back in 1974m the American Psychiatric Association finally
revealed it conclusion that homosexuality is not a mental condition, disease or malady.
The study of history and even casual observation clearly confirm that LGBTQ people are
important contributing members of society who often provide a much-needed alternative
perspective on a variety of critical issues not fully understand from a limited heterosexual
perspective. Few who believe that being gay is a lifestyle choice have even considered
this question: “When did you chose to be heterosexual?” Whether or not there is a “gay
gene,” it is quite clear from overwhelming evidence that being LGBTQ, like being
heterosexual, is not a choice, but rather a growing realization and awareness of sexual
identity which every individual experiences as she or he matures over time.

Among the most tenacious arguments against LGBTQ human and marital rights is that
children raised by such parents will be somehow harmed, confused, or traumatized by
that experience. All the scientific and psychological research conducted over decades
totally rejects that notion; that is, we now know that children raised by LGBTQ parents
are well adjusted, mentally healthy, and, not surprisingly, more tolerant and open-minded
about diversity. On average there is more physical, sexual, and psychological child abuse
perpetrated by heterosexual parents than by homosexual ones.

Then there’s that flimsy argument that LGBTQ people are harmful or damaging to society
in general. On the contrary, they have contributed to society in every field of human
endeavor throughout history. Because of the preponderance of name recognition in
certain fields, they are especially well represented in the arts, music, dance, fashion,
entertainment, as well as in painting and literature. Among the most internationally and
widely recognized LGBTQ luminaries are James Baldwin, Frida Kahlo, Simone de
Beauvoir, Chavela Vargas, Walt Whitman, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Pedro Almodóvar, and
Eleanor Roosevelt. Having effectively questioned the validity of these anti-gay
arguments, we return to our original premise that in a democratic nation, no law or
practice based on religious dogma, belief, or tradition should be imposed on its citizens.
And this is especially relevant when doing so would deny any citizen the same basic
human and civil rights afforded all others.
Noboa, J. (2018, 5 de agosto). We need to take a second look at
our assumptions about gay marriage. Tico times. Article taken from: http://www.ticotimes.net/