Anti-homosexual Sentiment in Western Societies

In his study guide to Sociological Explanations of Criminal and Deviant Behavior, Brian Burtch (1994) cites the work of E. D. Salamon (1988) to show that anti-homosexual sentiment in Western societies is traceable to Christian doctrine, "including the work of St. Augustine (fourth century A.D.) and St. Thomas Aquinas (thirteenth century A.D.). A pronatalist (birth) ideology meant that acts that could not lead to procreation were denounced as sinful" (Salamon, 1988, cited in Burtch, p. 44).

In his A Place at the Table, Bruce Bawer (1993) notes the Biblical passage most often quoted by the religious right to condemn homosexuals. The New Testament passage most often cited in connectio

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e a sexual orientation not in keeping with the norm. Such an orientation is no more a choice than eye color or handedness. In a context clear of erroneous retro-thinking, such a statement appears self-evident, yet most gays and lesbians can still not "come out" safely. Modern science should have freed us from retro-thinking about alternate sexualities. Perhaps only a deep-set homophobia on the part of society in general can explain, despite all rationality, most individuals' fear and distaste for homosexuals. Burtch (1994) includes Marc Burke's Coming Out of the Blue to illustrate the difficulty faced by bi- and homosexual men and women police officers ("the blue") when it comes to disclosing their sexual orientations to their friends, family, and peers. One chapter of Burke's book, "Two Communities, Double Lives," reveals that most officers believe that it is primarily lesbians and gay men who are responsible for the friction existing between the divergent "communities" of heterosexual and gay police officers. Thus, an "us versus them" mentality prevails. In Burke's interviews of "the blue," one straight metropolitan traffic division PC with ten years' service thought that "a fair amount of the criticism from the gay comm
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Approximate Word count = 2266
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)