Psychology

Homosexuality is a sexual relationship or attraction between two people of the same sex or gender. Homosexuality has for a long time been a controversial issue in society (Lax and Philips, 2009). Over time people have been changing their views concerning homosexuality. The paper highlights the changes in view of homosexuality and what has contributed to the changes.

Many countries around the world have legalized same sex marriages while others are still debating concerning the issue. In Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Norway and South Africa homosexual marriages have been made legal (Calzo and Ward, 2009). In fact in most of these countries homosexual marriage has been given the same legal status as the opposite sex marriages. The society is slowly accepting homosexuals as human beings and has learnt to respect their sexual preferences. Another topic of discussion after legalizing the marriages is whether or not the union should be referred to as a marriage and be given equal status as opposite sex marriage. The answers to these questions are rapidly moving to 100 yes with only a small percentage of the global society opposing. It is evident that many people especially the youths have accepted homosexuals and the stigma that went with it is a thing of the past in many communities. From research, majority of people have completely changed their views on gay marriages and are in support for the same (Calzo and Ward, 2009).
 
One of the reasons why these changes are taking place is the argument about rights. Every person has a right to form relations and the government has supported that. The government should have no hand in regulating personal relations. The other reason is that the society has learnt to respect sexual preferences. People are getting enlightened and the rigidity that was present in the past is slowly being washed away. One thing remains a fact, even if these people are not allowed by law to marry, they will still have relationships with their partners. There is no way to force them into opposite sex relationships (Lax  Philips, 2009).

Liberalization has also led to change in the views concerning homosexuality. In the recent past, there has been a great freedom of choice in many issues. There has been availability of sufficient information materials on the subject that have helped in enlightening people on the issue. This has helped in eradicating the conceptions that went hand-in-hand with lack of knowledge on facts about homosexuality. This change has not left homosexuality behind. The former argument that homosexuality corrodes religious morals has been found to have no basis from biblical perspective. The argument is that there is no place in the bible where homosexuality is prohibited. Some Christians view extending legal rights to homosexual couples as a Christ-like effort to fighting inequality and lack of extending dignity to all human beings. Homosexuals have joined hands in defending their rights. Since the 1960s, many homosexuals especially in the west have developed what they call gay culture. This is typified by the pride movement that protests crimes and discrimination against homosexuals Lax, J.  Philips, P. (2009).

I do agree with the change because it has come with openness, eradication of stigmatization and discrimination. It has enabled people to come out in the open without having secret relationships for fear of the public perception. The change has also eradicated psychological and emotional torments that were associated with homosexuality in the past. Recognizing homosexuality has made people open-minded eradicating the stigma and discrimination that went along with it in the past. In the past homosexuals went through a lot of psychological torture by being forced by the society to marry from the opposite sex or being forbidden to be with someone that you love. This has also proven that the society respects peoples rights and interests (Calzo and Ward, 2009).