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GLBT Community
Introduction
The GLBT community refers to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and cultures worldwide dating back to the first recorded incidences of love within the same sex and sexuality of the ancient civilization. Currently, what has remained after many years of persecution, stigma, shame, suppression, and secrecy has now been pursued and intertwined into a historical narrative (Duberman, 1997).
The GLBT history began in the United States of America but it has been adopted by many other countries. People’s history has been covered, that is both the rights of the GLBT people, and the civil rights movements. Some of the recorded histories of these group of people comprises of individuals engaging in relationships with other people of similar sex or the opposite sex (Koch, 1999). However, some incidences involving same-sex love and sexuality have been recorded within almost all ancient civilizations.
“How we got here” from a past of greater intolerance and repression of GLBT individuals
Research shows that elderly people perceive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and relationships in a more different manner compared to the younger people. It is recognized that each person is influenced or shaped differently in part by the major social events that took place during their lifetime. Such events may include the struggles and success of the civil right movements among others. These three people had some differences just as revealed by the oral interviews, for instance, in the oral history interview relating to Allen Bennet, it was noted that he was a homosexual during his late teen years but because of strong and strict antigay rules at the seminary during those days, he remained in secrecy. Compared to the interview with Rebecca, she revealed herself as a lesbian who had been married but got a divorce after getting two children. This shows that she was born a lesbian although she tried to hide her sexual differences for along time, she could not hold it any more and that is why she got divorced. Another person in this group includes the interview with Reverend Robert Clement who came out openly as the first gay priest encouraging other gays to come and join his church. Reverend Robert was born a gay and even though he ventured into priesthood, he could not hide his sexual differences. Therefore, in these three interviews, it is noted that these people had some similarities in that they were brought up in Christian homes but because of each person’s, views concerning life, they had to make a choice in their own lives. They are similar in that they all belong to the GLBT society.
Role of religious institutions in shaping people’s attitude to sexual morality
In most cases, religion always tries to address moral issues that occur from the sexuality of people, particularly in interactions between human beings. Moral codes focusing on sexuality, morality and ethics have been established by a good number of different religions in the society. According to Meezan (2009), these codes may not be able to deal with sexual issues directly but often try to reduce incidents that could lead to sexual desires and also influence the activities and practices of people in terms of sexuality. Society’s religious beliefs, environmental conditions and social factors are noted to be the major factors that are associated with standards of sexual behavior within a community. Therefore, religions have a bigger role to play when it comes to sexual morality of a society.
Most religions do not support the idea of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. Such religions include Christianity and Islam. This can be proved by the interview with Allen Bennet who was a homosexual. He tried to suppress his sexual immorality because it was not permitted in the seminary. However, these interviews largely tried to demonstrate the role of religious institutions in shaping people’s attitude toward sexual morality. The participants in the interview were shown to be leaders in various religions who because of the fear of coming out to declare their status had to stay in secrecy for long since they knew that they might be condemned due to what others termed sexual immorality. For instance, Allen was scared until he got an invitation from an activist friend to come out as a gay rabbi in the media.
However, Rev. Robert marched in the first gay parade coming out as the first gay priest encouraging other gays to join his church. This led to a good number of gay people joining him. Therefore, because of this positive attitude of the church towards the GLBT, many people who were hiding came out openly motivating others to join the group (Wilcox, 2009). This implies that religion stands a greater chance of influencing and shaping people’s attitudes toward sexual morality than other social institutions. Each religion has the power and permission to either lead the people in the ‘right’ way or encourage other members of GLBT to join the religion, as they will not be stigmatized.
How individuals and groups can have an impact on powerful social institutions
An institution is referred to as any structure, or measures of social order, that guides the acts of a group of people or individuals within a particular human society. Individuals and groups can have an impact on powerful social institutions because they are known to create these institutions through various functions in order for the institutions to serve them (Richardson, 2002). The way people perceive a social institution may affect that institution positively or negatively. For instance, a church, which is a social institution, may be impacted positively or negatively by individuals or groups of people.
The way people behave and their views concerning the church or a religion may have an impact on the institution. If a particular group of people decided to make a church openly welcoming lesbians or homosexuals, that church or religion may be viewed by other people as immoral. This is because gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender lifestyles in most religions are forbidden. A learning institution can grow as a well-disciplined place if only the students, the staff and the teachers are also disciplined because these are what make an institution function effectively.
References
Duberman, M. (1997). A queer world: the center for Lesbian and Gay Studies reader. New York, NY: University Press
Koch, P. (1999). Sexuality in America: understanding our sexual values and behavior. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group
Meezan, W. (2009).Handbook of research with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations.New York, NY: Taylor & Francis
Richardson, D. (2002). Handbook of lesbian and gay studies. New York, NY: SAGE
Wilcox, M. (2009).Queer women and religious individualism. Michigan, MA: IndianaUniversity Press. Retrieved from http://www.lgbtran.org/OralHistory.aspx
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