View of Gays from a Homosexual Perspective in Society - Research Paper Example

Module Module ID: Society’s View of Gays from a Homosexual’s Perspective The present paperaims at exploring the views of society towards homosexuals by particularly emphasizing the work The Foundations of the Earth created by the contemporary African-American writer and poet Randall Kenan. The work elucidates the people’s intensity of hatred and discrimination towards the individuals belonging to out-groups on the basis of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual orientation. Such type of prejudice is not confined to one area or region; rather, the same discriminative behavior has been in vogue for centuries in even the most enlightened and developed countries of the world including the USA and UK (Kenan 153). The author has pointed out towards the views of the religious people and scholars about homosexuals, where they appear to be condemning the same sex relations by declaring such activities as one of the most obnoxious and nefarious sins according to the religious and spiritual teachings of the Abrahamic faiths. However, Kenan refuses to surrender before the dogmatism by taking plea that since the religious people have not played any role in the elimination of ethno-racial hatred from the society,their opposition of homosexuality could also be the part of the same campaign launched by the powerful strata in order to maintain its dominance over the minority groups, including the blacks and homosexuals, in the name of religion and morality. Kenan’s work concentrates upon the protagonist, Maggie MacGowan Williams, an old black woman, and the young white boy named Gabriel, the gay friend of her deceased grandson Edward. Edward was brought up by his grandmother Maggie regularly attending church, who also educated and socialized Edward according to the ethical values attributed to Christianity. All the three Abrahamic faiths including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, vehemently turn down any possibility of sexual relationships between members of the same sex. Leviticus (18:22) strictly prohibits men from sharing bed or sleeping with another man in the same manner as he shares the bed with a woman. In addition, Leviticus (20:13) announces the death penalty to the males for their committing homosexuality. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians (6:9-10) also declares homosexuals as wicked, which would not inherit the kingdom of God. Keeping in view these holy verses of the Bible, religious people regard homosexuals as perverts, unholy, sinful and profane individuals, which are violating the divine law in order to quench their lustful desires. It is, therefore, the antagonist Reverend Hezekiah Barden who would not allow any pardon for gay relationship at any cost (157). Hence, one of the major reasons behind the society’s disgust for the gays includes their religious views, which declare homosexuality as a heinous sin in the eyes of the divine law. Somehow, it is not the reason behind condemning gays altogether due to the very reality that no religious community demonstrated any disgust against wars, apartheid, massacre and other crimes and sins being committed against humanity on the very face of the earth. The nefarious Ben Laden killed thousands of men and women in the name of religion, though he would not tolerate the gays either. Similarly, the Bush administration inflicted the most heinous and shameful crimes in Abu Ghuraib prisons during the US-led Allies’ invasion of Iraq in 2003, but the church observed criminal negligence and silence on exercising of the most condemnable offences against the innocent and hapless Iraqi people. Moreover, the hypocrite extremists groups of Pakistani society started organizing demonstrations against the first gay get-together held in July 2011 in the Pakistan capital city of Islamabad (The News Tribe), though they never tried to raise the slightest voice against the violation of human rights altogether, which has been in practice for the last two decades in the country at its full swing. Theorists have defined different reasons behind the individuals’ sexual preferences and orientation. Famous American feminist writer Dorothy Allison alludes to the cruel and harsh behavior of the males that would partially augment the hidden homosexual inclinations of women towards the members of the same gender. Although Allison claims to be having gay tendencies since her recognition of the self, yet her atrocious rape at the hands of her nasty stepfather paved the way towards encouraging her homosexual tendencies. The theorists also view homosexual behavior as a natural and innate one, as it has been observed by all human societies since the known human history. Hubbard finds the involvement of the ancient Greek and Roman people into homosexual relationships with young boys and slaves. King Nero of ancient Rome had also developed homosexual appetite and practiced the same regularly. The gay culture could also be explored in the Turkish and Indian cultures of ancient and medieval eras, where keeping beautiful boys as passive sex partners was thought to be a symbol of pride (Kidwai and Vanita). Renowned 2nd century astrologist and scientist Ptolemy associates the sexual preferences of humans to the influence of planetary configurations (McConaghy). Platonic scholar Marsilio Ficino also endorses the same argument made by Ptolemy by stating that the men born under Venus as their masculine sign naturally love the people belonging to the same gender (Angelides and Bird). Although Maggie Williams, in the light of her religious teachings, looks down upon the homosexuals, yet the loss of her grandson in the prime of his youth in a car accident forces her to discover the secret behind nature of Edward’s longings for the purported queer feelings. During her regular interaction with Gabriel, Maggie comes to know that the white boy has not developed interest in the religious teachings. However, he is not prejudiced towards the black community altogether. On the contrary, he appears to be discarding all religious and racial fanaticism that put the human relationships as well as peace and harmony of society in grave jeopardy. As a result, he is not ready to associate him with any group or community that could divide the nation and society into groups and factions in order to fry their own fish out of troubled waters. Hence, Kenan declares ethnic, racial and religious discrimination as the scheme devised by the powerful stratum in order to maintain their dominance by projecting and promoting hatred against different groups existing in society. The campaign launched by the opportunists against the homosexuals is also the part of the same scheme, which would keep the working classes in the state of daggers drawn against one another in the name of peace, stability, morality and religion. Thus, the author has, in a powerful and thought-provoking manner, associated the denial of gay rights as the white population denying granting the blacks equal social status in the country, which was actually the outcome of their personal abhorrence for the African Americans, which the white Anglo Saxon population (WASP) views as an inferior racial group. Therefore, the white majority did not allow the blacks to enjoy the status and privileges equivalent to the blacks (Walker). Consequently, the blacks had to make a long and arduous struggle in order to win the right to vote and achieve respect at public places including buses, parks and hospitals. Parks also narrates how she was forced to vacate her seat in the bus in honor of a white citizen, which had invited nationwide riots organized by the black community in order to get discriminatory laws and traditions eliminated on the foundations of race and ethnicity of the citizens. Kenan seeks the same struggle to be undertaken by the gays and lesbians in order to eradicate prejudiced behavior against the homosexuals, as he views apartheid and ethno-racial and religious discrimination as more condemnable and jeopardizing than choosing the sex partner or making one’s choice without taking his gender, race and religion into consideration. Works Cited Alison, Dorothy. Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature. Firebrand Books, 2005. Print. Angelides, Steven, and Craig Bird. Feeling Queer: It's Not Who You Are, It's where You're At. 1997. Web. http://arts.monash.edu.au/womens-studies/staff/documents/feeling-queer.pdf. Hubbard, Thomas K. Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents. University of California Press, 2003. Print Kenan, Randall. “The foundations of the earth” Reading Literature and Writing Argument Ed Missy James and Alan Merickel 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. 152-63. Print Kidwai, Saleem, and Ruth Vanita. Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History. Macmillan, 2002. 21-48. Print. McConaghy, Neil. Book Proposal for So You Say You’re Straight: The One in Five Hidden Homosexual Heterosexuals. 2007. Web. http://www.straightguise.com/default.asp?id=2686 Parks, Rosa. Rosa Parks: My Story. Dial Books, 1992. Print. “US Embassy Arranges Gay, Lesbian Ceremony in Islamabad.” The News Tribe. July 3, 2011. Web. http://www.thenewstribe.com/2011/07/03/us-embassy-arranged-gay-lesbian-ceremony-in-islamabad/ Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Pocket Books, 1982. Print. Read More