LIVING WITHOUT HARM: LET US LEARN THE HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIA TO CRUSH IT

Did you know that people are not born hating the LGTBI+ community? They learn to do so, essentially as a consequence of the dogmas of Judaism, Christianity—developed from the former—and Islam, inspired by both. Or, to be more precise, it is the result of indoctrination carried out by conservative, and especially fundamentalist, sectors of those religions, who advocate following the sacred books to the letter, unlike the open, tolerant, and benevolent interpretations of those faiths.

Homophobia is not biologically intrinsic to human nature, but merely cultural, caused essentially by harmful indoctrination carried out over entire societies by a few religions that have been very successful in spreading.

Let Us Think for Ourselves and Avoid Toxic Indoctrination

Thus, almost all the peoples of Europe were tolerant of homosexuality: Greeks, Romans, Celts, Slavs, Vikings. In general, everyone except the Germanic peoples. Homosexuality was more or less normalized, and bisexuality was quite widespread. Everything changed with the three Abrahamic religions.

In Europe, it was above all traditionalist Christian preachers—sometimes good Samaritans on the one hand, but monstrous on the other—who spread hatred and crimes against homosexuals. They introduced an oppressive, repressive social dictatorship against those who strayed from the orthodoxy of the Holy Scriptures.

And the same happened on the other continents. In Sub-Saharan Africa, in general, LGTBI people were accepted until Islamization first arrived, and later conservative Christian missionaries and colonial authorities.

In the Americas there were some homophobic ethnic groups, such as the Mexica, but the vast majority were tolerant. It was the Christian conquerors who brought with them hatred and cruelty toward homosexuals and transgender people.

In Asia, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions are permissive toward them. Genghis Khan punished them with the death penalty so that the Mongols would have the maximum number of children and thus be able to dominate the rest of the Asians. Nevertheless, in general, Asian societies were not homophobic until they were Islamized or until Christian colonial authorities introduced penal codes that criminalized them and, in some countries, still remain in force, as in India.

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In Japan, homosexuality was also normalized, but this changed in the 19th century in imitation of the West. And something similar happened in China: it was seen as a normal facet of life, especially bisexuality. Although an Emperor prohibited it, opposition to homosexuality was not firm until the 19th and 20th centuries, due to the Westernization efforts of the Qing dynasty and the Republic.

The negative effect of the three homophobic religions, which has caused so much suffering in the world, began to fade from the 18th century onward with the Enlightenment and its values of freedom, equality, and human rights.

The French Revolution decriminalized homosexual acts, and Napoleon extended this throughout his empire.

After his defeat, that legislation remained in force in France, but traditionalist counterrevolutionaries punished them again in much of Europe. Nevertheless, the liberal revolutions and the process of modernization and secularization meant that, instead of burning them at the stake as was done under the Ancien Régime, punishments shifted to prison sentences.

That situation lasted a long time, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, while conservative Christian majorities remained. In the mid-20th century, Nazism—although distant from Christianity—revived its traditional values and carried out a genocide against innocent LGTBI people. Spanish fascism, of a National-Catholic type,
also persecuted them, sending them to a concentration camp in Fuerteventura, where they lived in very harsh conditions and suffered beatings and torture.

In much of Western Europe, prison sentences did not begin to decline until the late 1960s and the 1970s, with the sexual revolution and countercultural and civil-rights movements. And in some countries, full decriminalization did not arrive until the late 20th century or the beginning of the 21st.

In the United States, sodomy (anal sex, also between heterosexuals, since it is not reproductive and is contrary to Christianity) was punished with long prison sentences and hard forced labor. It was not until the 1960s that this injustice was abolished in two states. In the 1970s it happened in about 20 more states, and later in others. However, there are still about 15 states in the Deep South (and not so deep, such as Florida) where it remains criminalized. Those laws were invalidated in 2003 by the Supreme Court, but not repealed.

After decriminalization, other major advances have been anti-discrimination laws, laws in favor of civil unions, and same-sex marriage, which help reduce the suffering of the LGTBI community. According to a study of 36 OECD countries, approving same-sex marriage leads to a decrease of almost 20% in suicides among young people and adolescents.

Read LIVING WITHOUT HARM! Not the LGTBI+ Community Either

The current situation is almost always the same everywhere: where there is a majority of traditionalist Christians and/or Muslims, there is oppression of this and other groups, and where the majority of citizens are liberal, tolerance and respect prevail.

Therefore, let us liberalize, secularize, and change the harmful parts of religions.

Let Us Work Together to Eradicate Anti-LGTBI+ Evil

Let Us Respect Others’ Freedom

Let Us Reform the Harmful Parts of Religions

Thank you for sharing if you believe this will help reduce homophobia and the suffering of innocent people,

Xavier Paya

Living Without Harm initiative

www.institutodelbienestar.com

LET US NOT HARM ANYONE, except in legitimate self-defense against the aggressor

Read: other articles from DO NO HARM!…

With the Living Without Harm initiative we work to prevent any kind of suffering or harm from being inflicted on you, your loved ones, and others.

LIVING WITHOUT HARM: LET US LEARN THE HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIA TO CRUSH IT

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