In many countries, the LGBTI+ community is particularly victimized, which is absolutely unjust because they harm no one. Therefore, there is still a long way to go to prevent cruelty towards this segment of society, which represents at least 18% of the population (1.5 billion people). These figures are based on what younger people, who are less ashamed to express their feelings on this topic, declare in a sociological study by Ipsos. Furthermore, according to a PRRI survey, 28% of Gen Z American adults (18-25 years old) identify as LGTBI+.
Some types of harm inflicted upon these innocent individuals, especially in traditionalist Muslim or Christian environments (unlike secularized or liberal and tolerant religious ones), include physical, verbal, or psychological aggression, imprisonment, job loss, rejection by friends, and social stigmatization. Also common are bullying (for example, 89% of transgender individuals in the USA have experienced it), the destruction of their reputation, the stripping of their dignity, and the expulsion of teenagers from their homes by their families. In other words, one psychological blow after another.
Read LET’S AVOID HARM IN ISLAM!: Murder and Abuse of LGTBI Individuals
LET’S AVOID HARM IN CHRISTIANITY!: Murder and Abuse of LGTBI Individuals
LET US AVOID HARM IN CHRISTIANITY!: Let us reform its abusive side
LET’S AVOID HARM IN ISLAM!: Let’s Reinterpret Its Cruel Side
They are no longer burned alive as they once were in Christian countries, but in Iran, they are hanged, in Saudi Arabia, they are beheaded, and in Iraq and Syria, ISIS threw them alive from the tops of buildings just a few years ago while the public watched the spectacle. And many fundamentalists would love to do it again.
Today, the torture devices of the Holy Inquisition, such as the Judas Cradle or the Pear of Anguish, are no longer commonly used against them, but in some places, they are still tortured.
Currently, their genitals are not cut off and then dragged through the streets in a humiliating manner before onlookers, as in Medieval Europe. Nevertheless, they continue to be denigrated in many places, called depraved (as the Catholic Catechism does), abject, sinners, immoral, inferior, human waste, unnatural, impious, insane, etc.
And they are manipulatively and slanderously associated with evil, as Pope John Paul II did, claiming that the movement for LGTBI+ rights is an ideology of evil. This is hate speech that spreads the viruses of malignity urbi et orbe.
They are no longer forced to have an iron rod inserted into their penis and walk naked through the streets in a degrading manner, as Justinian did in the Byzantine Empire, but in many places, if it is discovered that you are gay or lesbian, your life is destroyed, and you become a social outcast. In fact, you lose almost everything: family, friends, job, reputation, dignity, etc., while also suffering widespread hostility.
To all the above, we must add significant psychological damage caused by such a toxic environment and the education (or should we say miseducation?) received: devaluation as individuals, undermining of self-esteem, feelings of guilt, shame, loneliness, anxiety, stress, depression, health problems, etc.
It is not surprising that the percentages of LGTBI+ individuals who commit suicide, attempt it, or wish for it are so high.
For example, 30% of LGTBI adolescents in the United States have attempted suicide. And in 2021, 45% seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year. Among transgender individuals, this percentage rises to 60%. And in conservative Christian or Muslim environments, such as rural areas of the Deep South, all these percentages increase.
And this is in a country that ranks among the modern and secularized. In more backward countries, there are no statistics, but the percentages are probably much higher.
Suffering is especially great among those rejected by their families in adolescence, as, according to San Francisco State University, they are more than 8 times more likely to attempt suicide, more than 6 times more likely to have high levels of depression, and more than 3 times more likely to use drugs and be at risk of HIV.
The problem is not these innocent people, but the deranged and deranging societies that have created poisonous religions and cultures, unjustly disrespectful towards the former.
Everyone has their own sexual orientation(s) and gender identity. Since all of this is harmless, it is entirely respectable. To achieve self-realization, it is good to function according to one’s own nature, in an environment of affective-sexual freedom.
LIVING WITHOUT HARM: Let us respect others
HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING? Let’s Appreciate Diversity
What can a just and compassionate person do to end the scourge of homophobia?
1. Sign this campaign to ask all governments to guarantee the protection and full equality of rights for the LGTBI community. Sign…
Read 7 more actions in …LET’S AVOID HARM!: Let’s Collaborate to Eradicate Anti-LGTBI+ Malignity
Thank you for signing, sharing, and mobilizing to end this social scourge once and for all and achieve a happier world,
Xavier Paya
Living Without Harm initiative
LET’S NOT HARM ANYONE, except in legitimate self-defense against an aggressor.
With the Live Without Harming initiative, we strive to prevent any kind of suffering or harm to you, your loved ones, and others.
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2. Encourage people not to cause harm.
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