Homosexuality and Sexual Identity

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The Church of St. Mary and St. Athanasius

Why are we talking about this today?

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1- To understand

2- To love and accept

3- To be part of the solution

Quick facts

Numbers as of 2017:

8% of teenagers identify as LGBT in U.S.

4.5% of adults identify as LGBT in U.S.

3% of adults identify as LGBT in Canada

Most children grow up thinking of themselves as a girl or a boy and don’t question their gender.

But some children and teenagers may question or experiment with their gender. However, that doesn’t mean they’re gender diverse or transgender.

Definitions & LGBTQ+

• L: Lesbian – A woman attracted to the same sex
• G: Gay – a person who is attracted to people of their own gender (applies to males and females)
• B: Bisexual – a person who is attracted to male & female
• T: Transgender – a person who believes they were born as the wrong gender
• Q: Queer – Umbrella term encompassing all the above. Can also be used by individuals that believe their sexual orientation can change

Gender Identity

Girl/Women

Boy/Man

Transgender

Sexual Orientation

Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Bi, Asexual..etc

Biological Sex

Male

Female

Sexual Behaviour

Hetrosexual, Homosexual, Bisexual, or Celibate

The Flag

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– Rainbow flag is used - a representation symbol for LGBTQ a pride symbol

– Artist: Gilbert Baker in 1978

– Colors in the flag were picked to represent �different meanings

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Newer designs are getting popular.

New colors supporting BLM and Hispanics was introduced June 2017.

LGBTQ+ Community Terminology and Flags

Brief History

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1969: Gay bar raiding; 5-day public protest; triggered the early movement of LGBTQ

1974: APAs removed it as a mental disorder

1980s: Outbreak of HIV/AIDS hurt social appearance of LGBT

1990s: Gay pride parades and rainbow flags

2000s: Gay themes in art, entertainment and media

Today: Education, gay-friendly businesses, organizations, groups and social media (technology in general)

Commonly Asked Questions

“What’s your view of homosexuality?”

“Doesn’t your view of homosexuality encourage prejudgment against gays?”

“Why is the church against homosexuals, when God is all about love?”

“If Jesus never said homosexuality is a Sin, why our church does?”

“How could God tell someone who is attracted to the same sex to shun homosexuality? That sounds cruel”

“Homosexuals can’t change their orientation; they’re born that way.”

Born that way vs. Chose that way �What does the sceince really say about homosexuality?

Foundation of scientific experiments

Make an observation or observations.

Form a hypothesis — a tentative description of what's been observed, and make predictions based on that hypothesis.

Test the hypothesis and predictions in an experiment that can be reproduced.

Analyze the data and draw conclusions; accept or reject the hypothesis or modify the hypothesis if necessary.

Gene theory- Xq28

In 1993, a study by Dean Hammer published in the

journal science showed that families with two homosexual brothers were very likely to have certain genetic markers on a region of the X chromosome known as Xq28. They had gay male uncles and cousins on the maternal side of the family than on the paternal side.

A Real analysis and evaluation of the data was done - Sanders (1998), Rice(1999) & Mustanski (2005) conducted a more thorough study,� yet the results of Hamer were never replicated

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Conclusion: There is NO clear science facts to proof

Homosexual individuals are created that way.

Twin Studies

A number of twin studies have attempted to compare �the relative importance of genetics and environment in the determination of sexual orientation.

Franz Kallmann (1952), conducted a research project to compare monozygotic with dizygotic twins - Habel(1950) and Rainer (1960)

The work was highly criticized - Lewontin, (1988) summarized: “The story is completely made up”. Results: 52% 22%

Twin Studies

In a 1991, Bailey and Pillard conducted a study of male twins and found that 52% of monozygotic (MZ) twins and 22% of the dizygotic (DZ)twins were concordant for homosexuality.

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In 2000 Bailey, Dunne and Martin studied a larger sample of 4,901 Australian twins but reported less than half the level of concordance.

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Bearman and Brückner (2002) criticized early studies and found concordance rates for same-sex attraction of only 7.7% for male identical twins and 5.3% for females,

Commonly Asked Questions

“What’s your view of homosexuality?”

It’s a Sin, no doubt. Again, we love and accept the sinners but not the sin; just like any other sin, which we all commit. It’s like when a doctor gives medication to their patients to fight infections not the person themselves.

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Commonly Asked Questions

“Doesn’t your view of homosexuality encourage prejudgment against gays?”

It doesn’t; Christianity teaches us to love and accept everyone even our enemies let alone the sinners which are far from enemies.

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Commonly Asked Questions

“Why is the church against homosexuals, when God is all about love?”

That’s a loaded question and not accurate; in apologetic we have to watch for these type of questions. The church is against homosexuality (the sin), but not against homosexuals (the sinners); once again we love and accept everyone. The love of God is not sexual oriented;

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Christian Square

One man

One woman

One lifetime

One body

Commonly Asked Questions

“If Jesus never said homosexuality is a Sin, why our church does?”

1. Not everything Jesus did not explicitly say/mentioned in the bible means that he implicitly approves/agreed of. For example, Jesus did not talk about Bestiality, but it doesn’t mean he approves of it. The reason for that is that at the time of Jesus there were many sins that are very clear/known to everyone to be a sin, and Jesus did not have to talk about. For example, Jews at that time use to stone homosexuals.
2. The apostles did talk about it and it was mentioned in the Didache book (teachings of the disciples); they mention in the that they have learned that from Jesus himself. So, he could have mentioned it, but was never documented, recall John 21:25 “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
3. St. Paul talked about it many times.
4. From the beginning, God created Man and Women; he never mentioned anything about swinging either way. In fact, he stated implicitly the Christian square discussed on previous slide.
5. Also, in the old testament is mentioned as a sin.

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Commonly Asked Questions

“How could God tell someone who is attracted to the same sex to shun homosexuality? That sounds cruel”

He doesn’t, God defines the allowed sexual relationships in Christianity; recall the Christian Square; God is against any sin outside of that square not just homosexuality. If you choose to go against God’s commandment, then that’s your choice, but that would be against God and the church’s teaching. It’s like someone chooses to speed and doesn’t accept the consequence, or the “biker going against the wind” analogy.

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Commonly Asked Questions

“Homosexuals can’t change their orientation; they’re born that way.”

There is no solid repeatable and predictable scientific theories to support that comment, as we discussed earlier.

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Christianity Point of View

God created us for a purpose—to love and know Him, to love and know others and to do good work in this world.

Our bodies have purposes too, and when a husband and wife unite sexually, they form a complete reproductive system. Their union has the capacity to bring forth new life.

Homosexual unions lack this significant capability and will not sustain the humanity.

Marriage between a man and a woman was not created by man or originated by the government, but is a gift from God. Its not simply a matter of public opinion.

Even if science proves that we’re born this way, it’s still a sin. Apply the same logic to unfaithful husband or wife