Diversity Q & A

Does your culture or religion influence your views about homosexuality and gay issues?

Zalman

My religion teaches me three things.

  1. Every single person must be treated with respect and dignity.  This means that prejudice and ridiculing people because they are gay, or beating them is wrong.
  2. That God wants people who are attracted to the opposite sex to find one person they are attracted to and commit to that person and get married.
  3. I must obey 613 commandments from God, only some of which I can fully understand.  One of these 613 commands is that when people who are attracted to people of their own sex, even if they are prepared to commit to one person and love them for their whole life, God does not want them to have sex.
I can hardly imagine how hard it might be for someone in that situation.  There are plenty of people who disobey some of the other 612 commandments that are a lot easier to obey.  No one puts them down.  Why put down gays?  The main thing for me is to respect every human being, including people who are gay and treat them as I want to be treated.