Homosexuality in Canada

Homosexuality in Canada
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September 19th 2011

Table of Contents
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Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc304369378 \h
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Is homosexual by choice or are people born with it?  PAGEREF _Toc304369379 \h
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History of Homosexuality in Canada  PAGEREF _Toc304369380 \h
4
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News about homosexuality in Canada  PAGEREF _Toc304369381 \h
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Triumph and trounces for Homosexuals in Canada  PAGEREF _Toc304369382 \h
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Health and social life: Is homosexuality a mental disorder?  PAGEREF _Toc304369383 \h
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Current perception of Canadian society on homosexuality  PAGEREF _Toc304369384 \h
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Recent effects and transformations  PAGEREF _Toc304369385 \h
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Social impact and the rights of homosexuals  PAGEREF _Toc304369386 \h
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Works cited  PAGEREF _Toc304369387 \h
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Homosexuality in Canada
Introduction
My cousin Vincenzo Blanco has been a sociologist and a social worker for almost ten years. He studied in public boys schools and during this period he met friends who were homosexuals and they almost influenced him to join him. But due to strong Christian values and being close to the parents he decided to discuss homosexuality topic with his parents and the local church pastor. This initiative made him to change his career path which was initially medicine and he therefore pursued sociology, psychology and community development. During his time as a social work and community worker, he has tried to find reasons why individuals get involved in homosexuality and how the society can handle the issue in harmonious manner. For instance in he wrote a magazine article on the history of homosexuality in Canada and the rights of homosexuals. In addition to finding out causes of homosexuality behavior and how Canadian society perceives the subject. He has also tacked the media news on the subject. Therefore his interest, abilities and experience in the subject homosexuality in Canada as a deviant behavior and how homosexuals affects people around them has made me to come up with this magazine article.
The main aim of this magazine article project is to outline the subject of homosexuality in Canada, how they affect people around them, and how the society views it. The target audience is Canadian society as a whole. My interest on the subject was as a result of my cousins’s views and success achievement in highlighting the issues of sexuality in Canada.
On the video homosexuality as a deviant behavior, conservatives have argued that homosexuality is a deviant behavior that is caused by either influence from the environment or as a result of personal choice. However, gay activists hold that homosexuality is as a result of dominant. The view is held up by the homosexuals as a means of obtaining acceptance n the society. However it is evident that those who support the fact has not support further research into the biological emergence of sexual orientation. Furthermore, it is evident that that scientist has not taken much interest on the issue and therefore it makes the society to wonder whether homosexuality is not viewed as a deviant behavior in Canadian society. Therefore for a start, it is important to highlight the history of homosexuality in Canada, what media have said about homosexuality and the achievements of homosexuals in Canada. But before that, the question is whether homosexuality is by choice or people re born as homosexuals.
The religious views hold that homosexuality is a sinful practice that should not e encouraged. However, the Canadian psychologists before 1970s pointed out homosexuality as one of the mental disorders and it was treated it as diseases which could be diagnosed. This led to the question to what really causes homosexual behavior and whether it is a born are born with it or it is a life choice.
Is homosexual by choice or are people born with it?
In early 1900s a study found out that homosexuality was as a result of gene orientation and therefore, it is not a life choice. According to the research the X chromosome that was from the mother and in most cases being passed to the male child was responsible for homosexual behavior. The study found out that both Y and X are responsible for homosexual behavior in males. On the other hand a research carried out by psychologists posited that homosexual behavior is not genetic nor is it a life choice that a person chooses but it is as a result of environmental influence. According to Sigmund Freud, homosexuality behavior is as a result of home and family environment that one is brought in. according to he psychologists, if a child fears his father but ends up identifying with the mother in life he is likely to develop a liking for men as an object of his love.
Moreover, psychologists have argued that homosexuality is s a result of either sexual abuse which occurs in the neighborhood or the homes of the victims at the hand of neighbors, friends or the relatives. These facts are important in analyzing the topic of the essay which is how homosexuals affect people around them.
However, from everything that I have learnt as a result of my cousin help and read from a number of books, journals and even from the media, I can conclude that homosexual behavior is not as a result of personal choice but there is a combination of both biological and genetic factors and choice a nothing to do with it. This is because my cousin Blanco never became one even though he had friends and still has friends who are gay.
History of Homosexuality in Canada
Chapman (45) Commented on how Oscar Wilde stirred up the society to discuss the subject of homosexuality. This is because during his trial in the mid-1890’s, the society perceived homosexuality in different ways and other countries coded the people of Canada as a‘Oscar Wilde type’. In this case, the external world regarded the Canadians to be homosexual in nature. In the process, Wilde attempted to clear his name as a homosexual only to turn into war in effect of safeguarding his personality and esteem. Nevertheless, it was impossible to deliver his identity from the illusion people had for him. The society perceived him as immoral, perverse and sinful (Chapman 99).
In most cases, Edwardian and Victorian Canadian society used names to address to people who were suspected to be sodomites as it was perceived to be an abominable act not worth mentioning (Chapman 98).
Meanwhile, it is not of interest whether Oscar was a sodomite or not. The essence is that he was a suspect victim who received a jail sentence of two years as he was proved guilty by the law (Chapman 101). During his sentence, his judge exposed the prevalent perspectives of the society. In this case, he did not appear to support the issue of homosexuality. He lamented that Wilde’s case was the worst ever to handle in his profession (Chapman 101). Needless to say, the case marked the inauguration of invention in sodomy and a deviant practice for that matter. It is imperative to note that; homosexuality was viewed as a dangerous example of sexual abuse. Moreover, it was equated to all other forms of non-procreative. In other aspects like in religion, sodomy was regarded to be deviant across Canada ad the entire society. In the meantime, celebrities and scholarly works were based on homosexuality which became the topic of the day. This made the Canadian society and Wilde to become the celebrity in those ages.
News about homosexuality in Canada
News about sexuality in Canada has elaborated how gays have impacted on people around them and society as a whole. For instance, Wilde’s sentence became a testimony that stirred up the views and according to the majority view; imprisonment was the best solution to such abominable acts like homosexuality. News spread and different opinion were raised against the unnatural act during the entire era of 19th century. Chapman (103) documents that, several newspapers and magazines like “the Medicine Hat Weekly Times made coverage over the act of homosexuality in their front-page coverage. This connected with an offence committed in Regina and was perceived to be the most revolting (Chapman 110). Through this news, homosexuality was portrayed as a deviant act to an extent that journalists felt horrified to write or report about it. It is vivid that, the news did not just stop at the 19th century but also spread in the 20th century. Notably, on 9th of August in 1906, a journal was issued. In the journal, “the Edmonton Journal” a case where two men had been charged of committing an offence that was unfit for publicity was addressed (Chapman 110). In this case, the journal termed homosexuality as heinous in the fact that it could not be published. This act was immoral and deviant for mankind to practice and talk about it openly. According to Chapman (45) several countries experience encounters of homosexual among males. Notably, even in such countries the society still regards the act as ungodly, sinful and as a crime against nature. Hence, people who practice the act are perceived to offend the society. It is worth to note that, most communities view any form of deviance as immoral. In this case, homosexuality is regarded to be the king of deviance. This perception has been there since the beginning of the 20th century when homosexuals began to identify themselves with the act publicly. For instance, in 1965 Everex Klippert was convicted by the supreme court of Canada as a heinous sexual offender and even for his open admittance to practice sodomy, (Buttler 98). However, the court decision was upheld in 1971 shortly after Klippert made an appeal in 1967 but the appeal was declined (CLGA 3). In modern Canadian society, several revolutions have taken place to an extent that homosexuals are no longer subject to imprisonment. This is because homosexuals have passed through series of defeat and victories fighting for their rights.
Triumph and trounces for Homosexuals in Canada
Furthermore, back in 1981, there was a publication in “The New York Times” that related homosexual victims with cancer. According to statistics 41 of 100 homosexuals are at risk of getting cancer. (Bebout 89). But lately, it became less known that the rare cancer would develop into a syndrome referred to as AIDS. Apparently, the first diagnosis of Aids was made in Canada in 1982. The case was presented on the political body of Canada and this was quite unfamiliar thing to be done. Newspapers reported on lesbian and gay cases and records were provided all over the state (Bebout 8). It is worth to note that, the emergence of homosexuality took a lot of time to be identified. Nevertheless, it rapidly became a central aspect in the culture and history of Canadians. Contemporarily, no body in the modern day may fail to accept that the term Aids never existed there before and for a long time it was blamed on homosexuality. But to some extent people view AIDS as medical term that has been there in the world. Imperatively, admitting that the term existed before would be an implication that sodomy did exist. This would make Canada society to admit into something which it is not really welcoming.
Furthermore, in 1964, a news letter was released in Vancouver that reflected on homosexuality. The Newsletter documented that, denying guys employment rights because of their status would be an implication of non-civilization. He implies that such measures were related to Dark Age’s era where people were not allowed to be what they want (Bebout 16). Later, the news letter was accorded by a publication of Gay International in Toronto (Bebout 45). These publications made a testimony that gradually lowered the perspective of homosexuality as deviant behavior in the Society. It reached at time that publishing works on homosexuality was acceptable and no longer illegal or regarded as immoral in Canada. This gave gays a reason to rejoice and celebrate since they could openly talk of their identity without being harassed (Fraser 67). The newsletter made me to change my perception about homosexuality though I will never practice it. I discovered that homosexuals should not be discriminated but rather treated just like any other heterosexual individual.
Notably, August 28th, 1971 marked a celebrity for Canadian homosexuals and it remains in history. During this day all the gays and lesbians conducted a large scale demonstration in Parliament Hill, Canada (CLGA, 19). To emphasize on this, the already established liberation movement concerning gay rights was only 2 years old and therefore it lacked the ability to bring about significant changes regarding their rights. Pointless to say, during the two year period, the gays were decriminalized for having sexual relatio...