What is homophobia?

We explain what homophobia is and what homosexuality means for religion. Nazi Germany and homophobia. Gay marriage.

1. What is homophobia?

Homophobia is a  type of  phobia that people have towards homosexuals . The word homophobia began to be used during 1971 by a psychologist from the United States named George Weinberg. This one made a talk that same year to a group of people considered homophilic , in this way the term began to achieve a certain level of popularity. Over the years , studies have been carried out on people who suffer or feel homophobia , some of them have shown that most hide transsexual feelings that are hidden, that is, they use distancing from others to hide their own emotional states.

2. Homophobia in religions

There are several religious entities and cultures that present a moral rejection of homosexuality , this is because their beliefs do not allow this type of behavior. For many of them, homosexuality is considered a mortal sin in which a hard and intense spiritual work must be done to obtain God’s forgiveness and be able to be in grace.

For the Catholic religion , homosexuality means attempting with something that is sacred, family, and therefore it is a sin . It is not considered natural behavior, since only a man and a woman can procreate naturally, but homosexual people are not capable of that.

In the case of Islamism, homosexuality is considered an impure act . Over time they have managed to get laws to penalize people who have this sexual orientation.

The  Aztecs punished homosexuals with torture methods such as, for example, removing the entrails of passive homosexuals , while active homosexuals were impaled. With lesbian women they used other elements of torture to end their lives , such as the club. Despite practicing all these punishments, the Aztecs worshiped the goddess Xochiquétzal, she had a masculine appearance and was the protector of male prostitution and homosexuality.

In other religions homosexuality is not tolerated under any circumstances, in this way, people who are are often victims of discrimination and abuse because they cannot be integrated. Many of these religions are considered homophobic.

3. Nazi Germany and homophobia

There has always been talk about the qualification of the Nazis to people to have a type of identification on them. Many times they used brands or outfits of different colors , each of them represented a main feature, that is, women considered as prostitutes, made use of a special brand with which they would be identified. This type of classification helped the Nazis to realize their plans of torture and death .

The Nazi ideology did not tolerate homosexuality , since gay people were considered as degenerates who could not serve their country in any way. During the passage of homosexual people through the concentration camps, these were the ones that suffered the most discrimination within them, since they were considered the lowest step of all the qualifications of people who were at that time. Many of them were tortured, being used as elements for investigation . Scientists sought to discover the origin of homosexuality and thus seek a cure.

4. Homophobia today

It is more than fifty the number of countries that still considers the homosexuality as a crime . Although they have been declining over the years, the figure is relatively high if all social movements and acceptance that has been obtained by people are taken into account. Today a large percentage of people are considered “open minded”, these terms are used to describe those who have no problem dealing with people with different sexual orientation to their own.

Thanks to the various media , homosexuality was able to take a certain level of popularity by being freely shown on television in movies, air programs and others, in this way it has been easier for several generations to have been growing in a society that It is different than it was several centuries ago, since seeing a homosexual person and sharing certain things does not generate the controversy that might have occurred at other times.

Although the years have passed and society obtained a great deal of progress, both technological and in acceptance of ideas, there is still homophobia and discrimination against homosexuals. Not only is it not accepted, but it is also punished even with death sentences. This occurs more frequently in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, among others.

Despite the great change of ideas that has been emerging in society, there is still a large percentage of people who disagree with homosexuality and that is why they allow homophobia, it is presented in many ways, the most common is discrimination .

Homosexual people are exposed to any type of abuse, not only from their religions or beliefs, but also from their daily surroundings, such as the work environment. It is very common that a heterosexual person is more likely to get a job faster than a homosexual person, this is because not yet the whole society is prepared to accept the differences.

5. Gay marriage

In recent years, laws have been increasing in several countries that allow marriage between two people of the same sex . Great were the controversies that were presented before these decisions, so many people took protest measures against these laws , demonstrating their full opposition on this type of marriage. Many of these people belong to different types of religions and cultures.