abomination, fag, homo, gay, samegenderlover

[BaalShemRa]

This thread is about the gradual change in perceptions of homosexuality.

It seems that the concensus about homosexuality was broken, that for a while the bulk of the population didn't know what to think and that, while we're still in that position to some extent, the concensus is being rebuilt, this time pro-homo instead of anti-homo.

In Canada, it used to be that being in favour of legalising abortions was a major electoral liability. Now, the Conservatives are being clobbered over suggestions from some of their members that they want to restrict it. The concensus has gone from anti-abortion, to say, 10% dead-set against, 10% dead-set in favour and 80% that doesn't really know to a concensus that support legalised abortion.

What I want to know is, how does that happen? What are the phases? Can someone try to give eras, turning points, pivotal people and events that helped destroy the concensus and rebuild a new one concerning abortion and homosexuality?

I want to know how a whole society changes its mind. ( Nowithstanding a few deadenders ).


Discuss.

Edited by Maverick: The subject line was making too long, making the Politics & Current Events section display incorrectly.

[Anarchat]

Considering there's an entire academic field devoted to this topic, I'll just give a brief synopsis of my thoughts on this.

From where did anti-homosexuality sentiments originate? It largely appears to be the case that they originate from the Abrahamic faiths. Some support of this is the role of homosexuality in ancient Greece and Rome, and to some extent acient Egypt, and even in modern Japan (all places where Western religious thought are/were scarce).

From where does/did the change in our society occur? This is the difficult part, but I would wager that it comes from the tempering and moderation of the Christian faith. Or perhaps instead of being fewer fundamentalists more of the moderate Christians have simply become more progressive in recent times and as a result more accepting. Or perhaps homosexuals have simply become more militant in demanding rights. Or maybe it's simply the result of rhetoric, and that (typically) liberals have managed to convince larger numbers of people that homosexuality is permissible.

I need to do more research to be sure, but to be honest it's not a topic that interests me, so I probably won't.

[BaalShemRa]

Anarchat,

You're not interested in how a society changes its mind or homosexuality? As for myself, I took homosexuality as an example because we're in the middle of a shift right now. I could have taken slavery, interracial marriage, women's votes but none of us has lived through those times ( though if you have information about what worked in changing people's minds about those issues, please let me know ).

[Anarchat]

"You're not interested in how a society changes its mind or homosexuality?"

The latter.

As for the other situations (slavery, etc..), I have clearer ideas on those, but with so much scholarly literature available I think it would be wiser to consult your nearest library rather than anybody here.

[Superhappyjen]

We tend to think of our society as continuously evolving when most of the time trends come and go. That includes trends in our morals. As Anarchat pointed out, homosexuality played a role in Ancient Rome, but went out of favour when Christianity came to power. There are many reasons why things go in and out of fashion. It's not any more mysterious than why bellbottoms came back in style.

I'm glad our society is leaning toward pro-homo and pro-choice, because that's where my beliefs are, but I'm also aware that society's beliefs could change any time.