Supporters and parliamentary sponsors base their support on undocumented views and negative stereotypes that have long been discredited by doctors, scientists, sociologists, and even several mainline Christian denominations.
Consider the following:
The International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) with more than 10,000 members in 30 countries has declared that any discrimination due to sexual orientation is unacceptable.
The British Medical Society has denounced efforts to treat homosexuality as an illness.It has been especially vocal in its criticism of so-called "reparative therapy."Throughout the European continent psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, social workers, and other professionals have conducted and analyzed research independent of one another and concluded that sexual minorities do not have a mental illness and are not a threat to society.
The American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association, and the National Association of Social Workers have long held based on research that homosexuality is a “normal variant of human sexuality.” It is not, according to these respected groups, “a diagnosable mental disorder.” Those who suggest otherwise, “are often guided not by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights.” Similar organizations in other nations have come to the same conclusion.
Research has documented that pedophilia is not linked to homosexuals. The world renowned Journal of Child Sexual Abuse and the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction are among the respected sources that have rebutted any notion of a link. In addition, according to a recent study released by the Catholic Church, homosexuality was not to blame for child sex abuse in its parishes.
At the Tufts School of Medicine, an internationally recognized institution of higher learning, a professor of pediatrics concluded after much research that with regard to gay or lesbian parents “over and over and again, the data are monotonous in showing no reason to worry about these kinds of family structures of children … It’s encouraging, because there’s really no reason to think that these children would be worse off or different in any problematic way. And so the research really just confirms [it].”
Suggestions by legislative sponsors and supporters that homosexuality is like catching a cold is silly. Exposure by a child or an adult to someone who is gay or lesbian is not going to make someone homosexual. It’s impossible.
Elton John is gay.Peter Tchaikovsky was gay.Should children be stopped from seeing Sir Elton’s "Lion King?"Should his music be banned in Ukraine?Should the Nutcracker or Sleeping Beauty popular ballets among many children be banned?No child has ever been "corrupted" by being exposed to these works.
It’s also worth noting what the Bible actually says about the loving, monogamous relationships of sexual minorities.It says nothing.Yet scripture has been interpreted in odd ways.
Independent of the logic, science, and common sense that refutes every argument in favor of laws that discriminate, all Ukrainians should be concerned about efforts to restrict the rights of anyone.If the rights of one group are threatened then no one’s freedom or liberty is guaranteed.
The lessons from the Stalinist era and especially Hitler’s death camps shouldn’t be forgotten.After Hitler had finished the "final solution" for his main targets that included Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals he intended to eliminate the Slavs.Everyone’s rights must be protected.Ignorance and complacency are no excuse.
Paul Peter Jesep is a New York lawyer and a bishop in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.The views expressed here are personal and in no way reflect those of his church.
