Family and Sexual Orientation

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses that the term "sexual orientation" has become the phrase used to identify a class of protected rights in law and in business and presumably includes all forms of sexual orientation. In practice, though, the writer points out, the term is a way of assuring some protection for homosexuals without actually using the term. When speaking about majority sexual orientation, meaning heterosexuality as the norm, there is no need to speak about orientation. The writer maintains that it is the basic role of government to protect each citizen from other citizens, and so protections on the basis of sexual orientation are needed no matter what the source of a different orientation might be. The writer concludes that protecting the class is a legal question and does not depend on the other elements to be in force.

From the Paper:

"Yet punishing people for a "crime" that is not a crime at all is un-American, and there is no reason for the government to be involved in an effort on the part of segments of society to force other segments to bend to their will. Some critics claim that there is a reason in that the government should be promoting so-called family values, while homosexuality is detrimental to those values. The recent battle in Congress was framed in part as a battle between the Employment Non-Discrimination Act on the one hand and the Defense of Marriage Act on the other, an act which defines marriage so as to eliminate homosexual partnerships. The title of the latter act shows the belief that marriage is under attack by homosexuals and so that heterosexuals can rally and defend themselves. Differential treatment of homosexuals thus becomes defense rather than discrimination."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Balch, David L. Homosexuality, Science and the 'Plain Sense' of Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 2000.
• Byne, William, Jacinta Kerin, Udo Schuklenk, and Edward Stein. "The Ethics of Genetic Research on Sexual Orientation." The Hastings Center Report, Volume 27, Issue 4 (1997). November 28, 2006. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002244358.
• Federal Document Clearing House. "Employment Discrimination Against Gays and Lesbians." July 29, 1994.
• Harvey, John H., Susan Sprecher, and Amy Wenzel. The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
• Prager, Dennis. "Homosexuality, the Bible and Us - a Jewish Perspective." Public Interest, Issue 112 (Summer 1993), 60-64.

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