Homosexuality In South Africa

Homosexuality can be defined as a tendency to direct sexual desire/behaviour towards a person of the same sex. This behaviour is accepted in ancient societies such as Greek and Romans. As sexual orientation, homosexuality is continuing pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to people of the same gender. Therefore, homosexuality is a sense of identity of an individual based on those attractions and other related behaviours. Homosexuality in South Africa

Many sub-Saharan African countries have laws against homosexuality, but the case is unique in South Africa. The country legalized same-sex marriage in 2006. The South African Constitutions Bill of Rights clearly prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation

Homosexuality has become a matter of public discourse in Asian countries (Liebhold, 2000). A research was conducted where 62 Caucasian, 61 Hispanic and 44 Asian female undergraduates completed the Index of Homophobia by Hudson & Ricketts. Asian students scored higher on the homophobia measure than Caucasian students. Both Asian and Hispanic students permitted the statement that the university would be much better if only heterosexuals attended.

China, one of Asian countries has low religious beliefs and negative sentiment for homosexuals. Until recently, those that practice gay activities were punished by the justice system. They were hunted and chased by the police, and were liable to be detained and arrested. In October 1999, a Beijing court ruled that homosexuality was “abnormal and unacceptable to the Chinese public”. Later in 2001, the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders officially detached homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. However, households headed by same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt children and are not advantaged as heterosexual married

This research was conducted in a two-wave national aids telephone survey. The researchers used 2-wave national probability sample of self-identified heterosexual Americans. In the first wave, they wanted to replicate previous findings that self-reported interpersonal contact is strongly correlated with favourable attitudes towards gay men.

In the second wave, the researchers wanted to address a gap in the research literature by measuring the applicability of previous findings about contact to heterosexual attitudes towards lesbians. Americans’ attitudes towards gay men are more negative than their attitude towards lesbians (Kite, 1994). Some justified that by saying “sex between men is just plain wrong!” while some said that male homosexuals are disgusting.

Since the Stonewall riots in 1969, there have been some backward and forward steps for homosexuals in the United States. Gay men and lesbians gained social acceptance among certain subgroups of the population, while experiencing hatred and hostility from others (Werum & Winders