THE BAD:
As the LGBTQ+ community grew and collided with several religious beliefs of many religions, staunch believers in the religion resorted to forcing minors to conversion therapies or “gay cure therapy”. Conversion therapy is heavily criticised as being cruel and inhuman to the community. In Curbing deception – A world survey of legal restrictions of socalled ‘conversion therapies’ by ILGA, several extreme methods used in conversion therapy were identified, such as physical and sexual abuse, internment, electric shock therapy, hypnosis, hormone regimens, psychotherapy and religious counselling. It has been reported by the international LGBTQ organisation ILGA that these pseudo-scientific practices have a destructive effect on people’s lives from an early age and that the main reason for such practices still being accepted in the society is religion and prejudice.
Over the years, very few countries like Malta, Germany and Albania have actually banned conversion therapy taking the advice of several organizations like the WHO and psychologists. A few other countries like Canada, New Zealand and the U.K. have taken a step in the right direction in expressing their will to ban this practice. However, it is pertinent to note that, it is the 21st century and in this fastpaced world, these changes are not enough for the community to survive, much less, live. There have been several instances of people from the community being killed, tortured and even resorting to suicide because of conversion therapies all over the world but no serious action has been taken against this practice. Ironically, the countries that have taken a step towards banning this inhuman practice are facing the hurdle of religious groups from their country opposing the ban. Even recently, as Canada sought to ban the practice, the Catholic Bishops in the country expressed their objections to this and gender identity was even referred to as an “aggressive ideology” and against the moral fabric of the Canadian society. This is not just a view that has been taken by the religious followers of one religion in one country alone. Several religious groups all over the world believe that the LGBTQ+ community is merely a phase of children and can be cured if given the right atmosphere. One can only wonder if this is because of the lack of awareness or the rigid ideals of several religions on what is morally correct and wrong.
On one hand, psychologists around the world stood against conversion therapy stating that it is not effective and is also harmful to the community and on the other, religion has stood strongly against the community and encouraged people to cure it.
THE GOOD:
All negativity aside, the author would like to look into how religion, being an integral part of most peoples’ lives can actually contribute positively to fostering the needs of the community. Although some religions have shown express distaste regarding the community, several other religious groups have also promoted the marriage of same-sex couples in the past two decades, such as the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). According to the 2019 Pew Research Center Survey, 66% of white mainline Protestants are in favour of same-sex marriages and a similar share of Catholics (61%) are as well. There have also been many instances of religion supporting the community in past few years. In May 2021, German Catholics offered blessings to same-sex couples in 100 different churches in the country, openly defying the ‘Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’ which said that the Catholic clergy cannot bless same-sex couples as God will not and cannot bless sin. More than 230 German theologians signed a statement expressing their stance against the Vatican’s pronouncement. Recently, Catholic parishes in New York have also taken efforts to build gay-friendly Catholicism. In addition, Rev. Dawn Bennet, Nashville’s first queer Lutheran pastor was ordained in 2021 and preached against antiLGBTQ hate in Tennessee. Revisiting the relationship between religious freedom and the LGBTQ+ community, the author would like to conclusively state that religion can most definitely complement the community and help them grow in a society that is weighed down by empty hatred.
Through this article, the author is not looking to validate the recent efforts taken by various religious groups but only contour how religion can help the community thrive substantially, even if the society and the government aren’t willing to accept and include the community in an express manner. When one delves deeper into this, one would be able to identify that people’s religious and spiritual experiences and beliefs manifest at an individual pace at cognitive, affective, physical and behavioural levels with the help of various studies. Religious fundamentalism has been noted to influence negative attitudes towards the community in the past and a study has even shown that the rejection of homosexuality by religion could be understood by authoritarianism and traditional beliefs of gender. But, one needs to place reliance on the strong influence that religious fundamentalism has and comprehend that religion has the potential to positively shape attitudes as well.
THE UGLY:
A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center shows that about three-quarters of U.S. Catholics have opined that the society must be accepting of homosexuality and majority of Catholics in Western Europe are in favour of same-sex marriages, and yet, this has barely been reported. This poses the question: where does the problem lie?
To find the answer to that question, one will have to delve into the subtle role played by the media in deepening the hatred against the community. Relying on the findings of a recent study, the author would like to throw light on how the news media coverage of LGBTQ+ rights and religion often highlights only religiously identified sources that stand against the community and this is contrasting to the support expressed by religious Americans. It was identified that several national and local media outlets had focused on the anti-LGBTQ sources more than the proLGBTQ sources.
While our earlier understanding in this article was that religion can shape attitudes, it is crucial to take into account that media can too. News could accidentally warp our perception of reality and this isn’t always for the better. One of the potential reasons for the ways that news affects our perception is through the hack of negativity-bias, which means that, when things of equal intensity are presented to a person, the things which are of negative nature will have a greater impact on the psychological state of the person as opposed to neutral or positive things. For example, when the City Reporter, an online news media based in Russia decided the publish only good news for just a day considering all the negative information surrounding people, it lost two-thirds of its readers. Through these factual scenarios, one can comprehend to an extent, if not fully, that media has thrived on feeding negative information to the public and, subconsciously it is what the public have craved for as well.
CONCLUSION:
Change cannot be seen in a day, but it is only pragmatic to note that there has been change. As several people struggle with accepting change, media has only furthered this aversion. Admittedly, religious fundamentalism has dismissed of homosexuality through the years and promoted conversion therapies. But, it is time for change and several majority religious groups like Christians, Muslims and Hindus are beginning to comprehend that homosexuality is not a disease and traditional gender norms cannot be placed complete reliance on in the 21st Century. As lay men in the society, we read the news on hate crimes and oppositions against the community and develop a negative bias. As the efforts of several religious groups go unreported, more religious groups fail to stand up for the rights of the community, and as media focuses on how religious groups have not stood up for the community, the LGBTQ+ community develops a negative bias against them. The lack of awareness has always contributed to the perception against the community. Media outlets, being our source of information have the responsibility to report news in a manner that focuses on both the good and the bad, without leaving out information for their benefit. People need to be taught about digital literacy in order to find reliable sources and understand how clicking on news regarding hate crimes will only show you more content that adds to the bias against the community. Only when people start to understand that there has been change in the past few years and acceptance is not far away, will the hate crimes stop and the bias be eliminated, and only when news becomes more objective rather than emotional will things begin to look less bleak for the community as well as the entire society.
To find the answer to that question, one will have to delve into the subtle role played by the media in deepening the hatred against the community. Relying on the findings of a recent study, the author would like to throw light on how the news media coverage of LGBTQ+ rights and religion often highlights only religiously identified sources that stand against the community and this is contrasting to the support expressed by religious Americans. It was identified that several national and local media outlets had focused on the anti-LGBTQ sources more than the pro-LGBTQ sources.