Homosexuality
Homosexuality has been a widely discussed issue over the past few decades in the contemporary society. In the meantime, it has become an increasingly common phenomenon all over the world. Moreover, homosexuality is recognized at the state level in different countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and several provinces in Canada (Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec) and in the Massachusetts state (United States) by allowing same sex marriages. The Spanish Parliament adopted the proposal of children adoption and allowance of marriage between people of the same sex in 2004. At the same time a lot of countries have incorporated in their framework prohibition of any kinds of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation of people (Finland, Luxembourg, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and other countries).
However, spread of homosexuality and its recognition at the legal level faces various constraints and oppression by numerous groups of people. Various religious communities, including both Catholic and Muslim, are severely protesting against presence of From the ethical point of view, homosexuality cannot be considered to be immoral for several reasons. Arguments in favor of statement that homosexuality is ethically moral include lack of harm, personal right for freedom as well as justice.
First of all, homosexuality in the ethical framework may not be considered immoral due to the fact that it does not hurt any member of society. Simply being a form of expression of sexual orientation, along with heterosexuality, it cannot exercise any The second argument in favor of the idea of homosexuality morality lies in the grounds of people’s natural rights for self expression provided that it does not hurt other people. Since homosexual behavior is not violent, every person has a right to choose homosexuality or heterosexuality according to his or her own preferences.
Finally, one of the ethical arguments in favor of homosexuality morality is justice. It is not fair to constrain people on the grounds of sexual orientation if it does not hurt other people. People are born equal and free to decide on their sexual orientation. Therefore it is not just to limit their freedom since homosexual behavior by no means brings injustice into society.
Moving further to the legalization of homosexuality by adopting laws that allow same sex marriages, it should be mentioned that the reasons are similar to the arguments for morality of homosexuality (Shaw, 2008).
Primarily, supporters of same sex marriages base their arguments on the principle of equality. Due to the principle that all people are born equal, it is deceitful to reject the rights of people who have homosexual sexual orientation. Similarly to the discrimination on the grounds of skin color or race, discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation should be legally forbidden along with permission for marriages. Another group of arguments in support of the same sex marriages is based on the principle of justice. Traditional married couples enjoy numerous legal benefits, including the possibility of adopting children, health insurance as well as other financial benefits. However, same sex couples that are not legally recognized as married couples cannot enjoy all those benefits.
To sum up, it should be mentioned that homosexuality is becoming more and more widespread all over the world. A lot of countries or regions in the countries have legally recognized homosexuality. However, at the same time, spread of this phenomenon is accompanied by extensive discussions of its morality. From the ethical point of view, homosexuality cannot be considered as immoral since it does not bring harmful consequences for any person. Every individual has a right to choose his or her sexual orientation and it is unfair to set legal boundaries on their choice. Therefore, legalization of the same sex marriages is grounded on the same types of arguments of social justice and personal rights of people to make choices with respect to sexual orientation.
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