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Homosexuality

Definition and Distinctions

 Heterosexuality is a type of sexual orientation characterized by sexual desire or romantic love
exclusively for persons of the opposite sex.

 Homosexuality is a type of sexual orientation characterized by sexual desire or romantic love

exclusively or almost exclusively for people of the same sex. Male homosexuals are attracted to
males. Female homosexuals (or lesbians) are attracted to women.

Homosexuality is different from:

 Bisexuality is a type of sexual orientation characterized by sexual desire or romantic love toward
both males and females. The attraction is not usually equally divided for both genders; often there is a
distinct but not exclusive preference for one sex over the other.

 Transgender is a general term for people whose identity, expression, behavior, or general sense of
self does not conform to what is usually associated with the sex they were born with or assigned.

o A trans man is a person who was female at birth but identifies as male.
o A trans woman is a person who was male at birth but identifies as female.
o Transgendered persons can have different orientations (i.e. straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual,
asexual, pansexual, etc).

 Transsexual is a term used to refer to a person who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent
with, or not culturally associated with, their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to
the gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including hormone
replacement therapy and other sex reassignment therapies) to help them align their body with their
identified sex or gender.
o Transsexual persons are unable to change their genetics and cannot acquire the reproductive
abilities of the sex to which they transition.
o A transexual man is a person who has transitioned from female to male while a transsexual
woman is a person who has transitioned from male to female.

 Transvestism or crossdressing
o This is the wearing of clothes of the opposite sex.
o This is done for various reasons such as: for artistic performances, for sexual excitation as a
form of foreplay, or to express the gender identification of transgendered persons.

***

Source: Marciano Vidal. Moral Actitudes. Madrid: PS Editorial, 1985

Translated and adapted by Fr. Romeo Intengan, SJ

Homosexual Orientation and Homosexual Behavior

Homosexual orientation refers to the exclusive romantic or sexual attraction to the same sex.

Homosexual behavior refers to genital sexual activity between persons of the same sex.
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 While all genital sexual activity between the same sex are considered intrinsically wrong by Church
because of their non-procreative nature, not all same sex genital activity is necessarily connected with a
homosexual orientation. For example:

1. Homosexual behavior associated with the transient homosexual attraction frequent in

preadolescence and adolescence.
2. Homosexual behavior of the substitutive type often found in prisons, ships and military camps
in which heterosexual partners, though the preferred sexual outlet, are not available.
3. Same-sex activity engaged in by prostitutes or actors in pornographic media. These are
activities that do not necessarily have any romantic or sexual attraction.
4. Same-sex activity done under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This activity is done without
the person’s full awareness or control. This does not necessarily indicate a homosexual
orientation.
5. Homosexual behavior as the expression of sexual curiosity and of desire for diverse sexual
experiences, but in which the preferred sexual outlet is the opposite sex.
6. Same-sex activity done in the context of coercion or manipulation such as in the case of rape
or abuse. The person who is raped or abused does not have full freedom and would not have
real attraction for their abuser. An experience of same-sex rape or abuse is not an indicator
that the victim has become homosexual in orientation

 Without a real and long-term attraction to the same sex, a person cannot be properly considered a
homosexual person even if he or she has engaged in wrong same-sex activity.
 A person can have a homosexual orientation even without having engaged in same-sex activity.

Kinds of Homosexuality
 Homosexuality may be male or female – a male homosexual generally identifies as gay while a
female homosexual identifies as a lesbian
 Homosexuality may be latent (not acted out) or overt (acted out). If overt, it may be open (publicly
known) or furtive (hidden).
 It is important to distinguish between male homosexuality and effeminacy, as well as female
homosexuality and mannishness. There are men with effeminate mannerisms who are exclusively or
predominantly heterosexual, just as there are men with masculine physique and manners who are
homosexuals. Similarly, there are women who have somewhat mannish ways who are heterosexual,
and there are women with very feminine looks and mannerisms who are homosexual. The majority of
homosexuals have no outer physical characteristics or mannerisms that identify their sexual
preference.
 Homosexuality should not be identified with sexual deviations such as pedophilia or pederasty (use
of a child of either sex to achieve arousal or gratification), or with such antisocial activities as
prostitution. Only a small minority of homosexuals engage in such practices. Moreover,
heterosexuals also engage in such practices.

Terminology
 On must be accurate in the use of terms in referring to homosexual persons. Do not interchange the
terms homosexual, transgendered or transvestite.
 Homosexual person is a more formal term in public discourse when talking about a person with a
homosexual orientation. To use the term “homosexual” as a noun can imply a reduction of the person
to his or her sexual orientation and disregarding other essential aspects of the person.
 Do not use street slang or pejorative terms when referring to homosexual persons.

Sociological aspects
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 Homosexuality is probably more common than most people think. Statistics vary as to the prevalence
of homosexuality. It is difficult to obtain an accurate figure of prevalence because of the most
homosexual persons conceal their sexual preferences and activity. This concealment is due to the
negative reactions that homosexuality elicits from society in general as well as in the family and
among friends and acquaintances. They are often labeled as immoral, sinners, mentally ill,
pedophiles, or abnormal people.
 People generally make fun of them and even persons who as supposed to be more pastorally sensitive
tend to laugh at jokes at the expense of homosexual persons because of fear of being suspected of
homosexuality themselves if they react negatively to the jokes.
 In recent times, because of advances in psychology, there has been greater understanding of the types
of homosexual behavior and their distinct psychodynamics and moral implications. There are now
organizations and associations for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons. These groups
provide a sense of community, advocate the protection of the human rights of LGBT persons, and
counter discriminatory attitudes and practices. However, some hostility against homosexuals still
persists in most societies.

Causes of Homosexuality
 Science and psychology have not established a single cause of homosexuality. Most likely
homosexuality is caused by a complex set of factors.
 Thus the cause of homosexuality is probably a complex combination of various factors, some genetic
and some environmental, that make it likely for a person to develop a homosexual orientation.
 Though there may be genetic factors that increase the likelihood of one becoming a homosexual
person, these genetic factors alone do not produce homosexuality. There must also be environmental
factors for homosexuality to develop. There may be some people with a genetic likelihood of
developing a “predisposition” toward homosexuality, but it requires the addition of environmental
factors to actually develop a homosexual orientation.
 Homosexuality should not be treated like a disease.

Medical/Psychological View of Homosexuality

 Psychiatrists do not consider homosexuality by itself a disease or a symptom of a disease. Therefore,
homosexuality by itself should not be referred to in terms of “perversion,” “deviation,” or
“inversion.”
 There are some schools of thought that view homosexuality as a condition that demands medical
and/or psychological treatment. This is not the position of the Catholic Church.
 In some countries, conversion therapies involving psychological treatment or spiritual counseling
intended to change a person’s orientation from homosexuality or bisexuality to heterosexuality are
banned because of harmful effects on patients.
 In any case, no person should be coerced to undergo medical or psychological treatment of
homosexuality.
 A more important and urgent need is the prevention of the dysfunctional expressions of sexuality,
both heterosexual and homosexual. This includes wholesome sex education for children in the home,
good modeling of sexual attitudes and behavior by parents, discouragement of sexual
experimentation, and fostering a healthy attitude to sexuality that avoids inordinate attention to
physical sexual behavior. This sex education should be in the context of the integral development of
the person, leading to maturity and responsibility.

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Church Teaching on Homosexuality

Sacred Scripture
 Sacred Scripture certainly considers homosexual actions as sinful.
o Old Testament
 Lev 18:22 - Homosexual action, at least by males, is an abomination
 Lev 20:13 - The death penalty is proscribed for homosexual actions
o New Testament
 Rom 1:26-27 - Homosexual actions are considered “disgraceful passion,s”
“unnatural,” “shameful,” and considered as “perversity.”
 1 Cor 6:9-10: No sodomites . . . will inherit the Kingdom of God.
 1 Tim 8-11: “Sodomites” are included among “those who . . . flout the sound teaching
that pertains to the glorious gospel of God.”

 What is the significance and weight of these condemnations of homosexual activity in the Old and
New Testament?
o Modern biblical scholarship suggests that the condemnations in the Old Testament are often
directed against homosexual acts by heterosexual persons, especially when the situation
suggests rape (Genesis 19 - Sodom and Gomorrah), or against acts in a context of idolatrous
connotations (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13 --the Leviticus Holiness Code), or are seen as violations
of social justice demands for hospitality (Isaiah 1:9, Ezekiel 16:46-51, Jeremiah 23:14).1
o Both male and female homosexual relations are condemned in a New Testament citation as an
expression of idolatry (Rom 1:25-27). Same sex genital acts are mentioned among those that
violate God’s law and exclude the perpetrator from the Kingdom of heaven (Rom 1:25-27, I
Cor 6:9-10, 1 Tim 1:9-10). Most modern exegetes acknowledge the difficulty of determining
the precise meaning of these texts and the consequent problem of applying them ethically to
condemn homosexuals or their genital acts.2
o It is clear, however, that the scriptural texts cited do not address and could not have addressed
in those times the question of homosexual orientation, which was then not clearly
distinguished from homosexual activity. People at that time generally thought that the
homosexual activity was freely chosen by persons who were heterosexual in orientation.
o These scriptural passages have contributed to and reinforced negative attitudes toward
homosexual persons and actions.

Magisterial Teaching on Homosexuality

The official teaching of the Church considers homosexual activity as morally wrong. There are two
main recent pronouncements of the magisterium on homosexuality.

Persona Humana: Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics (CDF: Dec. 29,1975)

At the present time there are those who, basing themselves on observations in the psychological order, have
begun to judge indulgently, and even to excuse completely, homosexual relations between certain people.
This they do in opposition to the constant teaching of the Magisterium and to the moral sense of the
Christian people.

1 ?
Robert M. Friday, “Homosexuality,” in Joseph A. Komonchak, Mary Collins, and Dermont Lane, eds., The New
Dictionary of Theology (Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazer, 1987; Pasay City: Saint Paul Publications, 1991).
2 ?
Ibid.
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A distinction is drawn, and it seems with some reason, between homosexuals whose tendency comes from a
false education, from a lack of normal sexual development, from habit, from bad example, or from other
similar causes, and is transitory or at least not incurable; and homosexuals who are definitively such
because of some kind of innate instinct or a pathological constitution judged to be incurable.

In regard to this second category of subjects, some people conclude that their tendency is so natural that it
justifies in their case homosexual relations within a sincere communion of life and love analogous to
marriage, in so far as such homosexuals feel incapable of enduring a solitary life.

In the pastoral field, these homosexuals must certainly be treated with understanding and sustained in the
hope of overcoming their personal difficulties and their inability to fit into society. Their culpability will be
judged with prudence. But no pastoral method can be employed which would give moral justification to these
acts on the grounds that they would be consonant with the condition of such people. For according to the
objective moral order, homosexual relations are acts which lack an essential and indispensable finality. In
Sacred Scripture they are condemned as a serious depravity and even presented as the sad consequence of
rejecting God.[18] This judgment of Scripture does not of course permit us to conclude that all those who
suffer from this anomaly are personally responsible for it, but it does attest to the fact that homosexual
acts are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of.

Commentary on the Declaration:

Homosexuals are portrayed here as victims of one kind of misfortune or another—they suffer from
the effects of a false education, improper sexual development, bad example, or a pathological constitution. In
some cases their condition is temporary and may be cured, while in others no cure can be expected. To say
the least, the CDF analysis is unfortunate and questionable in that it clearly regards people who are
homosexually oriented as having some kind of disease or disorder. (In Pursuit of Love, Genovesi, 256)

The CDF presents homosexuality as something analogous to a disease like diabetes or alcoholism. The
diabetic or alcoholic is not considered sinful because of the condition, but is called upon to live a healthy life
(e.g., watch diet, or no alcohol consumption). Similarly, homosexuality is not considered sinful as an
orientation but the homosexual is called upon to live a lifestyle that avoids the genital expression of
homosexuality. Homosexual activity is considered immoral.

...

Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons (CDF:
October 1, 1986)

Homosexual Orientation

 In the discussion which followed the publication of the Declaration, however, an overly benign
interpretation was given to the homosexual condition itself, some going so far as to call it neutral, or
even good. Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more
or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must
be seen as an objective disorder. Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be
directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this
orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not. (No. 3)
 “Homosexual activity is not a complementary union, able to transmit life; and so it thwarts the
call to life of that form of self-giving which the Gospel says is the essence of Christian living.” (No.
7)
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 "It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or
in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the church's pastors wherever it occurs...
[and] the intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law"
(No. 10).
 "What is essential is that the fundamental liberty that characterizes the human person and gives
him dignity be recognized as belonging to the homosexual person as well" (No. 11).
 "The characteristic concerns and good will exhibited by many clergy and religious in their pastoral
care for homosexual persons is admirable and, we hope, will not diminish" (No. 13).
 "A homosexual person, as every human being, deeply needs to be nourished at many different levels
simultaneously.... The human person, made in the image and likeness of God, can hardly be
adequately described by a reductionist reference to his or her sexual orientation.... Today the
church provides a badly needed context for the care of the human person when [it] refuses to
consider the person as a 'heterosexual' or a 'homosexual' and insists that every person has a
fundamental identity: the creature of God and, by grace, His child and heir to eternal life" (No. 16).

Homosexual activity

 It is only in the marital relationship that the use of the sexual faculty can be morally good. A person
engaging in homosexual behaviour therefore acts immorally. To choose someone of the same sex for
one's sexual activity is to annul the rich symbolism and meaning, not to mention the goals, of the
Creator's sexual design. Homosexual activity is not a complementary union, able to transmit life; and
so it thwarts the call to a life of that form of self-giving which the Gospel says is the essence of
Christian living. This does not mean that homosexual persons are not often generous and giving of
themselves; but when they engage in homosexual activity they confirm within themselves a disordered
sexual inclination which is essentially self-indulgent. As in every moral disorder, homosexual activity
prevents one's own fulfillment and happiness by acting contrary to the creative wisdom of God. The
Church, in rejecting erroneous opinions regarding homosexuality, does not limit but rather defends
personal freedom and dignity realistically and authentically understood. (No. 7)
 What, then, are homosexual persons to do who seek to follow the Lord? Fundamentally, they are
called to enact the will of God in their life by joining whatever sufferings and difficulties they
experience in virtue of their condition to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross. . . . Just as the Cross was
central to the expression of God's redemptive love for us in Jesus, so the conformity of the self-denial
of homosexual men and women with the sacrifice of the Lord will constitute for them a source of self-
giving which will save them from a way of life which constantly threatens to destroy them.

Commentary on Letter to Bishops

On one hand, the Letter presents homosexual orientation in a kinder light than the Declaration.
However, some critics have pointed out that it is a distortion of reality to describe a person’s sexual
orientation solely or mainly as an inclination toward, or desire for, genital activity. Sexual orientation is not
primarily a tendency or attraction to acts but to persons. It is not helpful for the Church to refer to an
inclination as “disordered” simply because it involves a tendency toward an action that is considered
immoral. One can therefore make the same conclusion that the heterosexual orientation is also disordered
because it draws the heterosexual to commit acts considered by the Church as immoral such as masturbation,
pre-marital sex, marital contraceptive intercourse. It is neither pastorally helpful nor necessary to use the
term “disordered” to describe homosexual orientation in order to support the Church’s teaching about the
moral unacceptability of homosexual activity. (McCormick, in The Pursuit of Love, Genovesi 257-258)
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Summary of the Church’s teaching on Homosexuality (CCC 2357-2359)

#2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or
predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through
the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on
Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared
that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the
sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity.
Under no circumstances can they be approved.

#2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This
inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with
respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.
These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice
of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

#2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner
freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they
can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

Updated Ethical Viewpoint Regarding Homosexuality

 We must make the moral distinction between homosexual orientation and homosexual activity.
 In its inception, a homosexual orientation is not deliberately chosen.

 The homosexual orientation is not sinful in itself. It is “disordered” in the sense that it is not ordered
according to nature in terms of being directed toward procreation between man and woman.

 Homosexual activity, if done deliberately, is morally wrong and prohibited by the Church.

 Homosexual activity is objectively wrong because it can never be procreative and will never fulfill
the true purpose for sexual activity.

 Persons with homosexual orientation have the moral obligation to practice self-control and
continence in the same way as the heterosexually-oriented unmarried person. A person with a
homosexual orientation can attain Christian perfection and holiness.

 Since the Church considers homosexual persons capable of reaching Christian perfection, there is no
duty or obligation for a homosexual person to “cure” or reverse their homosexual orientation. The
Church does not demand homosexual persons to become heterosexuals by means of therapies or
treatments.

 The requirements for Christian chastity are the same for both homosexual and heterosexual persons.
The only difference is that heterosexuals are allowed to marry and engage in marital intercourse
while homosexuals are not allowed to enter in same sex unions nor engage in sexual relations.

 It is possible for both homosexual and heterosexual persons to live chaste lives.

Pastoral observations (Genovesi, 308)

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Pastors and counselors must be aware of and inform others of the following points regarding
homosexuality:

 Pastors and confessors are advised to avoid both harshness and permissiveness when counseling
sexually active homosexuals.
 Homosexually oriented individuals who have been engaged in an active sex life should be
encouraged to live in chastity aided by a deepened spiritual life.
 Although homosexual activity is considered objectively immoral, a distinction must be made, in
terms of gravity, between irresponsible, promiscuous and destructive homosexual activity and
homosexual activity within the context of a permanent and exclusive relationship between two
homosexuals who find it impossible to live solitary lives of sexual abstinence.
 Approach according to magisterium: Homosexuals in a loving relationship that are striving for
permanency must aim at, and struggle for, the elimination of all genital behavior from their lives. At
the same time the Church acknowledges that homosexual couples will probably not be able to
achieve this goal immediately but only gradually.
 It would not be wise to advise homosexuals to marry the opposite sex in order to “normalize” their
orientation.