Social Work with People Practicing Same-Sex ... - ILGA Europe

health care institutions are rather frequent. Homosexual families in Ukraine are deprived
of rights and freedoms envisaged by the legislation for heterosexual families, including,
for example, the right to create family partnerships, adopt children, bequeath property
in case of death of a partner, be a guardian for the children of a partner; to receive social
benefits to care for children and sick members of homosexual family. Information space
of our country is filled with negative and stereotyped information about lesbian women
and gay men. Until now there are attempts to forcefully treat homosexual people and it
is a direct violation of international and national legislation.
What is causing homophobia in the society?
The answer to this question lies in the gender perspective. I suggest that we should
start our discourse about gender and homophobia from the following question: are
there any uniform standards for a male or female human being? Many people will
answer “yes” to this question without thinking. A woman should be such and such,
and a man, as opposed to woman, should be such and such. In other words, while
describing “male“ and “female“ qualities of a human personality, we say, that to be a
man or a woman means something more than just to have primary and secondary sex
characters by which we can determine the biological sex of a person. Our list of qualities
inherent to men and women includes, first of all, their social roles and behavioural
patterns for men and women. Few people think about the fact that these qualities of
“masculinity“ or “femininity“ are not inborn but are developed by the socialization
institutions 1 in accordance with cultural requirements relevant for a given moment
of time. Correspondingly, we are talking about gender —
a social and cultural characteristic attached by a society
to an individual according to his or her biological sexual
features, which requires a strict compliance to all rules of a
standard behaviour of a “normal“ man or woman. The norms
of “masculinity“ and “femininity“ are not constant. They
are changing depending on a historical epoch, cultural
traditions, social and political situation and many other
factors. Some “natural“ and “correct“ things from the point
of view of a patriarchal society are considered immoral in
the modern world and are subject to legal prosecution. For
instance, such as public executions and the death penalty
as such, or discrimination on the basis of gender, race,
religious beliefs or political preferences, or ethnic origin,
corporal punishment of children and adults, domestic
violence, forced marriage, forceful recruitment in the army, deprivation of the right to
education and choice of profession, etc.
Violation of LGBT rights is explained by the fact that the heterosexual society establishes
certain norms and rules of behaviour, into which the representatives of lesbian and gay
community do not fit. Deviation from these norms and rules is viewed by the society
as the manifestation of inadequacy. So, male homosexuality is perceived as a threat
to the society and patriarchal mode of life which typically recognizes the superiority
of men and “male“ values. Gays are regarded as people, who do not blend in this mode
of life 2 because they are not “men“. They are associated with negative “feminine“
properties. Patriarchal attitude towards lesbians can be expressed by the following
quotation: “any sexual contact is deprived of any social importance if it occurs without
the involvement of penis” 3 .
Lesbians and gays are perceived by the society as people unable to control their sexual
desire. They are perceived as people inclined to lecherous actions that are dangerous to
other people, and who are seducing underage children to incline them to homosexuality.
All this made some gay activists to mock such perceptions by wearing T-shirts with an
inscription: “Give us your children and what we underfuck, we will just eat!”.
Understanding that discrimination of LGBT contradicts the laws, society is trying to
invent some special rules for gays and lesbians based on double moral standards and
religious dogmas. The society tries to restrict opportunities provided to gays and
lesbians by their civil rights (e.g., to enter into a marriage, or to choose profession,
ILGA-Europe Conference, 2007.
Michael Cashman, Member of the
European Parliament: “God Bless
heterosexual procreation! In fact,
it brings thousands of homosexual,
bisexual and transgender people
into the World.“
1 Family, kindergarten, school,
institute, mass media, army, health
care, church, and so on.
2 Weinberg, 1972.
3 Bernard, 1992, р. 27
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