During the past decades homosexuality and religion had a very important relationship. Religious groups were the conquerors of all the lands and with them came certain set beliefs. Some Western religions forced their view points onto indigenous people; one of these being homosexuality. Before Western civilization immigrated into the Americas, Native Americans had very a different religious identities that allowed a wider acceptance of homosexuality. In some tribes homosexuality was even seen as a gift. These tribes felt that since homosexuals were different, god had spent more time on them and had therefore made them special. Yet, upon the arrival of Western immigrants, homosexuals came to be seen as psychologically disordered, and with this came a new wave of misunderstanding and animosity. This is not the only time we see an acceptance for homosexuals; If we looked through time, "[i]n certain historical periods, the practice was glorified and extolled, as in classical Greece where Pericles the great Athenian statesman, was regarded as rather odd because he was not attracted to beautiful boys-(Gleitman, 611). These two groups having different spiritual beliefs enabled them to have a different perspective on homosexuality. Religious' set views on topics are important for their followers because having these same personal beliefs re-enforces their faith in their religion. With religious identification come set ideologies, which members have to abide by. For instance in the Christian community homosexuality is seen as a sin by the laws set forth in the bible. But "Our misunderstanding of sexual orientation as we know it today did not exist 50 years ago, much less in biblical times. Only in 1973 did the American medical, psychiatric and legal professions begin to recognize that homosexuality is an orientation and not a choice, illness or crime.""(www.truluck.com).
Homosexuality has been misunderstood in today's society it has always dealt with it as an issue but it isn't an issue, these are individuals we are talking about.
