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Nowadays the issue of homosexuality is treated with much more tolerance than in the past. However we do remember the past times when homosexuality was a deviation banned by law, a kind of 'social disease'. The people who happened to fall victim to this shameful disease were persecuted. As an example we can point out to the case of Oscar Wilde who was tried for being a homosexual and, having been found guilty of sexual contacts with men, was sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour. It was the maximum sentence, most of which Wilde served at the Reading Gaol, where his health was badly damaged which in turn put an end to his literary career .
Fortunately these times are now over. In the present people seem to have developed a more lenient or even indulgent attitude towards homosexuals, and homosexuality itself is no longer treated as a disease. Now there is much more acceptance of homosexuals and we can sometimes see couples of the same sex in the streets or hear about marriages between homosexual pairs. Now it is generally accepted that homosexuality is not a mere deviation. It is a special condition when people are sexually attracted to the people of the same sex. Homosexual people are not worse than heterosexual just because they are a minority. Their sexual needs result from their psyche in the very same way as the needs of the heterosexuals. Still, the homosexuals seem not to be treated equally with the heterosexuals .
In my country there is no chance for a homosexual relationship to be legalised. Most often homosexual couples share the flat, which brings them a lot of problems. In the case of a regular heterosexual couple there is a certain set of rules which apply to most couples at the moment of their marriage. These rules concern the ownership of a house or flat belonging to the couple, the using of credit cards or bank accounts. In the case of married heterosexual couples all that the spouses own is common, provided there was no legal division of their belongings before or after the marriage. Homosexuals however have to fight for the application of these rules on the legal way, which is not easy. Another thing is that in the case of death of either partner of a heterosexual marriage all the property possessed by the dead partner almost automatically goes to the one still alive, on condition that there was no testament left by the dead husband or wife. Homosexual couples again meet with difficulty just because they are not allowed to marry. If we accept the fact that such couples do exist, why do we not allow them to marry? We agree that homosexual people are not either ill or in any way worse than heterosexual ones. We may admit that ' two husbands' or ' two wives' is a weird concept but still we have to enable these people to live as most people do. If we agree that they are normal people it more or less means that they deserve equal treatment and we should ensure them such .
In some countries homosexual marriages have been recently legalised, which of course gave rise to many protests. There are still many people who think of homosexuality as of a deviation which can be cured. They seem not to understand that homosexuality, as well as heterosexuality, is psychologically determined, at least partially. I personally understand the protests of priests for instance, because homosexuality is against the laws of the Bible. I think, however, that secular marriages should be open to all couples, no matter homo - or heterosexual .
There is however one thing that I would deny the homosexuals - that is having children. This is of course unavoidable as far as lesbian pairs are concerned, because one of the women may have an in-vitro conception, but I would never approve of adoption by homosexual couples. We know very well that children need both parents - a mother and a father. This is the best condition in which a child can be brought up. Two mothers or two fathers is not a good way out. By accepting the existence of homosexuals we do not mean that we want them to grow in number. Children brought up by the homosexual pairs would themselves be potential homosexuals, because it has been proved that there are two main factors that determine sexual orientation. These are some processes taking place during the foetal life of a human and the environment in which this human is brought up. This is one reason for which the homosexuals should not be allowed to have children. Another reason is that it is better for a child to have a normal conventional family. There is a higher probability that a child having two parents of the same sex will be orally abused and humiliated. Thus if we want to make children happier we should not allow for them to be brought up by two mummies or two daddies .
Homosexuality is still a problem of some kind and although it is now treated less strictly there is a lot of things to be done about it. Many people still hold conservative point of view and they do not want to accept homosexuality in any way. Others treat homosexuals as equals and they try to do something for them, like for example achieve changes in the legal system. If we do not want to agree for homosexuals to marry maybe we should think of some other solutions concerning such issues as inheritance or common property. Some changes should be made to make the lives of the homosexual couples easier. If it is not going to be the legalisation of their marriages it could for instance be a special system of registration which would guarantee them the laws that the married couples have. Homosexuals should be treated equally to other people but with one exception. They should not be allowed to bring up children .
