HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE FAMILYnby Edward M. LevinenFor nearly two decades, homosexuals and their sympathizersnhave increased their efforts to persuade opinionnleaders, educators, clergy, government officials, and thenpublic that their sexual lives, though different, are as normalnand natural as the heterosexuals’. Since some heterosexualsnalso engage in sodomy, the homosexuals have claimed that itnis only their same-sex orientation that sets them apart fromnheterosexuals. Regarding this as inconsequential, homosexualsngo on to insist that a pluralist society should extendnthem minority group acceptance and status. In sum, theyncall for full social approval of their sexual identity andnbehavior.nMany of those who are familiar with these views considernit a mark of enlightenment and civility to accept them primanfacie. They do so largely because homosexuals have lednthem to believe that homosexuality is an “orientation” orn”preference” (choice) and is, therefore, as legitimate as anynother.nIt is well-known, however, that boys of elementary andnhigh school age who are incipient homosexuals are typicallynsubjected to the punishing taunts, derision, and ridicule ofntheir peers. Both common sense and sociological role theorynsuggest that the desire of such youngsters (and adults) tonavoid the rejection and enjoy the acceptance of their peersnwould alone induce them to spurn homosexuality, if it werenreally a matter of sexual preference.nIn an unusually informative 1972 article little knownnoutside the psychiatric community, Warren Gadpaille synthesizednempirical studies of physiologists whose findingsnunequivocally show that human heterosexuality is established,nin biologically normal individuals (including homosexuals),nbetween the sixth and 12th weeks of fetal life.nHence, all biologically normal males and females arenheterosexual at birth.nOther well-established evidence furnished by Bieber,nSocarides, Stoller, Ovesey, et al. indicates that homosexualitynresults from an overpowering unconscious fear of heterosexuality,ngenerally caused by a domineering mother and anpassive-submissive, emotionally absent father (or the othernway around).nThe significance of these findings is that homosexuality isna psychopathological symptom that can be (and has been)ncured in therapy—providing the individual wants to changen(which most homosexuals do not). Even more important isnthat homosexuality can be prevented by parenting thatnfosters children’s innate bio-psychological heterosexuality.nYet, the thrust of the homosexual movement is to denynthat homosexuality is psychopathological, that heterosexualitynalone is healthy, and that sound parenting is essential tonheterosexual gender-identity in adulthood. The logic ofnhomosexuals’ claim to normality leads them to rejectnthe importance of marriage and family, of competentnEdward M. Levine is professor of sociology at LoyolanUniversity.nchild-rearing, and of the moral values that serve as theirnfoundation.nIn 1973, yielding to great pressure from homosexualnorganizations and ideologues, the American PsychiatricnAssociation (APA) initiated the change in its official diagnosisnof homosexuality as psychopathology. The new policyndeclared homosexuality psychopathological only for thosenindividuals who sought psychiatric treatment for it. ThenAPA’s policy change was followed, two years later, by thenAmerican Psychological Association. Both official views arenstill held up by homosexuals as definitive proof that homosexualitynis psychologically and otherwise as healthy asnheterosexuality.nThese diagnostic redefinitions of homosexuality by leadingnprofessional associations have had an adverse impact thatnextends far beyond the views of therapists, homosexuals, andnsexologists. Parents, for example, may be confused aboutnhow to rear their children if their values and intuitionnconflict with the official conclusions of the new priesthood.nAnd their uncertainty will be sensed by their offspring whonneed parental support for their developing masculinity andnfemininity.nParents who are indifferent about their children’s genderidentitynmay very well place them at risk of becomingnhomosexuals, bisexuals, or transsexuals. Rather than admiringnand reinforcing their sons’ and daughters’ sexual differences,nsome parents studiously adhere to the social fiction ofnandrogyny as a biological fact. For their children, seriousnheterosexual dysfunctions are possible outcomes of beingnraised according to this contemporary mythology.nWhile a good deal has been written about the homosexu-nnnJULY1988/21n