Difference between revisions of "Atheism and the suppression of homosexuality"
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===Cuba=== | ===Cuba=== | ||
In the formerly [[state atheism|atheist state]] of [[Cuba]], "in the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro regime persecuted openly gay Cubans".<ref name="Chapman2007">{{cite book|last=Chapman|first=Thomas E.|title=Constructing the Moral Landscape Through Antidiscrimination Law: Discourse, Debate, and Dialogue of Sexual Citizenship in Three Florida Communities|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bZE5UgNRP8cC&pg=PA142|accessdate=25 April 2014|year=2007|publisher=ProQuest|isbn=9780549469575|page=142|quote=Among the so-called "unwanted" were as many as 3,000 openly homosexual Cubans. At various points in the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro regime persecuted openly gay Cubans, despite the progressive thrust of the ideas of the Communist Revolution, which did substantially improve the conditions of other oppressed minority groups such as women and blacks.}}</ref> A major element in Cuba's anti-[[gay]] policies was the fact that the "government adopted the Stalinist position, practiced in the Soviet Union, that homosexuality is a form of bourgeois decadence."<ref name="Chapman">{{cite book|last=Chapman|first=Thomas E.|title=Constructing the Moral Landscape Through Antidiscrimination Law: Discourse, Debate, and Dialogue of Sexual Citizenship in Three Florida Communities|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bZE5UgNRP8cC&pg=PA142|accessdate=25 April 2014|year=2007|publisher=ProQuest|isbn=9780549469575|page=142|quote=Another element contributing to Cuba's past anti-gay policies was for a time, the government adopted the Stalinist position, practiced in the Soviet Union, that homosexuality is a form of bourgeois decadence.}}</ref> As such, "Cuba sent openly gay men to labor camps without charge or trial", with [[Fidel Castro]] admitting to committing these [[crimes against humanity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/31/cuba.castro.gays/index.html?hpt=Sbin|title=Castro admits 'injustice' for gays and lesbians during revolution - CNN.com|last=Darlington|first=Shasta|date=31 August 2010|publisher=[[CNN]]|accessdate=25 April 2014|quote=Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said he acknowledges the persecution of gays and lesbians during the Revolution in his country, according to a newspaper interview published Tuesday. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Cuba sent openly gay men to labor camps without charge or trial. "They were moments of great injustice, great injustice!" Castro told journalist Carmen Lira Saade from the Mexican daily La Jornada. "If someone is responsible, it's me."}}</ref> Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Production (UMAP) camps included both homosexuals, as well as the religious, who were tortured and incarcerated.<ref name="Berenschot2005">{{cite book|last=Berenschot|first=Denis Jorge|title=Performing Cuba: (Re)writing Gender Identity and Exile Across Genres|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yuGiE4B_lfUC&pg=PA40|accessdate=25 April 2014|date=January 2005|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=9780820474403|page=40|quote=Similar problems are recounted in Senel Paz's shorty story when Diego lists the problems he has with the Castroist regime. This list read as a topography of all the coercive strategies of the militarist authoritarian moral codes of the regime. They included persecution of homosexuals, religious people, torture and incarceration in the UMAP camps.}}</ref> | In the formerly [[state atheism|atheist state]] of [[Cuba]], "in the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro regime persecuted openly gay Cubans".<ref name="Chapman2007">{{cite book|last=Chapman|first=Thomas E.|title=Constructing the Moral Landscape Through Antidiscrimination Law: Discourse, Debate, and Dialogue of Sexual Citizenship in Three Florida Communities|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bZE5UgNRP8cC&pg=PA142|accessdate=25 April 2014|year=2007|publisher=ProQuest|isbn=9780549469575|page=142|quote=Among the so-called "unwanted" were as many as 3,000 openly homosexual Cubans. At various points in the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro regime persecuted openly gay Cubans, despite the progressive thrust of the ideas of the Communist Revolution, which did substantially improve the conditions of other oppressed minority groups such as women and blacks.}}</ref> A major element in Cuba's anti-[[gay]] policies was the fact that the "government adopted the Stalinist position, practiced in the Soviet Union, that homosexuality is a form of bourgeois decadence."<ref name="Chapman">{{cite book|last=Chapman|first=Thomas E.|title=Constructing the Moral Landscape Through Antidiscrimination Law: Discourse, Debate, and Dialogue of Sexual Citizenship in Three Florida Communities|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bZE5UgNRP8cC&pg=PA142|accessdate=25 April 2014|year=2007|publisher=ProQuest|isbn=9780549469575|page=142|quote=Another element contributing to Cuba's past anti-gay policies was for a time, the government adopted the Stalinist position, practiced in the Soviet Union, that homosexuality is a form of bourgeois decadence.}}</ref> As such, "Cuba sent openly gay men to labor camps without charge or trial", with [[Fidel Castro]] admitting to committing these [[crimes against humanity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/31/cuba.castro.gays/index.html?hpt=Sbin|title=Castro admits 'injustice' for gays and lesbians during revolution - CNN.com|last=Darlington|first=Shasta|date=31 August 2010|publisher=[[CNN]]|accessdate=25 April 2014|quote=Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said he acknowledges the persecution of gays and lesbians during the Revolution in his country, according to a newspaper interview published Tuesday. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Cuba sent openly gay men to labor camps without charge or trial. "They were moments of great injustice, great injustice!" Castro told journalist Carmen Lira Saade from the Mexican daily La Jornada. "If someone is responsible, it's me."}}</ref> Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Production (UMAP) camps included both homosexuals, as well as the religious, who were tortured and incarcerated.<ref name="Berenschot2005">{{cite book|last=Berenschot|first=Denis Jorge|title=Performing Cuba: (Re)writing Gender Identity and Exile Across Genres|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yuGiE4B_lfUC&pg=PA40|accessdate=25 April 2014|date=January 2005|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=9780820474403|page=40|quote=Similar problems are recounted in Senel Paz's shorty story when Diego lists the problems he has with the Castroist regime. This list read as a topography of all the coercive strategies of the militarist authoritarian moral codes of the regime. They included persecution of homosexuals, religious people, torture and incarceration in the UMAP camps.}}</ref> | ||
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| + | ===China=== | ||
| + | Although Chinese [[literature]] cites homosexual practice since ancient times as one that was fairly tolerated,<ref name="DrescherLingiardi2003">{{cite book|last1=Drescher|first1=Jack|last2=Lingiardi|first2=Vittorio|title=The Mental Health Professions and Homosexuality: International Perspectives|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=DdAs9zZtzxoC&pg=PA117|accessdate=25 April 2014|date=2 June 2003|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9780789020598|page=117|quote=Homosexuality was widespread, recognized and fairly tolerated, although not entirely accepted, in ancient China.}}</ref> after the [[Chinese Communist Party]], which officially espouses [[atheism]], came to power in 1949, homosexuality was deemed a sexual crime and then classified as an abnormal (''buzhengchang'') [[mental illness]].<ref name="KleinmanYan2011">{{cite book|last1=Kleinman|first1=Arthur|last2=Yan|first2=Yunxiang|last3=Jun|first3=Jing|coauthors=Sing Lee, Everett Zhang|title=Deep China: The Moral Life of the Person|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RUWZUa8ijvEC&pg=PA251|accessdate=25 April 2014|date=27 August 2011|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520950511|page=251|quote=Chinese literature citing homosexuality dates back to ancient times. After the Chinese Communist Party took over the country in 1949, homosexuality was deemed a sexual crime until 1997 and then classified as a mental disorder until 2001.}}</ref><ref name="GrimFinke2010">{{cite book|last1=Grim|first1=Brian J.|last2=Finke|first2=Roger|title=The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mofX6zdChgcC&pg=PA132|accessdate=25 April 2014|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139492416|page=132|quote=Atheism had long been the official doctrine of the Chinese Communist Party, but this new form of militant atheism made every effort to eradicate religion completely.}}</ref> Under the [[Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution]], homosexuals experienced punishment that ranged from "labor under surveillance to imprisonment for years".<ref name="DrescherLingiardi2003">{{cite book|last1=Drescher|first1=Jack|last2=Lingiardi|first2=Vittorio|title=The Mental Health Professions and Homosexuality: International Perspectives|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=DdAs9zZtzxoC&pg=PA117|accessdate=25 April 2014|date=2 June 2003|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9780789020598|page=117|quote=Arguably, this was the most sexually repressive period in the history of China. During this time, homosexual behavior could be grounds for persecution. Punishment ranged from labor under surveillance to imprisonment for years, depending upon the political atmosphere at the time and the mood of specific authorities. After the end of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970s, as the government spent several years "rehabilitating" people who had been persecuted, those persecuted due to same-sex behaviors did not receive the same treatment (Wan, personal communication, 1997, 2001).}}</ref> Moreover, atheistic communist officials "when queried by foreign visitors, until recently simply denied that homosexuality existed in China".<ref name="Crompton2006">{{cite book|last=Crompton|first=Louis|title=Homosexuality and Civilization|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TfBYd9xVaXcC&pg=PA244|accessdate=25 April 2014|year=2006|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674030060|page=244|quote=In Chinese history and literature, until the end of the Imperial age and the triumph of Marxism, men who loved men were depicted as good or bad, sympathetic or self-seeking, honest or dishonest, talented or undistinguished, but not set apart as a race to be humiliated, denounced, or extirpated. Under Communist rule, however, there has been a radical change. Chinese Communist officials, when queried by foreign visitors, until recently simply denied that homosexuality existed in China, the theory being that under a socialist economy social ills such as prostitution and homosexuality would vanish.}}</ref> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 20:37, April 25, 2014
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| Homosexuality | |
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Atheism and the persecution of homosexuals is one common criticism of atheism, as militant atheists have often persecuted those belonging to the LGBTQ community. Atheist states, as well as atheist organizations, have historically persecuted homosexuals.
Atheist states
Soviet Union
In the atheistic communist state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), "a person could end up in prison for being openly gay."[1] This policy was enforced after 1934, and went hand in hand with the Soviet Union's official doctrine of militant atheism, which led to the persecution of Christians in the USSR.[2] As such, homosexual members of the intelligentsia often suppressed their homosexuality and married women.[3] The "oppression of homosexuals" in the atheist state of the USSR was noted by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.[4] Soviet homosexuals, in the 1970s and 1980s, attempted to establish the Gay Laboratory (Gei-laboratoriia), which sought to "examine the implications for Russians of the ideals of gay liberation and to consider the new threat that AIDS posed to same-sex love in Soviet conditions" but under "pressure from KGB surveillance and threats, the group disbanded in 1984".[4] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, homosexuality and homosexual acts are no longer illegal in Russia as they were during the previous Soviet régime.[5]
Cuba
In the formerly atheist state of Cuba, "in the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro regime persecuted openly gay Cubans".[6] A major element in Cuba's anti-gay policies was the fact that the "government adopted the Stalinist position, practiced in the Soviet Union, that homosexuality is a form of bourgeois decadence."[7] As such, "Cuba sent openly gay men to labor camps without charge or trial", with Fidel Castro admitting to committing these crimes against humanity.[8] Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Production (UMAP) camps included both homosexuals, as well as the religious, who were tortured and incarcerated.[9]
China
Although Chinese literature cites homosexual practice since ancient times as one that was fairly tolerated,[10] after the Chinese Communist Party, which officially espouses atheism, came to power in 1949, homosexuality was deemed a sexual crime and then classified as an abnormal (buzhengchang) mental illness.[11][12] Under the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, homosexuals experienced punishment that ranged from "labor under surveillance to imprisonment for years".[10] Moreover, atheistic communist officials "when queried by foreign visitors, until recently simply denied that homosexuality existed in China".[13]
References
- ↑ Shiraev, Eric (2014-03-04). A History of Psychology. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781452276595. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “In the Soviet Union before 1990, a person could end up in prison for being openly gay.”
- ↑ Turgeon, Lynn (1989). State & Discrimination: The Other Side of the Cold War (in English). M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 9780765621733. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Homosexual acts between consenting males only became illegal in early 1934. To this day, some of these acts are punishable by five years' imprisonment. A highly publicized case occurred in 1974, when the celebrated Georgian movie director, Sergei Paradzhanov, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for practicing homosexuality and incitement to suicide. Historical, there has been extensive discrimination in the USSR on both religious and political grounds. Religious persecution and the pursuit of atheistic educational policies by the state were especially great before World War II and, particularly, after a resolution of April 8, 1929, "On Religious Cults."”
- ↑ Mezey, Susan Gluck (27 March 2007). Queers in Court: Gay Rights Law and Public Policy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 19. ISBN 9780742568525. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “During the 1930s, when homosexuals were persecuted in the Soviet Union, and he was adviced to repress his homosexuality, he married.”
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Healey, Dan (15 October 2001). Homosexual Desire in Revolutionary Russia: The Regulation of Sexual and Gender Dissent. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226322339. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “In the West, organizations monitoring political dissidence such as Amnesty International then regarded the oppression of homosexuals as irrelevant to their mandates. Nonetheless, by the late 1970s and early 1980s, a handful of Soviet homosexuals employed the techniques of the wider dissident movement to challenge their society's persecution of same-sex love. The short-lived "Gay Laboratory" (Gei-laboratoriia), a group of about thirty men and women appeared in Leningrad in 1983 under the leadership of Aleksandr Zaremba, and with contacts with Finnish lesbian and gay organizations and the International Gay Association. The Gay Laboratory sought to examine the implications for Russians of the ideals of gay liberation and to consider the new threat that AIDS posed to same-sex love in Soviet conditions. Under pressure from KGB surveillance and threats, the group disbanded in 1984 as members either emigrated or fell silent.”
- ↑ Nazworth, Napp (22 November 2013). What You Hear About Gays in Russia Is 'Largely False,' Expert Says. The Christian Post. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Homosexuality and homosexual acts are not illegal in Russia, Ruse explained, like they were during the previous Soviet regime. Gays in Russia live without fear of reprisal from their government. An Internet search of "gay Moscow" reveals a few dozen bars and nightclubs that cater to an openly gay clientele. And, popular Russian television shows feature openly gay characters.”
- ↑ Chapman, Thomas E. (2007). Constructing the Moral Landscape Through Antidiscrimination Law: Discourse, Debate, and Dialogue of Sexual Citizenship in Three Florida Communities. ProQuest. ISBN 9780549469575. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Among the so-called "unwanted" were as many as 3,000 openly homosexual Cubans. At various points in the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro regime persecuted openly gay Cubans, despite the progressive thrust of the ideas of the Communist Revolution, which did substantially improve the conditions of other oppressed minority groups such as women and blacks.”
- ↑ Chapman, Thomas E. (2007). Constructing the Moral Landscape Through Antidiscrimination Law: Discourse, Debate, and Dialogue of Sexual Citizenship in Three Florida Communities. ProQuest. ISBN 9780549469575. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Another element contributing to Cuba's past anti-gay policies was for a time, the government adopted the Stalinist position, practiced in the Soviet Union, that homosexuality is a form of bourgeois decadence.”
- ↑ Darlington, Shasta (31 August 2010). Castro admits 'injustice' for gays and lesbians during revolution - CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said he acknowledges the persecution of gays and lesbians during the Revolution in his country, according to a newspaper interview published Tuesday. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Cuba sent openly gay men to labor camps without charge or trial. "They were moments of great injustice, great injustice!" Castro told journalist Carmen Lira Saade from the Mexican daily La Jornada. "If someone is responsible, it's me."”
- ↑ Berenschot, Denis Jorge (January 2005). Performing Cuba: (Re)writing Gender Identity and Exile Across Genres. Peter Lang. ISBN 9780820474403. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Similar problems are recounted in Senel Paz's shorty story when Diego lists the problems he has with the Castroist regime. This list read as a topography of all the coercive strategies of the militarist authoritarian moral codes of the regime. They included persecution of homosexuals, religious people, torture and incarceration in the UMAP camps.”
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 (2 June 2003) The Mental Health Professions and Homosexuality: International Perspectives. CRC Press. ISBN 9780789020598. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Homosexuality was widespread, recognized and fairly tolerated, although not entirely accepted, in ancient China.”
- ↑ (27 August 2011) Deep China: The Moral Life of the Person. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520950511. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Chinese literature citing homosexuality dates back to ancient times. After the Chinese Communist Party took over the country in 1949, homosexuality was deemed a sexual crime until 1997 and then classified as a mental disorder until 2001.”
- ↑ (6 December 2012) The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139492416. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “Atheism had long been the official doctrine of the Chinese Communist Party, but this new form of militant atheism made every effort to eradicate religion completely.”
- ↑ Crompton, Louis (2006). Homosexuality and Civilization. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674030060. Retrieved on 25 April 2014. “In Chinese history and literature, until the end of the Imperial age and the triumph of Marxism, men who loved men were depicted as good or bad, sympathetic or self-seeking, honest or dishonest, talented or undistinguished, but not set apart as a race to be humiliated, denounced, or extirpated. Under Communist rule, however, there has been a radical change. Chinese Communist officials, when queried by foreign visitors, until recently simply denied that homosexuality existed in China, the theory being that under a socialist economy social ills such as prostitution and homosexuality would vanish.”
See also
- Atheism and homosexuality
- Atheism and the suppression of science
- Militant atheism
- Atheism and mass murder
