Discrimination and persecution of non-heterosexual individuals is an ongoing issue, and several countries still prescribe the death penalty for homosexuality. Why though?
We have a tendency very embedded in our psyche, derived from our evolution in hunting-gathering groups, to distinguish in-group from out-group members. Hence, whenever there is any basis for this distinction we define it and typically over-value attributes of the in-group and diminish attributes of the out-group. Applied to sexual orientation, we have socially constructed it into distinct heterosexual and homosexual identities, thereby fueling in-group/out-group distinctions. Given how the majority of people identify with the sexual orientation identity of heterosexuality, and homosexuality is perceived as lesser than because it does not lead to reproduction, it is inevitable that discrimination will transpire towards non-heterosexuals.
Now those who are paying attention will note that I said, “we have socially constructed” sexual orientation identities. Throughout recorded time sexual orientation has been understood in various ways, and only more recently as distinct identities. Even sexology researchers buy into this social construction and never really look at what is actually going on. In Outing The TRUTH About Sexual Orientation, I demonstrate how we all have homoerotic and heteroerotic motivations organized as separate dimensions, each person having a given level of motivation on both dimensions. What this means is that we are all bisexual at the core, and there is no actual homosexual and heterosexual identities, at least not from a scientific perspective. Now if we all have homoerotic and heteroerotic motivations varying in strength, it follows that it is ludicrous to create in-group and out-group distinctions. Discrimination and persecution applied to sexual orientation should then vanish, and rightfully so. But that sensible reality will eliminate all the drama we also seem to love, so many prefer to live in a delusional world regarding sexual orientation. Sad but seemingly true.