Many celebrities are gay, lesbian, transgender, gender-fluid, genderqueer, bisexual, gender neutral and who knows what else. They promote these lifestyles. Consequently, they are leading society, as popular cultural figures, into the abyss of moral depravity labeled “progressivism.” Whereas 20 years ago, these types of people would not have been that well accepted in society or at least would have raised eyebrows, today they are publically “coming out” and flaunting all manner of sexuality and lifestyles. Many define themselves in less structured, more changeable ways, doing away with the binary formulation of male and female.
The millennial generation is steeped in it. A survey published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour reported that there has been “a huge increase in the number of people reporting same-sex experiences, and alongside this, a greater acceptance of people’s sexuality.” The study said that 49% of all adults and 63% of millennials “expressed tolerance of these relationships”.
“It’s clear that people under a certain age are much more comfortable not just with same-sex relationships but with bisexuality, gender-fluidity and all sorts of other ways of living that fall outside the traditional binaries of straight and gay, male and female,” says journalist Laurie Penny, who describes herself as bisexual and genderqueer. “That’s partially down to the internet and the way it’s allowed more visibility for people who have life experiences outside the norm. It provides a way for people to congregate and talk about issues that matter to them.”
“Penny adds that the growing number of celebrities either in same-sex relationships or willing to discuss their gender in non-binary terms is helping to change attitudes.
“One thing that made it easier [to talk in no-binary terms], silly as it sounds, was Miley Cyrus, and Ruby Rose, and others like them, coming out as genderqueer or gender-fluid. That made it less of a big deal to say it myself. Celebrities can provide a language for people. It allows them to see their own experiences reflected.”
“The more we see well-known people living their lives openly, the more things will change,” says Niamh Mhaoileoin editor of the blog Left Foot Forward. Mhaoileoin, 27, says she is “blown away” by how much perception of sexuality has changed.
Many younger people today take a blurred line on sexuality. They don’t have a moral compass like the Bible to guide them so they have to use their own judgment and the judgment of their peers, celebrities or society itself as their guide to what is right and what is wrong. As a result many are anything they want to be, or think they are, in their expression of their own gender. There has been a separation between gender perception and the sex assigned at birth. And some are fluid, changing genders or becoming gender-neutral at will.
Social attitudes towards gender and sexuality will only continue to change in the next few years and become more “fluid.” “There’s been a strong conversation about gender and sexuality online for some time,” says Penny. “We’ve reached the point where mainstream culture has noticed what’s happening. From here it can only snowball – and I say, bring it on.”
“It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed. Man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness. If the mind is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite wisdom and love, the man will be constantly sinking lower and lower.” Patriarchs and Prophets, page 91
Part of the danger of the celebrity culture is that their lifestyles will influence the beholder, and consequently as most people pay attention to them, it will ultimately change society. And the celebrities know that they have such power, and are using it to overthrow biblical norms and standards. They promote sin in the movies and music industry, so why not in their public lifestyle.
The only way to escape the moral corruption in our modern age, which is akin to the days of Noah and Lot, is to behold a different model. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
“Likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot.”