It is time for the initial idea of individual freedom in the first Enlightenment to be broadened and updated to correspond to the current issues of modern life. People of different sexual orientations and preferences have the full right to be who they are and how they wish to be. No one has any right to decide for anyone but themselves.

Hurdles against different lifestyles and orientations often arise within traditional societies, from religious people and conservative lawmakers. Under the pretext of morality but probably coming from a place of fear, communities and cultures have committed acts of violence against people of other sexual orientations, from outcasting to persecuting and even stoning these human beings. But the ethnocentric and haphazard arguments claiming that LGBTQ lives violate religious ethics are a completely outmoded way of thinking in the Second Enlightenment.

The tyranny of moral judgment on those who are not like ‘me/us’ stems from the dogmatic and cultural pathways of the brain, often indoctrinated from childhood or adopted in adulthood out of fear of the ‘other.’ To overcome such prejudices requires rewiring the brain structure. The veracity and falseness of such things only mattered to previous generations, and we should move past such old-fashioned, fearful thinking by really asking, why should we have a say in someone else’s lifestyle? What is there to fear from someone else’s lifestyle, just because is it different from our own?

In the Second Enlightenment, everyone is valuable and has a special place in society – this should not be hard to understand and accept. What was once a taboo should no longer be so in our new and inclusive understanding. The key issue here is realizing the interconnectedness and interdependence of people, without discrimination or stigmatization. For the advancement of our civilization, we have to broaden our attitude and create more room for all of us, including LGBTQ individuals, to live next to each other in tranquility.