So what does Scripture say on this topic? Obviously, the Scriptures never say "Thou shalt not watch movies with homosexual characters in them." This does not mean that the Scriptures are not informative, however. Firstly, Leviticus 18:22 explicitly states that sexual relations between two men is an abomination to God. Since this statement in Leviticus is expanding on the commandment to not commit adultery, it is a part of the moral law. Therefore, the command not to have homosexual relations is still applicable. This is confirmed in Romans 1:26-27 when Paul describes homosexuality - whether between women or men - in a way that clearly denotes it as sinful. Why does that matter when it comes to watching a movie? Well because in Philippians 4:8 Paul tells us to think about "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable." True, this is not a command to not allow yourself to be exposed to sin in entertainment. This is where the purpose and the extent of the homosexual content comes into play.
There are two reasons a homosexual character might appear in a movie. The first is to depict homosexuality in a negative light; to show it as the sin that it is. The second is to depict it positively; to affirm such behavior as acceptable. If the former is the case, viewing the film in question is acceptable so long as the film does not present the viewer with explicit homosexual imagery (I'm counting kissing as such imagery, by the way). This is because the film in question caused the viewer to think of homosexuality as wrong (which is true) and did not present the viewer with images that when thought upon later would cause the viewer to be thinking thoughts that are not honorable, pure, lovely, or commendable. However, this scenario is rarely the case. Normally, films present homosexuality positively. Such content is meant to cause the viewer to see homosexuality as an acceptable way of life. Films with this kind of content are typically seeking to normalize homosexuality so that people become desensitized to such behavior. This may sound ridiculous, but history has taught us that films have the power to affect people's thinking (see my post about the X-Men movies to see an example of this). The way these films seek to affect people's thinking leads viewers to think thoughts that are not true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, or commendable. Sure, Christian viewers may still know consciously that homosexuality is wrong. However, they will gradually be brought to a point where they do not find it as repulsive as they once did because they have become used to it. This is bad because homosexuality is something that God has told us that He finds repulsive. If God finds it repulsive, should not His people also find it repulsive?
Therefore, given the Scripture's teachings about homosexuality and the things upon which we ought to meditate, it can be inferred that Christians should allow themselves to be exposed to films and television programs that are seeking to present homosexuality as normal and acceptable. Granted, there will be times when Christian viewers will accidentally come across this kind of content (though such an accident is most likely to occur when viewing television programs). However, with all of the websites from which viewers can access reviews of films and television programs, Christians should be able to easily determine if homosexual content is present before they view a film or television program. Sorry, fellow Christian Trekkies; Star Trek Beyond is not clear for launch.
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