DISCLAIMER: Forgive me. I’m not the most politically correct liberally-minded person in the world. I’m down with racist jokes, as long as the intentions aren’t racist and hateful (if you know what I mean). At the same time, you using the word “illegal” to describe undocumented people in the U.S. will likely piss me off to no end for reasons I’ll probably wind up mentioning either way. The lines are blurred with me. My bad, but don’t expect me to correct this anytime soon.
Either way, there was that whole business a couple of days ago about North Carolina essentially condemning homosexuality, and later on that day, Barack Obama being the first president to openly endorse gay marriage.
I never understood the whole, “gay people shouldn’t marry” nonsense. It’s probably the 2000s equivalent of the “black and white people shouldn’t marry one another” shit that was so prevalent before the Black Panther had to fuck some people up to get their point across.
The point is, it doesn’t make sense that we grant privileges to a select group. The conservative people in this country — many of them, at least — are basically saying, “You better stop being sexually attracted to certain people, or you can fuck off.” Brilliant. As if it’s a choice.
And it’s not a choice, either. The research suggests that being homosexual is largely genetic (McFadden and Pasanen, 1998; Rahman, 2005; J.T. Martin and Nguyen, 2004; Lalumiere et al., 2000; Blanchard, et al., 2006; Bogaert, 2006). (NOTE: I can elaborate on these studies upon request, but it’d take up way more time than I’d like, so just comment or whatever people on Tumblr do, to let me know.)
So then what? Because homosexuality is something that just makes you feel icky, or simply because you also hate seeing happy couples, you feel you have the right to suppress others’ rights? OK, man. If that’s your shtick, but I’m not about to back you there.
What’s the long-term goal of prohibiting homosexuality anyway? Is there a plan to eradicate “gayness”? If so, please tell Simon LeVay, who has yet to find a way to change sexual orientation (1996). Policies in the 1950s didn’t work all that well, and social unacceptability just lead to people sneaking around and having homosexual relations anyway. Is that the long-term goal? Is that the desired result? If it is, you’re a real piece of work.
Of course, not all of America has come to terms with the idea of homosexuality; indeed, even the most liberal of states, California, passed Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage.
But the gay rights activists? They’re busting their asses off for equality, and the fact that we’re having this discussion — so soon, too — is encouraging.
Keep fightin’ the good fight.
