GAYS

Heterosexuals shun the idea of having sex with members of their own gender. It’s instinctive. There’s the urge to mate and the counter-urge to keep such behavior from being misapplied. A man is naturally disgusted by the thought of physical intimacy with another man, and he’ll extend that feeling to two men he’s never met. That goes for women too (although with slightly less severity at times).

But for reasons that haven’t been fully explained, some people’s sexual instincts are reversed and they’re attracted to members of the same gender. Furthermore, whereas a bisexual is a person who can be sexually attracted to people of both sexes, a true homosexual has an aversion to the opposite sex that approaches that which a heterosexual has toward his or her own. Therefore, in order to gain sexual fulfillment, homosexuals must be able to engage in sexual activity with those of the same sex. Everyone has the right to expect–or at least seek–sexual fulfillment during the prime of his or her life. To condemn homosexuality is to violate that right and is therefore immoral. For the last time, homosexuality in not immoral; immorality is not defined as behavior that violates cultural taboos or superstitions, it is defined as behavior which causes harm to other people (or the environment). For a homosexual to make sexual advances toward a heterosexual would be mildly immoral, and promiscuity is immoral regardless of sexual orientation. Sexual assault is greatly immoral as is pedophilia. The idea that God condemns homosexuality is based on our instincts. It’s just what you’d expect heterosexuals to believe, and since straights have dominated society throughout history it’s no surprise the idea made it into the Bible. God may be behind of our instincts, but gays have different instincts in this one area. Exactly why, God only knows. Homosexuality is not a mental illness. All indications are that gays are born that way. That hasn’t been fully proven yet, but it hasn’t been disproved either. Sexual orientation is certainly deeply rooted in the psyche. Opponents of gay rights simply say they “believe” that homosexuality is a “lifestyle choice” without bothering to study gays and their feelings scientifically. A few therapists have claimed some success in converting gays, but usually with heavy doses of fundamentalist brainwashing and with many failures. Yet the successful conversions, along with the lack of hard evidence supporting the claim that homosexuality is in-born, are used to rationalize continued discrimination, as though that were remotely sufficient justification.

Some cynics will say that a gay man has just as much a right to have sex or get married as a straight man–to a woman, that is. That’s like saying a Jew has just as much a right to worship Jesus Christ as a Christian does. Indeed, religious intolerance is no more unreasonable than homophobia, less so in fact, since it’s much more difficult to get someone to change their sexual orientation than their religion. People choose their religion, even though we often pretend it’s something we’re born with. No one chooses their sexual orientation. I’m sure gays are getting tired of being treated as figments of your religious beliefs. A homosexual is a kind of person. Not a kind of person the way a criminal or a drug addict is a kind of person, a homosexual does not get branded as such only after he or she has engaged in gay sex for the first time. There are plenty of gay virgins. Homosexuality is not a form of temptation that anyone is liable to face, nor get hooked on once they’ve “given in”. A heterosexual faces no such risks.
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