I am getting so sick of gay rights being debated. In 1999, I was asking why homosexuality was still an issue and 13 years later, the same, ridiculous, bigoted arguments are still making the rounds. The anti-gay complaints that were tired then are being hauled out and pushed back into the world now, and frankly, it makes me sick. I've answered some of them here, in an attempt (sadly, likely vain) to put them to rest.
Homosexuality isn't natural
This is one of the most common arguments I've seen online lately. It is most often used in conjunction with trite religious comments like God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Ok, so let's explore this. I'll agree, as a genetic trait, homosexuality isn't particularly useful to the species. It's not something that's going to be reinforced through selective breeding, and the sub argument if we were all gay the human race would cease to exist is true, I suppose, if we rule out IVF. But the thing is, if you don't believe in evolution, you can't argue that homosexuality is unnatural. There are gay penguins, dogs, wolves and squids - documented cases of animals with no desire to mate with members of the opposite sex and preferring their own. If it exists in nature, it must be natural - and if you want to argue that for some reason it shouldn't exist in nature, the only leg you could possibly attempt to stand on is an evolutionary one. Unless God made a mistake.
The Bible says in Leviticus That Homosexuality is an Abomination
Yes, yes it does. It also details the correct way to perform ritual animal sacrifice, and explains the correct procedures for beating your slaves. I'm not saying Christians should throw out everything in the Bible because some of it is a little crazy - but if you're going to abandon the teachings which are obsolete and/or ridiculous, that should include all of the obsolete ridiculousness, including the random hatred of gay people.
Why Don't Straight People Get a Straight Pride Parade?
Because every day in the western world (and I suspect in the rest of the world, but I comment here only from experience) is a giant straight pride parade! Look around you. At movies. At advertisements. At everything. We live in a society that is extremely heterosexualcentric. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad or evil thing. In general, society is going to cater to the majority (this is especially true in a consumer culture like ours) - but that doesn't mean we should ignore minorities or deny them the same rights that everyone else enjoys. The question you should be asking is Why do we need a gay pride parade? And if you complain about/marginalize or try to deny the rights of gay people, the answer has a lot more to do with you than it does with them... And, really, if it bugs you that much, go have a straight pride parade. Who's stopping you?
Wah, Wah, Wah, Sanctity of Marriage, Wah, Wah
Is your marriage really so fragile and meaningless that its significance is somehow going to be damaged by someone else's? If it is, I pity you, but it's not really the other person/people's fault that your marriage sucks. If your marriage is strong enough to withstand the horror of others getting married without your approval, that's excellent... but then what are you complaining about, again?
They Want Special Rights
Name one. Name one special right that the LGTB community has ever asked for. The right to marry? The right to have children? The right to exist? Those aren't special rights, they're just rights. Normal, everyday rights.
The Gays are Always Pushing Their Agenda on Me and My Kids
Ok, seriously? What is The Gay Agenda? I mean, do you really think LGTB individuals are gathering in secret meetings, discussing ways they can convert you and your children? Really? Do you really believe that? I've seen tonnes of pamphlets and fliers detailing why homosexuality is a sin (one actually referred to the gay people in my home town as an infestation), or suggesting that family values are in danger from gay marriage, but I've never been handed a glossy stock photo with bullet points explaining the dangers of being straight, or the benefits of a gay lifestyle. The Gay Agenda does not exist. No one is trying to make you gay. Get over yourself.
