The Gay Scare

Maybe I'm missing something.

In this era of terrorism, economic recovery, foreign war and occupation, democratic trial in California, region-wide infrastructure failures, and political disillusionment, doesn't it seem folly to focus so much on the crippling social impact of a bishop and a TV show?

Perhaps folly to focus on it it so much that you might consider amending the Constitution?

Here's my point: Last time I checked, the gay community wasn't forcing itself on anyone. Watching "Queer Eye" or "Will and Grace" won't make you gay. No one is being forced to have sex against their will. But to consider revising our most revered national document in an effort to limit the personal rights of a minority population is one of the most offensive ideas I've heard come out of government in decades.

And as for the moral argument against homosexuality...well, lets all remember to take our scripture with a pinch of salt, shall we. The Bible, which vaguely condemns homosexuality and specifically condemns sodomy, also reminds us that woman are inferior to men, that we should keep slaves and treat them kindly, and that certain Levantine enemies of the Jewish people should be held in bondage forever and all of their cities should be burned to the ground and never permitted to prosper. Hell...the Bible doesn't allow bank loans. Banks!

I'm saying it's a hair out of date on some points. That's all.

Maybe it's because I have gay friends that I can't understand the heterosexual panic. It's true, there are some terrifying gay insurgents out there. Take this one for example:

Gene Robinson, Hew Hampshire's new Episcopal bishop, is a 56-year-old divorced father of two. He has lived with his partner, Mark Andrew, for 13 years in a committed monogamous relationship. Terrifying.

I understand the ecclesiastical argument his opponents have made. And I acknowledge the threat levied on the Episcopal church by the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, of which Episcopalians form the U.S. branch. They've threatened severing ties with the American church over Robinson. Sure they will. Just like they did when they threatened a schism over the US church's insistence on confirming women to the priesthood. I'll hold my breath. (In the event that I'm proven a complete jackass on this point, and they do sever relations, I will also breathe again)

Not convinced? Think I'm just ranting (which I am)? Try this one:

Critics of homosexual Americans are quick to site their apparent threat to the revered concepts of family and stable society. Family – a concept already sundered by the heterosexual world's inability to take marriage or child-rearing seriously – would likely benefit from the inclusion of a few more stable couples, regardless of their particular gender pairing. And society? You mean the ideal of Western Civilization? The crucible of culture founded in Greco-Roman tradition by men such as Plato and Aristotle, Socrates and Caeser – all men of fluid sexual preference living in model societies that embraced homosexual and bisexual behavior? My point.

I'm not endorsing homosexually. I just don't see why anyone should care. Maybe I'm in the minority of people who belive that a person's private life should remain private and unmolested by Federal decree. If a gay person flirts with you, don't be offended (would they be if the tables were reversed?). Be flattered. fb