Wednesday, April 20, 2005
What is the deal about the uproar on homosexuality?
It’s insane that every so and so day I hear somewhere from someone some negative view/attitude/opinion about gay people or about ‘gayness’ in general. Like yesterday I received a newspaper article detailing content that was summed up as ‘homosexuality contradicts human nature’. First I laughed at the ludicrous audacity the writer had in proclaiming herself to be knowledgeable about the morality of homosexuality on the basis of her job; as a research officer in the studies of Islam and thereby crusading against what she termed as a ‘wrongdoing’, and then I became angry at her presuming to lecture others when clearly she has no sound understanding on the issue of homosexuality which shouldn’t even be an issue in the first place.
Her article is not all faults. She began by introducing letters she had received; the cause of her article. The first was about the idea of homosexuality as a means to curtail the expansive growth of the human population e.g. as gay or lesbian partners one cannot give natural birth per se (although more are exploring artificial insemination and adoption; good idea for the latter since the world has so many orphans in need of good homes and families). She was quite right in suggesting in response that the real problem was not the rapid rise of population but the ‘unbalanced distribution of wealth between rich and poor countries’. Nothing was given however for the context in which the ‘problem’ was about, so I presume that they were talking about the world problem in general. The second was a personal letter about a gay man who is ‘forced’ into finding a ‘wife’ in order to appease his parents who did not know he was gay and he had actually written to the researcher to find him such a ‘wife’. I laughed…………………………….there were so many things wrong with his request and her response that honestly…………it’s………….ludicrous……………………
He wanted to find a ‘wife’ to keep his homosexuality a secret and was willing to ‘pay an attractive amount of money’; his words…………to me, that’s called prostitution…………furthermore he would be wronging the woman by binding her to what seems to be a non existent but in name marriage which would be to his so called benefit by hoodwinking his parents……………….wow, he is prepared to lie, cheat and is a coward…………
The above reasons were secondary though in the writer’s mind whose first and foremost objection was that ‘homosexuality was against Islam’. Hmm, I shall refute this in a second, let’s go back to the man. He wrote back furious and said ‘what had happened to him was fated’.
Let’s get it clear….homosexuality is not an event. One does not wake up and discover ‘omg, I’m gay!!’ Far from it, people accept or reject in some cases that they are homosexual after experiencing a time (perhaps a very long time) of self discovery, doubts, clarity and attaining knowledge. Even as a student sociologist, I lean towards the idea that homosexuality is innate, but I also believe it’s a choice. More people are born bisexual i.e. they should be inclined to accept a relationship with both males and females. I’m one myself (why should I barricade myself from the other half of the population), but throughout the course of their life, mostly childhood through teenage years, and being socialised through various social institutions i.e. the family, school, the media, religion etc etc, they would come to reject bisexuality and become heterosexual, or they become homosexual or they stay bisexual. Most are likely to take the first road, in face of pressure from society. Thus I don’t believe that the man was justified in any way by arguing that ‘homosexuality’ was fated and that this ‘was the not the life he planned to live’. If he didn’t plan to live that way, then make a choice and live it some other way. Don’t accept that other people are going to make your choices for you. He also said that ‘nobody had the right to judge him’. True enough, why should we judge people, if at all? Homosexuality is a sexual choice, it is not the overriding master status that rids a person of all they are. Why does society see a gay man or lesbian woman and not think of them as brother, sister, daughter, son, mother, father, co worker, doctor, friend, a fun person, charismatic, warm, reticent, a dreamer, a challenger, alive. They are not JUST ‘gay’, they are people, and they are gay, and so what?
Back to the writer of the article, she referred to homosexuality as a ‘wrongdoing’ and that it ‘is contradictory to human nature’. She states that it ‘jeopardises the marriage institution and creates gender bewilderment, it threatens the five objectives of shriah- to protect religion, life, intellect, progeny and wealth’ and that the ‘Quran ‘prove’ that this type of lifestyle is detested and must by avoided by all Muslims’.
The rest of the article was so self contradictory, I shall leave it out, but basically it stated the aims of Islam that though worthwhile, seems to be in direct contrast to the condemnation of homosexuality.
Firstly, homosexuality cannot contradict human nature when it is biological. If she did not believe that it was not biological, then homosexuality is socialised into individuals, and thus it also cannot be against human nature since society regulates itself via socialised norms and values. There are studies proving that there isn’t a singular human nature. What we think and do and believe comes from society, our behaviour has been instilled in us from our community, via the teachings of our parents, schools, friends, the media, religion and any other social institution. Thus we learned to be us, we learned how to behave, and we learned ‘human nature’. This means the rules and regulations the article referred to was in fact a product of social construction, it was made by people and in turn made us who we are. Thus firstly God in every form and in every number did not state that homosexuality is ‘wrong’, that was proclaimed by people, and secondly, it is society which views homosexuality as wrong, it is not wrong in nature. Thus it is a relative concept. Once society accepts homosexuality, it will no longer be considered ‘wrong’, and it shouldn’t even be viewed in such negativity now.
I believe that it was 60% of all marriages (atleast in the US based on my info) ends in divorce. Given that the US does not recognise gay marriages (it’s only allowed in one state and even that is being disputed), thus 60% of heterosexual marriages end in divorce. May I ask why homosexuality is taken as a scapegoat for ‘jeopardising’ the marriage institution when it has no problem declining on its own?
Gender bewilderment……………why again? Those born with the medical condition as it is considered, with cross gender identity in different sex bodies, or even those born with the two forms of genitals have a higher percentage of likelihood to cause gender bewilderment that homosexuality. Gender is another learned concept. We learn to behave, and thus we learn to behave like girls or boys in the type of behaviour considered acceptable in various societies. A choice of sexuality does not prevent a gay man from being ‘masculine’ or a lesbian woman from being ‘feminine’.
As to the other threats of homosexuality towards religion, life, intellect, progeny and wealth………………how again? How does homosexuality threaten religion? It is not a lifestyle which condemns religiosity, I know for a fact that there is even a Christian Gay rights group. It is also in my opinion a threat towards life and intellect to condemn homosexuality because by doing so, you are condemning people coming together, and you are refusing to understand what is a simple matter of choice, thus it is a crime towards knowledge to refuse to understand homosexuality. Progeny; many homosexual couples can adopt……….that is an even better idea, because you are allowing someone into your life, you are giving a family and livinghood towards someone who needs them and you sharing your love and theirs. As to wealth……..economists are accepting the concept of the Pink Pound; the economic wealth derived from the middle class homosexual population who at the current time has no family per se to spend their money on, and thus the economy thrive from their expenditure. Wealth is being generated…………………………..by who, by homosexual people.
Homosexuality should not be a crime. In today’s societies, with such modernity and array of individuality and choice, one must be open minded towards something as simple as a choice of sexuality. Condemning it does nothing except creating more anger and pain. Celebrate life, don’t condemn it. Don’t keep bringing God into the argument when it is an insecurity of the human. For those who believe in God, whether Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and anyone else, if you believe God made us, then he or she made us as we are. It is not an act against God, against nature, against anything. Just live life…………………………………stop thinking about it…………………
Mused by Sukunami Taka around 10:15 PM
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