Fear, Loathing, and the Homophobe
I watched the third presidential debate a week or so ago. I did it because I'm a good citizen and because there were no reruns of Family Guy on in the same time slot (you need to watch Family Guy if you never have - Peter, the patriarch, rides an elephant up to his wife who is standing on the front step of their house; "Look Lois, the symbol of the Republican Party" (pause - wait for it) "A middle-aged white guy who's afraid of change!").
I was particularly interested in the question poised to both candidates about whether they believed homosexuality was a choice. President Bush said "I don't know." I find that an acceptable answer, although as President of the United States I would think he would have the resources to find out. Senator Kerry answered "We are all God's children." Also an acceptable answer, and a safe one for Mr. Kerry.
Looking at the available research evidence, something which either neither candidate did, or neither candidate admitted to, things are more complex than yes or no. Aren't they always? For some reason commonsense goes on holiday during election years, and yes/no black and white responses give the voting public some sense of comfort that even a moment's reflection would show to be false.
As with so much in this world the answer to "Is homosexuality a choice?" is "It depends." There is no doubt that there is something that could be called "situational homosexuality." We see this is men's prisons: if you're going to have sex in prison it will be with men. We see it in Sparta 400 B.C. where the soldiers of that place and time were in a sort of prison called the army. We see it in people like John Lennon and Hugh Heffner who experimented with homosexuality and decided it wasn't for them. These are the exceptions.
Among gay men, the vast majority will tell you that they've known they were gay from childhood. When my friend Tim told his mother he was gay his mother replied "Of course you are. I've know that since you were a little boy." Tim had fought his gay impulses most of his life. As a young adult he married and fathered three great kids. But eventually he couldn't hide from who he was and, after divorcing, lived the life of an openly gay man. Right now, the best guess about most male homosexuality is that it is either genetic (and how that could be so is the stuff of another blog another time) or caused by conditions in the intrauterine environment.
Biochemical and/or genetic factors apparently play a role in SOME lesbianism. But for most, it really is a choice. Why choose to be lesbian? One young pretty lesbian I know has chosen that sexual orientation so that she can remain a virgin until marriage! Yes, she fully intends to lead a heterosexual life after she marries but has chosen lesbianism until then. My friend Morgan called herself a LUG (Lesbian Until Graduation) because the quality of men in her college was deemed to be so very low. Currently Morgan is married and the mother of two children.
A second reason to choose lesbianism is a disdain for men. Strippers, who see men nightly at their very worst, are commonly lesbian. Feminists are often lesbian (can't sleep with the enemy don't you know). Girls who were the victims of childhood sexual abuse become lesbian with an astoundingly high frequency. As a woman's educational level increases, her likelihood of labeling herself a lesbian increases proportionally.
But now I'm going to get a bit peckish, a bit disputatious. My blood pressure and my ire spike dangerously when I'm told that God hates homosexuals because it says so in the Bible, in Leviticus. It certainly does. But interestingly, only for men, whereas the very next verse prohibits men OR women from sexual gratification with animals. Leviticus also prohibits men cutting their hair or shaving their faces. Men and women are forbidden from wearing clothes made of two different types of fiber. Eating shellfish or pork is an abomination. Working on the Sabbath (Saturday) is punishable by death. Planting a field with two different crops is a sin. The Bible condones slavery, but only if slaves come from a country other than one's own. Men may have plural wives and concubines.
Why is it that the homophobes of the world quote the Bible about homosexuality, but completely ignore the other "rules"? The answer is obvious.
I'm not writing this blog to promote gay marriage. Nor am I trying to deal with my own sexuality (I'm a flaming, out of the closet, heterosexual). I'm hoping that President Bush might not have to say "I don't know" if asked about homosexuality in the future (I'm sure he'll read this blog). I'm also applauding Senator Kerry - we are indeed ALL God's children.
I was particularly interested in the question poised to both candidates about whether they believed homosexuality was a choice. President Bush said "I don't know." I find that an acceptable answer, although as President of the United States I would think he would have the resources to find out. Senator Kerry answered "We are all God's children." Also an acceptable answer, and a safe one for Mr. Kerry.
Looking at the available research evidence, something which either neither candidate did, or neither candidate admitted to, things are more complex than yes or no. Aren't they always? For some reason commonsense goes on holiday during election years, and yes/no black and white responses give the voting public some sense of comfort that even a moment's reflection would show to be false.
As with so much in this world the answer to "Is homosexuality a choice?" is "It depends." There is no doubt that there is something that could be called "situational homosexuality." We see this is men's prisons: if you're going to have sex in prison it will be with men. We see it in Sparta 400 B.C. where the soldiers of that place and time were in a sort of prison called the army. We see it in people like John Lennon and Hugh Heffner who experimented with homosexuality and decided it wasn't for them. These are the exceptions.
Among gay men, the vast majority will tell you that they've known they were gay from childhood. When my friend Tim told his mother he was gay his mother replied "Of course you are. I've know that since you were a little boy." Tim had fought his gay impulses most of his life. As a young adult he married and fathered three great kids. But eventually he couldn't hide from who he was and, after divorcing, lived the life of an openly gay man. Right now, the best guess about most male homosexuality is that it is either genetic (and how that could be so is the stuff of another blog another time) or caused by conditions in the intrauterine environment.
Biochemical and/or genetic factors apparently play a role in SOME lesbianism. But for most, it really is a choice. Why choose to be lesbian? One young pretty lesbian I know has chosen that sexual orientation so that she can remain a virgin until marriage! Yes, she fully intends to lead a heterosexual life after she marries but has chosen lesbianism until then. My friend Morgan called herself a LUG (Lesbian Until Graduation) because the quality of men in her college was deemed to be so very low. Currently Morgan is married and the mother of two children.
A second reason to choose lesbianism is a disdain for men. Strippers, who see men nightly at their very worst, are commonly lesbian. Feminists are often lesbian (can't sleep with the enemy don't you know). Girls who were the victims of childhood sexual abuse become lesbian with an astoundingly high frequency. As a woman's educational level increases, her likelihood of labeling herself a lesbian increases proportionally.
But now I'm going to get a bit peckish, a bit disputatious. My blood pressure and my ire spike dangerously when I'm told that God hates homosexuals because it says so in the Bible, in Leviticus. It certainly does. But interestingly, only for men, whereas the very next verse prohibits men OR women from sexual gratification with animals. Leviticus also prohibits men cutting their hair or shaving their faces. Men and women are forbidden from wearing clothes made of two different types of fiber. Eating shellfish or pork is an abomination. Working on the Sabbath (Saturday) is punishable by death. Planting a field with two different crops is a sin. The Bible condones slavery, but only if slaves come from a country other than one's own. Men may have plural wives and concubines.
Why is it that the homophobes of the world quote the Bible about homosexuality, but completely ignore the other "rules"? The answer is obvious.
I'm not writing this blog to promote gay marriage. Nor am I trying to deal with my own sexuality (I'm a flaming, out of the closet, heterosexual). I'm hoping that President Bush might not have to say "I don't know" if asked about homosexuality in the future (I'm sure he'll read this blog). I'm also applauding Senator Kerry - we are indeed ALL God's children.
posted by Satterwhite | 8:27 AM
2 Comments:
A flaming heterosexual, indeed! Perhaps you just need some help from that famed psychologist on TV named Dr. Phil.
Dr. Phil would probably tell me that I have most of the signs of a serial killer.
He'd be right.
Post a Comment
<< Home