In the third presidential debate, the question was asked: “Both of you are opposed to gay marriage. But to understand how you have come to that conclusion, I want to ask you a more basic question. Do you believe homosexuality is a choice?”When Senator John Kerry gave his answer to that question, he said, “I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney?s daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she?s being who she was, she?s being who she was born as.”
Kerry has since been ridiculed for bringing Mary Cheney into the debate where her name did not belong. But Kerry has also been ridiculed by ex-gay groups who say he discriminates against ex-gays.
Executive Director of Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) Regina Griggs said in a press release that “the ex-gays are living proof that change is possible.”
When the group visited with John Edwards and members of Kerry?s staff, they provided them with information, including a statement from the American Psychiatric Association that there are no “replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality.”
Members of PFOX explained that “although no one chooses same sex attractions, many men and women overcome unwanted same sex attractions every year.”The group?s title is inclusive of gays. That is why I am confused as to why it seems that they are trying to get away from homosexuality. Why are they trying to change people? It seems as though, even though their name is not anti-gay, their philosophies are. I wonder if they try to change homosexuals, and help them out of their “behavior.” It appears as though this group views homosexuality as a bad behavior, which reinforces the dominant view that it is.
If the whole of society could realize that this is a very natural behavior, that even many animals practice homosexuality, then we could take a step in the right direction of being accepting of one another?s differences. Not tolerance… that is too negative, and does not include understanding.
Rather, acceptance is what we need.What makes me have an even lesser opinion of the group is Griggs? statement: “Homosexual activists like those working on the Kerry-Edwards team want ?gay marriage? and civil unions in order to gain public affirmation. They think this will make them happy.
Happiness requires hope, and real hope is the knowledge that many men and women overcome unwanted same-sex attractions every year, even those who believed at one time that they were born that way and had no choice.”
The question is: WHY is it unwanted? It is because society is still not nearly as accepting as it needs to be of homosexuals and genderqueer individuals.
Heterosexuality is the majority, yes, but nothing should be considered the norm.
Eleven states are voting on the issue of gay marriage in this election. No matter what the votes decide, we need to be more accepting in many aspects of difference; race, sexual orientation, age, gender, socio-economic status, etc. In my never-ending quest to be an entirely non-discriminatory individual, I hope to also educate others about differences we share as members of the human race.
One of my favorite bumper stickers reads, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.