Submitted by Henchard (not verified) on May 20, 2009 - 13:15.
Your views are, naturally, U.S. based, and as an Englishman who was out on those Gay Liberation Marches in London in the 70's and HAVE seen major advances, I can only empathise with your situation, in the same way that I try to empathise with those who suffer under the weight of prohibitive regimes where our sexuality is punishable by death. For the first seven years of my active sex life, my own sexuality was punishable by two years in prison. None of these now historical advances, however, mean that we should be complacent about current events.
The Miss California episode was new to me. We don't get that kind of coverage of US news. I was, frankly, shocked. Not only by the fact that people feel free to make homophobic remarks in public but also by the fact the people are surprised that there are still homophobes around.
I live in the Netherlands now. Gay people have the same full and equal rights as the wider community, including marriage, parenting, adopting and inheriting. Does that mean the homophobes have gone away? No, of course not. Gay bashings increase around the Gay Pride weekend, City officials publicly refuse to marry same-sex couples on the grounds of their own relgious beliefs, and I have been verbally abused far more in the last seven years on the streets of Amsterdam than I ever was for the 30 years I was in London. So, the Gay bashers get punished. The City official gets fired. The verbal abusers (hopefully) grow up and get educated. The point is that even with full equality the homophobic attitudes have been aired in public once again. And they always will be. Of course we don't think that homophobic views should be acceptable. But don't we also believe in freedom of speech? Unpleasant views feel harmful but they do give us the opportunity to stand up and be counted and speak. If we spoke without just cause we would be labelled a bunch of whiners, wouldn't we? You're right, this is a great opportunity for you guys over there and I hope you make the most of it.
On a different, but related point, I don't believe that ALL gay people necessarily think that Gay marriage is a good thing. We DO all believe in equality, of course, but my personal view on marriage as an institution in the whole community is that it has had its day. That's got nothing to do with sexuality.
Your views are, naturally,
Your views are, naturally, U.S. based, and as an Englishman who was out on those Gay Liberation Marches in London in the 70's and HAVE seen major advances, I can only empathise with your situation, in the same way that I try to empathise with those who suffer under the weight of prohibitive regimes where our sexuality is punishable by death. For the first seven years of my active sex life, my own sexuality was punishable by two years in prison. None of these now historical advances, however, mean that we should be complacent about current events.
The Miss California episode was new to me. We don't get that kind of coverage of US news. I was, frankly, shocked. Not only by the fact that people feel free to make homophobic remarks in public but also by the fact the people are surprised that there are still homophobes around.
I live in the Netherlands now. Gay people have the same full and equal rights as the wider community, including marriage, parenting, adopting and inheriting. Does that mean the homophobes have gone away? No, of course not. Gay bashings increase around the Gay Pride weekend, City officials publicly refuse to marry same-sex couples on the grounds of their own relgious beliefs, and I have been verbally abused far more in the last seven years on the streets of Amsterdam than I ever was for the 30 years I was in London. So, the Gay bashers get punished. The City official gets fired. The verbal abusers (hopefully) grow up and get educated. The point is that even with full equality the homophobic attitudes have been aired in public once again. And they always will be. Of course we don't think that homophobic views should be acceptable. But don't we also believe in freedom of speech? Unpleasant views feel harmful but they do give us the opportunity to stand up and be counted and speak. If we spoke without just cause we would be labelled a bunch of whiners, wouldn't we? You're right, this is a great opportunity for you guys over there and I hope you make the most of it.
On a different, but related point, I don't believe that ALL gay people necessarily think that Gay marriage is a good thing. We DO all believe in equality, of course, but my personal view on marriage as an institution in the whole community is that it has had its day. That's got nothing to do with sexuality.