Gay Rights

Gay Rights

"Adam and Eve; not Adam and Steve", is the argument that many heterosexuals tend to use. I have also heard the same old story argued of Sodom and Gomorrah so much that I could possibly recite it word for word. If anyone were to seriously put their prejudices aside and look at that story, they would see that the sin was RAPE, not homosexuality. I believe that everyone should have equal rights and that includes gay rights. Homosexuals deserve equal treatment legally and socially.

Fight for Rights, Gay rights, is such a touchy subject especially in the United States. It is the fight for homosexuals to be treated as heterosexuals, the fight to be given what they deserve, the fight to live without torment, the fight for peace. The people of this country pick on and torture people because they are different or not like them. Throughout the world homosexuals have been discriminated against for all types of different reasons and basically, all of them are unjust. Homosexuality is not caused by abuse at a young age; it is not curable; it is not a disease or disorder and it is definitely NOT learnt.

The United States has such an unnecessary disruptive view of gays and lesbians. They are considered detrimental to society, but what most people don't realize is that they have the same care, compassion, and love as anyone else. Many of them are Christians and value God, family, and the commitment to their partners. I feel very strongly about same-sex marriage, gay rights, and think it should be made law. Everyone wants to point a finger and preach about how homosexuality is against God's law; therefore they shouldn't be allowed to marry. But isn't that where the separation of Church and State should come in? (Not to mention 'Equal Rights'.) Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Ten Commandment statues have been taken out of our schools and removed from our courthouses in the name of separating church and state. However, our money still says "In God We Trust". It seems to me that the government is just picking and choosing when and where to exercise the rights of chosen sectors.

The Constitution was created to insure us freedom. Freedom for ALL, not just for heterosexuals. Where is their freedom now? What freedom do we really have? We are told when and where we can pray, whom we can marry, whether we can carry, conceal, or even possess guns. The government regulates what we watch, what we can say, and in most states even how many dogs we can own. What happened to our 'nation of freedom'? What happened to 'equal rights'? For that matter, what happened to our personal, unalienable 'human rights'? It is time for this nation to get back to its foundation of freedom for ALL before we lose it and everything we stand for.

In New York there was a poll taken on people's opinions of gay rights. Many of them were displeased at the fact that homosexuals were discriminated against, and didn't have the same rights as heterosexuals. In November of 1989, Time magazine took a poll on what the people thought about legal benefits that homosexuals should receive. 62% came back saying that homosexuals should be permitted to receive medical and life insurance benefits from their life long partner, and yet nothing has come of that yet. It seems that the government should possibly be the ones going against the thoughts of the nation here. For decades the incidence of homosexuality in the general population has been estimated to be approximately ten percent. Organizations opposed to gay rights have consistently claimed the number to be much lower.

Many people around the world are discriminating against homosexuals without even knowing it. One of these is when someone calls someone else a bad name such as a "Lesbo" or "Faggot", not really meaning it but saying it just as a hurtful name, just because everyone else does it. This saying is not meant but it degrades every homosexual in the world every time some one uses those words. Another myth about homosexuals is that lots of people think they are obsessed with sex. Contrary to popular belief, gay men and lesbians are no more inclined to be consumed with sexual thoughts or feelings than heterosexual counterparts, nor are they attracted to everyone of the same sex they meet.

So why do many people think of homosexuals as being strange or weird? The lives of homosexuals, like the lives of heterosexuals are about much more than sex, but it's easy to see why people believe these common myths that have been expressed by a lot of people. Many people do not even realize that they know someone who is gay because of the amount of gays that are in the community. Unfortunately, these misguided heterosexual's only knowledge of homosexuality comes from the media or anti-gay organizations who are trying to destroy the gay community, neither of which is likely to show the average gay person or couple in real life. The media is in the business of selling news and radical behavior of any kind sells, big time. Anti-gay organizations are in the business of making gay people appear as evil as possible. They will obviously focus their attention on the most radical behavior that can be found within the gay community.

Ask just about anyone and they will tell you they are in favor of equal rights for homosexuals. Then the topic of gay marriage, and that's when all this talk of equality stops dead cold. More than half of all people in the United States oppose gay marriage, even though three fourths are otherwise supportive of gay rights. (Bidstrup) This means that many of the same people who are even passionately in favor of gay rights oppose gays on this one issue. Why all the passion? It's because there is a lot of misunderstanding about what homosexuality really is, as well as the erroneous assumption that gay people enjoy the same civil rights protections as everyone else. There are also a lot of stereotypes about gay relationships, and even a great deal of misunderstanding of what marriage itself is all about and what its purpose is.

The stereotype has is that gays are promiscuous, unable to maintain long lasting