Thursday, August 21, 2003
Homophobic?
I try not to be prejudiced—ever. I watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Christopher Lowell, and I love KD Lang. I even had a good friend in college that was gay. And I work with a couple of gay people right now—although it is not a topic of discussion, any more than the details of my personal life would need to come up. I am no more comfortable around people who are obscene in their flirtatiousness than I am around people who engage in passionate kissing in public. But I must confess, I certainly object more fervently to same sex passionate kissing in public. And it is the frequent in-your-face sexuality that I object to in the gay rights movement. It is a matter of propriety, of good manners, of respecting your neighbors. You don’t want to see me naked—and I sure as hell don’t want to see you naked.
However, a class in "How to be Gay" for college credit? Let us think about that for a moment. Do we have a class in how to be heterosexual? Well? Yeah. We do. We call it Family Living and it was a required course when I went to high school. So, hmm. And, it's not like U of M is requiring all college students to take "How to be Gay" to graduate.
I have learned that the most robust lessons in life come from our bizarre experiences encountered while attempting to change. For example: I moved my family from a city to a little village that was completely racially integrated, because I wanted my kids to grow up without prejudice against any race of people. Nor did I ever say one religion had all the right answers. I never said one race was superior or inferior; never said one type of intelligence, color of eyes, or any other physical attribute was preferable. But I never expected my kids to be so open about other people’s sexual preferences. What a wake up call when my kids informed me they had friends that were gay! In high school! I didn’t even know there was such a thing as homosexuality when I was that young. One of the boys my daughter brought home was absolutely campy! And I learned to love him as much as all their other friends—in this case, because of the quality of his heart and the quickness of his wit.
I suppose if I could ever learn to accept public displays of affection, the true test of my morality would be the ability to accept all displays of love no matter who with who, and to appreciate that Love is Love, and it truly is what the world needs more of.
I try not to be prejudiced—ever. I watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Christopher Lowell, and I love KD Lang. I even had a good friend in college that was gay. And I work with a couple of gay people right now—although it is not a topic of discussion, any more than the details of my personal life would need to come up. I am no more comfortable around people who are obscene in their flirtatiousness than I am around people who engage in passionate kissing in public. But I must confess, I certainly object more fervently to same sex passionate kissing in public. And it is the frequent in-your-face sexuality that I object to in the gay rights movement. It is a matter of propriety, of good manners, of respecting your neighbors. You don’t want to see me naked—and I sure as hell don’t want to see you naked.
However, a class in "How to be Gay" for college credit? Let us think about that for a moment. Do we have a class in how to be heterosexual? Well? Yeah. We do. We call it Family Living and it was a required course when I went to high school. So, hmm. And, it's not like U of M is requiring all college students to take "How to be Gay" to graduate.
I have learned that the most robust lessons in life come from our bizarre experiences encountered while attempting to change. For example: I moved my family from a city to a little village that was completely racially integrated, because I wanted my kids to grow up without prejudice against any race of people. Nor did I ever say one religion had all the right answers. I never said one race was superior or inferior; never said one type of intelligence, color of eyes, or any other physical attribute was preferable. But I never expected my kids to be so open about other people’s sexual preferences. What a wake up call when my kids informed me they had friends that were gay! In high school! I didn’t even know there was such a thing as homosexuality when I was that young. One of the boys my daughter brought home was absolutely campy! And I learned to love him as much as all their other friends—in this case, because of the quality of his heart and the quickness of his wit.
I suppose if I could ever learn to accept public displays of affection, the true test of my morality would be the ability to accept all displays of love no matter who with who, and to appreciate that Love is Love, and it truly is what the world needs more of.
