born gay or choose to be gay

[ZombieHorde]

Check out this short (1:33) and sweet video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S14VRjVDPcs&feature=related

[Warpy]

1. "Oh? How old were you when you chose to be straight?"

is always how I answer fools who try to say being gay is a choice.

Unfortunately for most phobes, it probably is a choice, one they struggle with every day as they try to choose to be straight and live in the burbs with the wife and kids and not stop at "that" rest stop on the way home for a quickie after a hard day at the office. They make everybody miserable in the process, especially the wife who wonders what she's doing wrong and goes after every fad diet and cosmetic surgery in the world to try to get him to touch her.

They'll never admit that they chose, though.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I loved those books.

Oh wait, that was Born Free. Never mind.

[dsc]

3. nice video

I would have killed to be straight back in the day.

[cloudythescribbler]

4. "choice" a red-herring issue; LGBT rights SHOULDN'T be contingent upon nature/nurture

First off, note how it neatly dispenses with the theory that people are by nature bisexual, and are forced by mores to suppress or hide their gay "side" or aspect.

But even without that -- if there are laws against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation federally, as seem to be coming soon (in the wake of Lawrence ) then surely you don't want some lousy insurance company doing genetic tests on plaintiffs to use as evidence in case alleged 'markers' are absent in a particular case of discrimination. It also invites being gay to be treated as if it were some kind of genetic "defect" -- something that can't be helped, but shouldn't unfairly be used against someone.

Were the ancient Greeks, Romans, Hittites, Egyptians, native American bordaches, Japanese Samurai, Ashante, and many other groups (also in the Pacific) somehow genetically DIFFERENT from others? BALDERDASH! This is an issue of social values, like religious differences, which are long protected REGARDLESS of the genetic patterns which have been found (and further research is welcome). Society either accepts sexual variations or it doesn't. Period.

The whole genetic ARGUMENT about rights (not denying the genetic evidence) stinks to high heaven if you think about it.

[f the letter]

5. Amen

Rights have nothing to do with whether this is an innate preference or not.

[ZombieHorde]

6. Hi cloudythescribbler

"choice" a red-herring issue; LGBT rights SHOULDN'T be contingent upon nature/nurture

Good point.

First off, note how it neatly dispenses with the theory that people are by nature bisexual, and are forced by mores to suppress or hide their gay "side" or aspect.

I don't believe that all people are by nature bisexual. I believe that some are gay, some are straight, and some are in between or asexual.

But even without that -- if there are laws against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation federally, as seem to be coming soon (in the wake of Lawrence ) then surely you don't want some lousy insurance company doing genetic tests on plaintiffs to use as evidence in case alleged 'markers' are absent in a particular case of discrimination.

This is not being done with other forms of discrimination. For example; no one checks if a person goes to a Catholic church if they are discriminated against for being Catholic.

It also invites being gay to be treated as if it were some kind of genetic "defect" -- something that can't be helped, but shouldn't unfairly be used against someone.

The only people who will have this view are people who already have a prejudice against homosexuals.

Were the ancient Greeks, Romans, Hittites, Egyptians, native American bordaches, Japanese Samurai, Ashante, and many other groups (also in the Pacific) somehow genetically DIFFERENT from others?

I don't believe that they were different.

This is an issue of social values, like religious differences, which are long protected REGARDLESS of the genetic patterns which have been found (and further research is welcome). Society either accepts sexual variations or it doesn't. Period.

Another good point.

The whole genetic ARGUMENT about rights (not denying the genetic evidence) stinks to high heaven if you think about it.

If heaven is so high, then why do so many Christians oppose legalizing marijuana?

[readmoreoften]

7. Agreed. It's a political strategy, and in my estimation a short sighted one. It's a bad frame.

There are other options other than that were are genetically different beings or we woke up and decided (or were molded into, etc) to be LGBT. Why is someone a talented pianist? A good cook? Born/Chose is a horrible frame. On the side of "chose" we have the Christian Right. One the left we have Eugenics. It's better to say: we're here, we're queer, and get used to it.

I refuse to justify my existence.

[insleeforprez]

10. Sexuality is a continuum

You could represent sexuality as a shifted bell curve; the peak is probably at 80-90% straight, and it goes down on both sides from there.

80-90% straight is, for all intents and purposes, straight. Whatever attraction they have to the same sex is not enough to desire full-on sexual experiences, and certainly not relationships.

The people in the middle, say, 60-80% straight tend to do their best to hide their gay sexuality, and most self-identify as straight. (I tend to believe that the Larry Craig's of this world are somewhere around there). However, in a culture such as the Greeks, where the cultural norm trends so strongly towards homosexuality in some parts of life, these people easily could self-identify as gay.

It is my belief that one's place on the bell curve is entirely out of a person's control (I expect it to be biological), but how someone at a given point on the bell curve identifies is a function of their own personal values (for better or for worse) and the culture in which they find themselves.

Is that fair?

[mikelewis]

8. That is a very clever way to dramatize the issue...

I applaud this tactic and hope to see more of such innovative ways of raising awareness. "When did you choose to be straight?" Absolutely brilliant...

[David Zephyr]

9. Brilliantly subversive.

Thanks for the video.