It's time to address the many misconceptions people have on LGBT, one by one. These are all things an LGBT activist might hear every day, and here we are going to address as many as possible in a series of posts (and if you've heard anything not included, let us know!).
If you are reading this blog, you probably know most of this already-- but hopefully we can help clear some things up for you, or help you better educate your friends.
1. Non-straight people should keep their lives private (i.e., stay closeted).
Why this is wrong:
--Pretending something doesn't exist does not make it go away, only makes things harder on everyone. Straight people would have to combat not only their own suspicions (of themselves, of others) but also have to deal with other people suspecting them. Non-straight people would have to combat inner feelings of shame, confusion, denial, and more, all of which can lead to an unhealthy emotional status. Overall it would lead to an unhappy, discriminatory environment in which everyone is scared of stepping out of bounds and being harshly antagonized for natural feelings or curiosity.
--People are not born knowing exactly who they are; it's a process, an exploration. Whether that exploration leads you to decide you are straight, gay, or whatever-- it is an important part of life and not allowing this exploration holds back everyone's self-growth and understanding.
--No one deserves to have to hide a part of who they are, never talking or learning about it, religious or cultural or in terms of sexuality. If we wish to promote tolerance and understanding in our community, this is something to embrace, not deny.
2. Sexual preference is a choice.
Why this is wrong:
--Does anyone remember making a conscious choice to be straight? Being LGBT is not a fad. It's not rebellion. The pain that comes just from admitting one isn't straight is not something 10% of the population would undergo if it could be avoided, ignored, denied-- though some people try their best. Why would all these people choose to be bullied, choose to live a life of discrimination, choose to go through the hardships encountered in the legal system-- choose not to be allowed to see their loved one in a hospital, choose not to get married, choose to get beaten up in school stairwells because they are "filthy faggots"? Why would all these people choose a lifestyle which is so hard a significant amount of them consider suicide at some point or another. People don't choose to be LGBT, just like they don't choose to be blonde, or black, or white, or straight.
3. Gays consistently try and convert straight people to gaydom.
Why this is wrong:
--Do I need to reiterate that being LGBT is not a choice? They out of everyone are most aware of this, and consequently quite aware that straight people cannot be "converted" or persuaded to change their sexual preference.
--Why are gays viewed as so antagonistic? How come they are presented as completely unable to accept and respect another person's wishes and feelings? Furthermore why do they need to convert straight people in the first place? If you're someone who can't respect who someone is, it's equally hard to find a date whether you're straight or gay. Otherwise, gay people have other gay people to date. This is a twisted way of straights to flatter themselves, which brings me to my next point:
4. If your gay friend comes out to you and you're the same gender, they inevitably have a crush on you.
--They're gay, not standardless. LGBT people have types just like straight people. They have sexual restraint just like straight people. And if you know someone LGBT who isn't, the problem is that they're slutty, not that they're LGBT. Gay people have exactly the same types of relationships straight people have, just with someone of the same gender. They flirt, fight, and love the same. Any variations depend on personality, not preference. And if you are unsure if they like you, here is the easy solution: ask them.
5. Gay people can't have children, so they try and recruit straight children. By not being able to biologically reproduce, they undermine the survival of the human race.
Why this is wrong:
--Gay people have uteruses and penises just like straight people do, and just like straight people they know what to do with them. Just like straight people do, they have options such as surrogacy, in vitro, and more. New research is being done into the possibility of turning an egg into sperm so that two mothers can have a child biologically both of theirs, and turning a sperm into egg for gay men. Also, LGBT people certainly have the same motherly and fatherly inclinations as everyone else.
--Not having kids does not undermine the survival of the human race. Has no one heard of overpopulation? Or of how our overbearing human race is not only destroying all other races but the world itself? Or how about those straight people who choose not to have kids or are infertile, should we shun them too? Or what about those families which only have one kid, instead of five, instead of fifteen? But wait, our society has changed-- having one child or no children is actually socially acceptable, and why? Because we are definitely not at risk for dying out from a lack of babies.
--If it weren't for the lack of gay-friendly adoption legislation, more gay people could adopt. We have so many homeless children out there in need of a family; why is bringing more into the world a better choice than caring for the ones we already have?
--It needs to be restated: gay people cannot convert, persuade, manipulate, or recruit straight people into joining them. Gay people are not an alien race. Their ultimate goal is not control of another's mind and body. What they truly ask is that their mind and body are not controlled by our heterosexist society.
6. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, not Madam and Eve.
Why this is wrong:
--Actually, there is of evidence of homosexual relations in the Bible and other biblical texts. But perhaps the reason God created Adam and Eve was because with the lack of modern technology and orphaned babies at the time there was clearly no other way to have children, and the human race needed to be created. But this doesn't mean that man and woman are a necessary yin and yang; a gay couple is often balanced by the differences in their personalities just like straight couples; one may be more emotional while the other more steady; one may be domestic while the other prefers to work outside the house. Gender roles are in large part societal roles which in actuality can be fulfilled by either gender. See: Stay at home dads, working moms, men who cook, women who curse, boys who play dress up, girls who play baseball, and much, much more.
7. If being LGBT wasn't bad, why would God have punishments for it?
Why this is wrong:
--First of all, there are actually very few mentions of gay in biblical texts (though there are in ancient cultural records; again I mention the Greeks and Romans as a well-known example), and I think it's safe to say hardly anything against non-binary gender associations.
--Secondly, God also says:
We should stone to death stubborn and rebellious sons
We should murder both the adulterer and the adulteress, as well as people who divorce and have sex with someone else after
We should burn to death the daughter of a priest who has sex
We should cut the hand off the woman who intervenes in a fight between two men
We should punish and shame those who wear clothes woven of two kinds of materials or plant one field with two kinds of seed
We should shun those who get tattoos and those who make public charity donations
Let's face it: the Bible is not a living document updated for our times. Certainly the basic moral codes can be utilized, but there were many beliefs in the time of biblical texts that just aren't relevant now.
This is the question I want you to ask yourselves: Would you still love your child if they were smart, and sexy, and successful, and gay? If they were loving and understanding and thoughtful and gay?
Here is a list of all the ways gay people are different from straight people:
They're gay.
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