Speaking of Homosexuality

Right-Wing Religious Wackos (RWRWs), taking their cue from an ancient book of superstitious nonsense, believe that homosexuality is a sin and that homosexuals for some reason choose this life of sin and with proper guidance can change their misguided ways. This is of course utter nonsense. If that were the case, at some point in our young lives each of us would be called upon to make that choice. Having only my own experience to draw from, I can only relate that I personally never had the feeling that I had a choice. There are homosexual men who have tried hard throughout their lives to be heterosexual. They have married, had children, and only after many unhappy years of struggling to lead the straight life they eventually give in to their instincts and embrace their true sexuality. Many such men, some well respected community leaders, even gay-bashing, evangelical preachers, have made national headlines lately when their true orientation was revealed.

Orientation is the right word, not choice. I can't imagine, given a choice, that anyone would deliberately choose homosexuality in today's world and subject themselves to such a potentially stressful way of life. The same can be said of other sexual variants, such as pedophilia. This is not to imply that homosexuality and pedophilia are equivalent, since the sexual molestation of children is a crime of exploitation, and its victims are subject to great emotional and physical harm. The point is that both are sexual orientations, not choices.

Why each of us is born with a particular sexual orientation, medical science has not determined. Some still think homosexuality is an illness, a result of some childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse. That too has been discarded for lack of evidence.

Evolution is a blind watchmaker, according to a book of the same name by Richard Dawkins. Survival of any species requires that many variations arise in individuals. Some of those variants are adaptive, some are maladaptive, some are neutral. Since no homosexual genes have been discovered, homosexuality is apparently not genetically determined and therefore not inheritable. If it were, since homosexuals would be less likely to pass the trait on to offspring, the trait would eventually disappear. But since it is not hereditary, it is most likely a neutral variation, although one that occurs with great regularity. The neurological basis for homosexuality and other sexual variations is still a mystery.

Same Sex Parenting

In a March 11 Boston Herald opinion column, National Association of Social Workers Executive Director Carol J. Trust wrote in support of same-sex parenting, noting:

Anyone who wishes to examine the 20 years of peer-reviewed studies on the emotional, cognitive and behavioral outcomes of children of gay and lesbian parents will find not one shred of evidence that children are harmed by their parents' sexual orientation.

The empirical and clinical evidence suggesting same-sex parents are equivalent to heterosexual parents in their ability to care for children and provide loving homes is so compelling that there is a growing consensus among legal and child welfare experts that there is no rational basis to deny adoption to gay and lesbian couples solely on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Same Sex Parenting - Got Love?

From Family Research Council's Washington Update, December 8, 2006, by Tony Perkins:

"Study after study demonstrates that no amount of care or financial privilege can compensate for the missing physical and emotional benefits experienced by children who enjoy the lifelong love and presence of a married mother and father.

"Comprehensive studies published in the peer-reviewed journals Archives of General Psychiatry, Interpersonal Violence, Social Service Research, Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Nursing Research, Developmental Psychology, Adolescence, and others too numerous to list here, all cite the devastating effects of domestic violence, increased substance abuse, mental health problems, sexual identity confusion, depression, and suicide associated with the homosexual lifestyle. A child fortunate enough to escape those realities still faces a distinct disadvantage throughout childhood--the irreplaceable influence of the missing biological parent. In rearing children, the complementary contributions of a mother and father are rooted in the innate differences of the two sexes, and can no more be arbitrarily replaced than can the very nature of male and female."

My response:
I'm not aware of any of the studies that supposedly back that up, but what the so-called "family values" crowd don't seem to understand or refuse to acknowledge is that the benefits to a child of having "lifelong love" don't necessarily have to come from a married mother and father. Some married parents are abusive and dysfunctional, whereas many homosexual parents can easily provide the love and nurturing that children need. There may be a lot of psychopathology in a subset of homosexuals (and heterosexuals!), but I suspect that much of that is due to their marginalization by society and fear of persecution, not their homosexuality itself.

Comment by a friend (RO):
"The tremendous conceit among these people is that they present the
mother/father/children nuclear family scenario as some sort of
universal, ancient and timeless form that has served humanity since
we got thrown out of Eden. What needs to be done to counter their
argument is to point out constantly that not only is the American/
Western/Christian nuclear family a recent phenomenon, its present
form bears no resemblance to only a few decades ago. Furthermore,
the fact of abuse, mental despair and dysfunction in the very family
structure these outfits claim to be the one and only road to
stability makes their very claims transparent and false. Sometimes
a scholarly article or two appears on this subject, but the argument
needs to go mainstream and constant -- if only to counter the
immersion tactics these groups use to make their message seem to
be the only one."