The Day of Truth
Apr. 14th, 2005 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperToday, fundamentalists and conservatives are having a so-called "Day of Truth" in which they are attempting to spread what they perceive to be the "truth" about homosexuality.
I approve of truth. I would therefore like to share some truth of my own.
Truth #1: Queer people don't choose to be that way. I am friends with several, and none of them are idiots. None of them are crazy. None of them suddenly said to themselves one day, "Gosh, I'm going to take on a lifestyle that will get me scorn, ridicule, and abuse, kicked out of my family, shunned by people of my community, beaten up by bullies, and even death threats!" No one in their right mind would choose to subject themselves to such treatment.
Truth #2: Yeah, the Bible does forbid people of the same gender lying with one another. But you know what? The Bible forbids a whole lot of other things that somehow mysteriously don't seem to matter in our modern society--such as eating shellfish, or mixing up crops in the same field, or wearing clothing made of different kinds of fiber. I know exactly zero people who, upon having lost a spouse, turned around and married their spouse's sibling. I also know exactly zero people who, upon having been discovered cheating on their spouses, were punished by public stoning.
Truth #3: "Queer" is not a synonym for "pedophile".
Truth #4: "Queer" is also not a synonym for "slut".
Truth #5: Queer folk do not have an "agenda" past just wanting to live in peace and to be treated with the same decency and respect that everybody else gets to enjoy.
Truth #6: No queer person of my acquaintance wants to force Christians to have to like their lifestyle or let them get married in their churches. No queer person I know wants to say, "You, Christian! You can't believe this way!" Religious freedom, though, means that everybody gets religious freedom. Not just the Christians. "Your right to swing your fist stops at my nose" applies to religions, too.
And last, but not least, this truth.
I am bisexual. I am also an ethical, moral, law-abiding citizen. I am not out to "recruit" young people. I am not out to foist my attentions onto someone who doesn't want them. The only difference between me and a heterosexual woman is that the person with whom I've chosen to spend my life is a girl.
That is my truth for today. Share at will.
I approve of truth. I would therefore like to share some truth of my own.
Truth #1: Queer people don't choose to be that way. I am friends with several, and none of them are idiots. None of them are crazy. None of them suddenly said to themselves one day, "Gosh, I'm going to take on a lifestyle that will get me scorn, ridicule, and abuse, kicked out of my family, shunned by people of my community, beaten up by bullies, and even death threats!" No one in their right mind would choose to subject themselves to such treatment.
Truth #2: Yeah, the Bible does forbid people of the same gender lying with one another. But you know what? The Bible forbids a whole lot of other things that somehow mysteriously don't seem to matter in our modern society--such as eating shellfish, or mixing up crops in the same field, or wearing clothing made of different kinds of fiber. I know exactly zero people who, upon having lost a spouse, turned around and married their spouse's sibling. I also know exactly zero people who, upon having been discovered cheating on their spouses, were punished by public stoning.
Truth #3: "Queer" is not a synonym for "pedophile".
Truth #4: "Queer" is also not a synonym for "slut".
Truth #5: Queer folk do not have an "agenda" past just wanting to live in peace and to be treated with the same decency and respect that everybody else gets to enjoy.
Truth #6: No queer person of my acquaintance wants to force Christians to have to like their lifestyle or let them get married in their churches. No queer person I know wants to say, "You, Christian! You can't believe this way!" Religious freedom, though, means that everybody gets religious freedom. Not just the Christians. "Your right to swing your fist stops at my nose" applies to religions, too.
And last, but not least, this truth.
I am bisexual. I am also an ethical, moral, law-abiding citizen. I am not out to "recruit" young people. I am not out to foist my attentions onto someone who doesn't want them. The only difference between me and a heterosexual woman is that the person with whom I've chosen to spend my life is a girl.
That is my truth for today. Share at will.