Anti-Gay Articles Abound

While searching for interesting and informative articles relatings to gays and homosexuality, I came across many anti-gay articles. Some of these articles were very well written and gave rather interesting "facts". Other articles were purely opinion and obviously came from some poor homophobic individual. While I couldn't possibly analyze every article I read, I thought that "Homosexuals - Should They Really Be Called 'Gay'?" by A Servant was as good a choice as any.

Basically, this article states that the original meaning of gay (merry, bright, lively, happy, etc.) should not be used for homosexuals, because apparently, homosexuals are just not happy people. I found this very funny, as when I think of gay people, I think of bright, lively, and happy people. This person has obviously never been to a gay parade!

Many of the anti-gay articles try to confuse readers with their "scientific research" and big words, but this particular article just captures the essence of what many writers are saying. I've pulled out a few quotes and analyzed them, as a lesbian woman, a college student who has taken many gender studies and philosophy courses, and as someone who has never had their mind warped by religion (I'm not against religion, but as someone who has always been an atheist, I have an entirely different viewpoint from someone indoctrinated with any religious teachings).

"Okay, everyone knows the facts about homosexuality, otherwise known as the 'free choice of gays' by now, right?"
I find it funny that the first sentence is already assuming what the readers know. After you read this article, you'll have your doubts about whether the author even knows any "facts" about homosexuality.

"Now I don't have anything against gay people struggling with homosexuality (and it is a struggle from what I understand)..."
How exactly does the author know being homosexual is a struggle? I really doubt anyone like that has gay friends. I have many straight friends, even one who doesn't know I'm a lesbian. If any of my "friends" were so intolerant, they would cease to be my friends and only be people I felt deeply sorry for. I'm very forgiving of people being taught intolerance by their culture (including religious teachings). I don't expect people to wake up to reality overnight. However, I also generally do not befriend those who are going to try to change who I am. If people don't like me as I am, they do not have to be my friend. For the sake of argument though, let's say that this author does have a couple gay friends. If they are struggling, maybe they are struggling because they are treated as second class citizens? Maybe they are struggling because intolerant and ignorant people are keeping them from reaching their full potential. One could say that being in any minority is a struggle. So is the author going to say now that being Hispanic is wrong? Just because many Hispanics have to struggle to find work, to learn English, to become citizens, etc., is that grounds to say that being Hispanic is wrong? Absolutely not!

"Teaching our kids in every single subject, including math and science about how good gays are is absoluting appalling!"
If you're going to say something like that, back it up with some quotes from textbooks and lesson plans! If you mean gay people look good by being mentioned in lessons, well then, it is not our fault for being such great people, we're just naturally that way! (Okay, just kidding... there are good and bad gay people just like with any group of people.) Seriously though, minority groups should be mentioned in lesson plans. Do you really want children growing up and thinking that if they are not white with blonde hair and blue eyes, they are abnormal and should not be seen in textbooks? I should hope not! You should now be able to open up your textbooks and see African Americans, Asians, disabled people, and other minorities. Maybe gay students wouldn't have such a "struggle" with their homosexuality if they were shown from an early age that many people are gay and they are not alone. Gay people are people just like anyone else. Not all gay people are great people, but not all Christians are great people either, not all white people are good people. Many gay people are great people, and their accomplishments shouldn't remain unpublished just because of their sexuality. When gay students see that others like them have succeeded, it will boost their confidence. Teaching heterosexual students about gays is not going to harm them either. If anything, teaching heterosexual students about gays is going to make them more tolerant individuals.

"I think I could again safely assume that everyone of us would try and stop this person who's knowingly or unknowingly going down the wrong path."
Who exactly decided that homosexuality was the "wrong" path? It might be the wrong path for a heterosexual person to go down the homosexual path, but it is also the wrong path for a homosexual person to try to go down the heterosexual path. Since when do other people have the right to tell you what you can and can't do in your bedroom? I could decide that it is the "wrong" path for some straight friend to be with their husband or wife and steer them clear of that person. Eventually though, they'd dismiss me as some crazy nutcase and go along on their merry way. This is exactly what gay people do. I've had Christian (and not-so-Christian) "friends" try to tell me I was going down the "wrong" path. I basically just laughed at them and told them not to waste their breath praying for me. I dismissed them as nutcases and went along on my merry gay way. For all of you people out there who feel the need to change gay people, just face it: we're here, we're queer, get used to it!

"Being gay is NOT natural!"
A few definitions of natural for you:
1. Determined by nature (inborn, innate).
2. Of or relating to nature.
3. Not artificial.
The last time I checked, I was not artificial (although, my status may have changed after eating all those candies with that artificial flavoring). Also, the last time I was in a gender studies class debating the issue, it was not yet determined for certain that sexuality was not determined by nature. If you want to find something that is definitely unnatural, there are a lot of practices out there to pick from. Wait until more research has been done to say that being gay is unnatural.

"[E]xtremely low self esteem that makes one believe he/she would never be accepted by someone of the opposite sex [which makes said person choose homosexuality.]"
Oh geez! Come on! I couldn't even believe this one when I first read it. For argument's sake, let's say that 10% of the population is gay. This means that, if you had low self esteem and wanted more people to choose from, you should choose to be heterosexual (if you could). If you were heterosexual, you would have a far greater chance that someone out there would take you because you have a greater pool of potential mates to choose from. That is absolutely ridiculous (and hilarious) that anyone would think all it took was a little low self esteem and bam, you're gay!

"Let's try and help these hurting people out of this sinful trap and get them into a purposeful and meaningful life instead of having them focus on the 'gay rights' movements."
Hurting people? Sinful trap? The last time I checked, I wasn't hurting over being a lesbian. No one "trapped" me into being a lesbian (unless I believed in God and wanted to blame him or her, but truthfully, if there was a God that made me gay, I think I'd thank them instead!). What exactly is a purposeful and meaningful life? Apparently, writing articles about gay people being unnatural is a purposeful and meaningful life. I thought I was leading a pretty purposeful and meaningful life before. I do at least 5 hours of volunteer work each week, have tutored children, foster animals from shelters, etc., but apparently, my life is meaningless because I am a lesbian. I will go tell my foster pets to stop loving me, because I have no purpose being on this planet. I will go tell the parents who said I was the tutor who really opened their child up to learning, that I could not have helped their child, because I am meaningless. And I'm sure people were against African Africans having rights in the 1960s too and didn't want them to focus on gaining their rights. Oppressed peoples will gain their rights eventually. I hope to see gay marriage triumph all throughout this country at some point during my lifetime. Luckily, I do not think you will have much success converting gay rights activists to bigoted people like yourself.

I feel sorry for people who were taught to be filled with so much hatred. Most religions preach loving your neighbor and being peaceful (in some form or another). Yet many use the teachings of religion to their own agenda in order to spread their hate around. Unfortunately, many people have had their intolerant attitudes deeply ingrained into them. We must remember that such people are not entirely at fault. Over time, making such people think about their beliefs may help errode them. In the meantime, their bizarre articles make for some interesting reading on AC!