Why do people think gays threaten society?

     

     The state of Washington just passed a new law allowing gay couples to marry, becoming the seventh state in America to legalize same-sex marriages. Governor Chris Gregoire said, “This is one of my proudest moments. Our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal. (Opponents of gay marriage in Washington State hope to force a referendum on the issue.)

This has been a good year for gay rights, but gays are still being denied many of their rights in tax laws, wills, adoptions and social acceptance when they can’t marry.

What is the problem? I keep wondering why and how people who fear gays think that gays threaten society? The only thing wrong with homosexuality (besides the same abuses of sex that are found in heterosexuality) is SOCIETY and the way minorities are treated in our society. If there is a higher suicide rate among gays, it’s due to society’s denial of their humanity and their rights, their isolation and denigration by the bigots among us.

Back in 1948 and 1953, when people were much more reluctant to reveal anything about gay activity, Kinsey showed that 37% of males and 13% of females had a same-sex experience that led to orgasm.  While these figures keep changing and are disputed, what we do know is that there is a significant amount of same-sex activity in humans.  And we know that sexual preference is not a choice, it is a pre-natal trait that develops in the fetus in the fifth month of pregnancy.

Of course homosexuality isn’t just a human trait. Just about all male animals have bi-sexual behavior. It doesn’t seem as though any of them tilt exclusively one way or the other.  To paraphrase Woody Allen, they don’t limit the field.