What is gay marriage? Essentially, marriage between a same-sex couple. And the big deal? Well, in my opinion, there is no big deal. Except some people think allowing same-sex couples to marry will disrupt social order, set a bad example for our children, infect everyone else with their gayness or cause the Sun to collide with the Earth. Whatever.
Now as often as I will call someone/something "gay", I actually have nothing against gay people. I guess I do use it in a semi-derogatory sense, and that's just me being an asshole. Same thing goes for the word "faggot". It's colloquialism we use to complain about someone/something. Rest assured, if I actually hated someone, I would go to more extreme language as opposed to "faggot".
Having been raised in a family where gender-non-conformity is frowned upon, I guess I had a hard time understanding the concept of being a homosexual. Of course to me now, it sounds so bland. What is there to understand? Two people like each other, they just happen to be both male or both female. Big whoop. So I'll make it clear here: I support LGBT rights and I believe gay marriage should be legal everywhere in the world where marriage is legal.
But because I'm a person who can consider more than my own narrow-minded perspective, I guess I'll delve into why people have problems with this whole idea. Let's look at people I know-
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Person A: male, does not seem to vigorously protest against homosexuality, though he is uncomfortable with the idea, because frankly to him, being that intimate with another man is a disgusting idea.
Person B: female, is vehemently anti-homosexual because she believes it upsets the balance of this world. Apparently everything is comprised of the yin and the yang, and 2 yangs just doesn't work, seen by how 2 men can't have children. Though I'd say that was more due to their lack of an uterus and eggs as opposed to an offsetting of ying-yang dynamics.
Person C: male, does not understand what it means to be gay, apart from the most literal definition. Thought someone was gay because they wore earrings, spent the next month worrying about that someone being attracted to him, because they had to share living space. Was finally convinced by a female colleague that "wearing earrings doesn't mean he's gay, and even if he was gay he's still a nice guy, and most likely not attracted to you."
Person D: female, cannot handle debatable topics such as legalization of gay marriage. Is a strict conformist to conservative societal norms, has a very clear understanding of gender roles, characterizations and stereotypes, and does not like anything outside those boundaries.
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And I grew up in an environment surrounded by these 4 character types, A, B, C, and D. I think it's quite a wonder that I turned out to be someone who supports gay marriage. You could attribute it to the Western education, but I think it was something else.
I'd learned to use the computer from a young age. Since when I was 12 I was on the net reading novels, and it's something I continue to do now. I think I accidentally stumbled into a novel where the protagonist was male, and his partner was also male. I didn't think much of it back then, what I had wanted was a novel with magic and sword fights, so I totally didn't anticipate it when the two hopped into a hot spring and started having sex. I mean, I was 12. I didn't even understand that they were having sex. They kind of skip that in sex education.
And I was probably more engrossed by condom balloons
I think it was my lack of understanding--- or maybe it was just my peculiar nature--- but I didn't find the incident in any way upsetting. I went back to reading whatever else I had liked before, but now I have opened up an unexplored concept in my brain. The one thing I'd like you to note is--- I didn't think of it as something disgusting, foreign or strange- which appears to be most people's problem. When I was that young I guess I found the whole concept of sex rather appalling- why is it that everyone is so keen to participate in this exchange of body fluids using the most awkward parts of our bodies? Perhaps it was because I had been so dismissive towards it, that it never occurred to me.
Then I realise: it is not in our nature--- or at least it was not in my nature, to condemn homosexual acts as disgusting or unnatural. Therefore... I propose that this whole concept of homophobia is just a social construct, invented by humans to make life more difficult, because we're all such spiteful people anyway. Flipping a few pages in a historical textbook, you will realise that homosexuality was present in all parts of the world, from China to Britain. Aaaand it goes back a looooong time. Now Westernization has done a great amount of good for China, but the introduction of homophobia was NOT one of them. I don't believe people were quite as jumpy as they were before the concept of homophobia was introduced, looking at the historical documentation.
But you can argue that history isn't always accurate blah blah blah. I still hold on to my suspicions that homophobia is a social construct. You know what--- it's not even a proper phobia. The way I see it, it's just uneducated people being uneducated or educated people being complete and utter dicks.
It is my honest opinion that being gay isn't much different to being heterosexual- you just like someone of the same sex as you. So you like girls? Would you fall in love with any random girl? No? Then I guess you should apply the same logic to gay people. Just because they're gay doesn't mean they like every man out there, so there's no need to distance yourself. And if you are the kind of person to maintain a 5m radius around someone who is gay, well, you definitely have no need to worry about anyone liking you, ever.
I suppose for some of us the idea of being homosexual will seem forever detestable, but no one is asking you to be gay. Hell, no one is even asking for approval. I guess what people want in the end is for others to stop being discriminatory dicks, and just let people get on with their lives.
Though retards will forever remain in our world.
Which reminds me of that organisation: Westbro Baptist Church, was it? They're the people who picket the funerals of soldiers and lob around signs saying "THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS" and "GOD HATES FAGS". Not that I'm strictly religious, but to my understanding, God loves everyone, even the sinners. It doesn't take much to hate, but it does take God Almighty to be able to love unconditionally. So if God did in fact hate anyone or anything--- well, I figure they members of the Westbro Baptist Church would burn in Hell before anything else.
And how fucked up do you have to be, to do this to your kid^
They say WBC does this to "troll" and to gain publicity. That, is not trolling. That's more like a violation of human rights--- rights to be left the fuck alone when your son dies in service for his country. I never realised people could be so outrageously disgusting. That aside, I wish I could study the psychology behind their behavior. Would be rather interesting.
Well it seems like I've ranted on and on. There is quite a lot to talk about. I'm still fascinated by how much drama and social tension this simple thing caused. While all this drama is causing me to slowly lose faith in humanity, I remain optimistic of a better future.
Oh and, watch this:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6846855/gay-men-will-marry-your-girlfriends
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