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Normal Homosexuality

February 8, 2011 By 9 Comments

no strings attached wallpaper 1 Normal HomosexualityA few nights ago, we saw a very revealing movie. “No Strings Attached” is a silly romantic comedy. Plenty of skin was shown, but that was not the most revealing feature. I found the portrayal of gay people much more interesting.

The film was targeted at young heterosexual filmgoers. Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman (shown here), the current heart-throbs of young people, are the stars, and the main characters are in their 20s, as is the script writer. It had no message except the obvious — don’t give up, love wins in the end.

But among the supporting roles were gay men and women, friends of the main lovers. I found it notable that these characters were portrayed as normal human beings, friends and workers, silly or wise, in relationships or searching for one. Their homosexuality was a fact, not an issue.

Is Hollywood trying to push a gay agenda on right-thinking Americans, as some people claim? I think it’s the other way around: Hollywood is trying to sell products. So movie producers, like makers of toys and cars, try to appeal to their potential customers by creating products that fit their ideas. Today in America, the majority idea is “gay is OK.”

The biggest political issue around homosexuality these days is same-sex marriage. In the 1980s, polls showed that about 10 percent of Americans supported same-sex marriage, while over 70 percent were opposed. Since then public opinion has been shifting gradually and constantly. Right now, we seem to have reached a tipping point. In August, Fox News asked, “Should gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to get married?” 52 percent said yes, 46 percent said no, with 2 percent unsure.

Gay marriage is the political issue with the greatest opposition. In all polls, about 10-15 percent more people are in favor of legalizing civil unions. Even more, about two-thirds of all Americans, support hate crimes protection for gays, and outlawing discrimination in housing and jobs.

But even when a majority are supportive, Hollywood has been reluctant to take a stand on controversial political issues. What matters is not just overall support, but support in the particular demographic that buys a product. For silly romances with youthful stars, the key demographic is age. And age makes a major difference in attitudes toward homosexuality. In a 2008 Newsweek poll, when 55 percent of Americans were still opposed to single-sex marriage, responses were widely divided by age. Among those over 65, 69 percent were opposed, but among 18- to 34-year-olds, a majority was in favor. Since then young people have become even more supportive.

A likely explanation is that older people do not know anyone their age who is openly gay, so their opposition to homosexuality is an ideological abstraction. Young people are much more likely to have friends or relatives who have come out; being anti-gay means being against their friends, or possibly their family.

Geography makes a difference, too. The states with the greatest support for any issue involving homosexuality are in the Northeast, while those with the least support are in the South. Illinois is right in the middle. A September Chicago Tribune poll showed that 57 percent of Illinois voters favor civil unions, the same percentage as in the nation. Civil unions are now legal in Illinois because that’s what the majority wants.

These poll results show that the controversy about same-sex marriage or civil unions is not mainly about the sanctity of marriage. Those who oppose same-sex marriage are also more likely to defend the right to discriminate against homosexuals in all areas of civil life. They don’t want gays around at all.

Although the Westboro Baptist Church proclaims “God hates fags,” and more mainstream Christian fundamentalists such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell echoed this sentiment, I don’t think the opposition to gay rights is mainly about what God wants. The age and geographic distribution of anti-gay opinion is exactly the same as the opposition to civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s or to equality for women in the 1970s.

Steve Hockstadt Normal HomosexualityAt that time, those who wished to continue discriminating against blacks and women also defended their ideas with quotations from the Bible and assurances that this was what God commanded.

Maybe God changed his mind about civil rights. More likely, Americans changed their minds about what was right and moral, led by young people who recognized the irrationality of race and gender discrimination.

Once again, young people, who know gays and who know gays are people just like them, are leading the way to a more just society.

Steve Hochstadt

Taking Back Our Lives

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Comments

  1. Reality says:
    March 16, 2011 at 1:41 am

    I have worked with and had neighbors who were/are gay, lesbian and transgender. I didn’t hate them nor did I harrass them in any way. However, their lifestyle(s) were/are sinful, perverse, and not something to which I’d want my children exposed. The big lie here is: “If you like someone, you must approve or tolerate all of his/her behavior and choices.”

    Reply
    • Jim George says:
      April 16, 2011 at 1:09 pm

      Well you are trashing your mind with Bronze Age Primitive mysticism, should we tolerate you?

      Reply
    • Albatross says:
      April 17, 2011 at 8:16 am

      “Reality” is being dishonest, and worst, dishonest with him/her self.

      “Some of my best friends/neighbors/coworkers are -whatever-” is a sure-fire way to out yourself as a bigot towards -whatever-.

      As for “something to which [you would] want [you] children exposed,” take that up with your god, because your god MAKES people gay, lesbian, and transgender. Think of the harm you’re doing when your children see you judging gays, lesbians, or transgender people, all the while realizing that they are gay or lesbian or transgender… or that they MIGHT be when they get older, and would you still love them if so?

      Conditional love is the worst thing in the world, worse than no love at all. What we owe our children is UNconditional love. And telling them that there are people in the world who don’t deserve unconditional love is a way of telling them that your own love for them might also be conditional.

      You’re a bigot, “Reality,” and worse, you likely harbor homosexual feelings that increase your anxiety over the issue and lead to your hostile attitude. In other words, you learned from YOUR parents that their love was conditional, and that you had better be straight if you wanted to be loved.

      So you want to pass that on to YOUR kids?

      Love your children unconditionally. Love your self unconditionally. Love your neighbors, unconditionally – without judgment, without patting yourself on the back for not “harassing” them. They can tell. Your kids can tell. The only way to not be obvious in your judgment and conditional love is to not harbor any judgments or bigotries.

      What’s more likely, Reality? That homosexuals exist despite the efforts of your omnipotent god to prevent it, or that your god MEANT for homosexuals to exist, and it’s people – flawed, arrogant PEOPLE – who have introduced the bigotry against gays? Homosexuality is natural, Reality – it exists in over 500 species, including humans. So I think your god MEANT for there to be homosexuals, and the bigotry is a human invention.

      So it’s okay and safe to feel those homosexual feelings. Your god still loves you. And so do I. But stop projecting your issues onto your kids and neighbors and face them yourself.

      Reply
  2. Reality says:
    March 16, 2011 at 1:47 am

    I have worked with and had neighbors who were/are gay, lesbian and transgender. I didn’t hate them nor did I harrass them in any way. However, their lifestyle(s) were/are sinful, perverse, and not something to which I’d want my children exposed. The big lie here is: “If you like someone, you must approve or tolerate all of his/her behavior and choices.” If my best friend told me how much she loved meth and how she didn’t think being bipolar and frequently suicidal was a problem, should I “respect” her idea of a “lifestyle”…or let her know that she is trashing her life and needs help?

    Reply
    • Dak Splunder says:
      April 16, 2011 at 10:31 am

      I have worked with and had neighbors who were ignorant and stupid. I didn’t hate them nor did I harass them in any way. However, their thought processes were/are sinful, perverse, and not something to which I’d want my children exposed.

      The good news, according to the article, is that you, “Reality,” are part of a dying breed, thank god.

      Reply
    • Teddy Bear says:
      April 16, 2011 at 11:13 am

      Methinks reality speak with forked tongue.

      Reply
  3. Perhaps says:
    April 16, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Perhaps, “Reality,” this is where you go into your prayer closet and seek the best guidance from God. If your God is a powerful God, then he can figure out better than one lone person (yourself) what to do. But it requires prayer, not just memorization of one or two lines taken from the story of his history. God wants us to talk to him now. Today. Please do. Listen for an answer… and don’t do a thing until you get one.

    Reply
  4. Steve Hochstadt says:
    April 17, 2011 at 10:59 am

    If we replace “gay” in Reality’s comment with Jewish or black, then we have the age-old discriminatory prejudices. Reality says: “The big lie here is: “If you like someone, you must approve or tolerate all of his/her behavior and choices.”” I doubt whether Reality likes gay people. But he or she brings up a good point: must we approve of all the behavior of people we know? Certainly not. It is exactly the choice of which behaviors we will accept, tolerate, and encourage that shows what kind of people we are. It is not easy to make those choices.
    We now know enough to understand that there is a big difference between drug abuse and being gay, and that good people can condemn one and accept the other.

    Steve Hochstadt

    Reply
  5. Bob says:
    June 20, 2011 at 6:21 am

    Black is a race, Jewish/Catholic/Muslim is a religion. Gay is an inclination manifested by a behavior. The mockery displayed among the replies interesting, though shallow. As to the original posting, following the crowd because something is “popular” doesn’t make a lot of sense. If everyone thought pi should only be equal to 3 because it makes some things simpler (but messes up a lot of other things), re-defining pi wouldn’t change the actual nature of pi, and would be just dumb.

    Reply

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