: Gay bashing :
I went to see Brokeback Mountain on Thursday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it - outstanding acting performances, beautiful cinematography, haunting music and a very accessible story about how denial can lead to heartache and disaster. What is somewhat surprising is how popular the movie is in Houston, which has always had this reputation of being very conservative for a city of its size. Even for a weekday matinee show, the theater was more than half-full. Contrast that to the primetime showing of Memoirs of a Geisha, which played to a mostly empty theater.
After the movie, I found a Houston Chronicle message board on the success of the movie, and I was sickened by all the hate speech against gays that the popularity of the movie has brought out in some people. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that there are such people in the world, and that the Internet makes it safe for them to spew forth whatever vitrolic thoughts that pops up into their tiny heads. What does kind of astonish me is the level of ignorance displayed by these people in discussing homosexuality.
One argument seems to be that the movie is promoting the gay lifestyle in an attempt to turn kids into homosexuals. There are two fallacies in that argument. One is that people don't "become" gay because of what they see or read. Being gay isn't a choice, and even if it were, who would choose it? The choice is what you do about it - either deny yourself and stay in the closet or accept and act upon it. The other fallacy is that if you watched the movie, you would never get the idea that being gay is glamorous or desireable. For the characters in Brokeback Mountain, being gay leads to heartache and painful family breakups. I would hardly call that a convincing argument to become gay.
The other thing I notice is that, despite all the rhetoric against gay behavior, there is no mention of lesbians. People who are against gays tend to focus on their digust on the act of anal sex between two males. In 14 pages of back and forth arguing, I didn't see a single mention of anyone's opinion on lesbians. This leads me to wonder if people who attack gays are only against male homosexuals, and then only if they engage in anal sex. Because if someone is against the IDEA of homosexuality, then lesbians should be condemned equally.
I've never given much thought to homosexuality in the past. Being TG is a little different than being gay. It's mostly an inner identity conflict, and less about sexual behavior. But at the same time, I have to figure that at some time or another, I will probably engage in homosexual behavior, unless I remain celibate until SRS. If I make love to someone with a vagina, in my mind, that would be lesbian sex. If I make love to someone with a penis, we will probably have anal sex. So even though being TG and being gay are two entirely different things, the point is that it is in human nature to desire sex, and sometimes we just have to be creative to satisfy that desire.
After the movie, I found a Houston Chronicle message board on the success of the movie, and I was sickened by all the hate speech against gays that the popularity of the movie has brought out in some people. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that there are such people in the world, and that the Internet makes it safe for them to spew forth whatever vitrolic thoughts that pops up into their tiny heads. What does kind of astonish me is the level of ignorance displayed by these people in discussing homosexuality.
One argument seems to be that the movie is promoting the gay lifestyle in an attempt to turn kids into homosexuals. There are two fallacies in that argument. One is that people don't "become" gay because of what they see or read. Being gay isn't a choice, and even if it were, who would choose it? The choice is what you do about it - either deny yourself and stay in the closet or accept and act upon it. The other fallacy is that if you watched the movie, you would never get the idea that being gay is glamorous or desireable. For the characters in Brokeback Mountain, being gay leads to heartache and painful family breakups. I would hardly call that a convincing argument to become gay.
The other thing I notice is that, despite all the rhetoric against gay behavior, there is no mention of lesbians. People who are against gays tend to focus on their digust on the act of anal sex between two males. In 14 pages of back and forth arguing, I didn't see a single mention of anyone's opinion on lesbians. This leads me to wonder if people who attack gays are only against male homosexuals, and then only if they engage in anal sex. Because if someone is against the IDEA of homosexuality, then lesbians should be condemned equally.
I've never given much thought to homosexuality in the past. Being TG is a little different than being gay. It's mostly an inner identity conflict, and less about sexual behavior. But at the same time, I have to figure that at some time or another, I will probably engage in homosexual behavior, unless I remain celibate until SRS. If I make love to someone with a vagina, in my mind, that would be lesbian sex. If I make love to someone with a penis, we will probably have anal sex. So even though being TG and being gay are two entirely different things, the point is that it is in human nature to desire sex, and sometimes we just have to be creative to satisfy that desire.
