Wronging rights
No justifying anti-homosexual acts
A close friend from California
called last week and the first words
out of her mouth were “Anthony,
I’m a person, right?” Lauren is a
lesbian.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 50
49 to kill die Non-Discrimination
Act and 85-14 in favor of the
Defense of Marriage Act. Senate
Majority Leader TVent Lott defended
these actions as “non-prejudicial.”
Sure seems prejudice to me.
But, some claim that discrimina
tion against homosexuals is justifi
able because it is based on sexual
orientation, not other uncontrollable
factors (like race). Or more insidi
ously, it’s not discrimination, but a
prevention of perversion.
Suppose, though, if prior to the
Civil Plights Act of 1964 (when
segregation was alive and kickin’)
that some southern legislature had
decided to pass a Defense of
Marriage Act of 1950? This act
would define marriage as being
between one white man and cme
white woman—obviously prejudi
cial But a proponent of this legisla
tion could claim they wore preserv
ing the “traditional” view of
marriage as between two members
of one race—that’s why we have
distinct races. So interracial mar
riages would be “unnatural.”
What if legislation said that all
minorities had no protection in the
workplace? We know this is wrong.
50 why do some of us still think it’s
OK to do this to homosexuals?
Religious
One of the basic concepts of the
U.S. Constitution is that social
policy cannot be made solely for
religious reasons. The current
legislation against homosexuals has
been supported with such “facts” as
the Bible says homosexuality is
wrong. Well it seems we’re ignoring
atheists, agnostics and non Judeo
Christians. Most importantly, if the
immorality we invoke is on religious
grounds, are we not violating a
certain commitment to some of our
citizens?
Natural
This is the common argument:
“Homosexuals willingly choose to
engage in this ‘unnatural’ behavior
and so are immoral.” So what is
natural?
If we hold natural to the strictest
sense—not deviating from nature
— then don’t we all have unnatural
lives?
I drove to school. That can’t be
natural. A friend flew to California.
Flying sure as hell isn’t natural for
people.
But if something unnatural is
something “gross” (as many call
homosexuals), then what about
actions people do which are natural
to them, but which might “gross”
some of us out—women who don’t
shave for instance—are we to
morally condemn them?
Or maybe “natural” means
fulfilling a certain function?
Opponents of homosexuals say that
the function of genitalia is for
procreation. But the problem with,
this line of thought is that we have
body partS which have a number of -
functions — some certainly not the
main function —but we aren’t
immoral for using them in other
ways. The mouth’s function is to
allow intake of food—yet we can
use it for talking, oral sex and
yawning—so are we unnatural and
immoral?
Bid, some may argue, “aren’t
homosexuals willfully the way they
are?"
Hey, if choosing to gotolfrflL
meant you’d be beaten, spit on,
denied jobs, stigmatized and
abhorred by people, you probably
wouldn’t have chosen to come here,
huh? But my friend faces these
problems on a daily basis:—so why
. -J'V V -- ■
hasn’t she “chosen” to become
heterosexual? It’s not a choice.
I’ve been attracted to women
since junior high. But did I wake up
one day and say “today, Anthony, is
the day you become heterosexual”?
Nope, but I’m attracted to women.
Did Lauren wake up and tell herself
“today, you’re going to be homo
sexual”? Nope, but she’s attracted to
women.
If you truly believe choice is
involved, then please tell, on what
day did you make that choice? Or
was it just a “feeling”?
Corruptive
Corruption of family values and
society. That’s why we should stop
the homosexual agenda.
Hey lode, we haven’t had “Leave
It To Beaver” families in a long time
(if ever) so I don't see how homo
sexuals are making families
crumble. -
It certainly is easier to blame
external forces than look into the
mirror. Homosexuals are stereotyped
as sex-crazed maniacs, and our
government deems it necessary to
protect our virtues. But when a
father rapes his daughter, no one
condemns heterosexuals; but when a
child is molested by a homosexual, it
is considered indicative of all
homosexuals.
Once I had a fellow College
Republican at Boston University say
to me during a meeting that if his
kid was gay he’d tell him not to be a
- teacher, a politician or some position
of influence. Problem: If my
professor is gay, I’m not gonna say
hey, I admire and respect him, so I’ll
be gay too. How many of your
professors wear their sexuality on
their sleeves? Most people, hetero
sexual and homosexual alike, don’t.
Our society, even with its gains in
minority civil rights, is still prejudi
cial toward homosexuals. Don’t
brush it under the mg. I want to be
able to answer Lauren’s question. A
phrase comes to mind: “....with
liberty and justice for all.” For all.
Nguyen is a senior biochemistry
and philosophy major and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist.
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