Homosexual: Difference between revisions

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== Gender Politics ==

Your '''sexual orientation''' describes whether you're attracted to the same gender as yourself, the opposite gender, both, or [[Asexuality|neither]]. It's important to note that '''gender''' (whether you personally identify as a man, woman, or neither) is not the same as your '''sex''' (whether your body is male or female). It's possible, for instance, to be an exclusively straight male but also swing over to the feminine side of the spectrum; [[Eddie Izzard]], who claims to be this sort of person, has described himself as a "male lesbian". For the ladies, you have characters like Shannon Beiste from ''[[Glee]]'', a rough and burly female football coach who has no sexual interest in other women. Neither have any desire to [[~~Transsexual~~|change their sex]], it's just their personality. Furthermore, transsexuality has nothing to do with homosexuality. A female-to-male transsexual who dates women is not a lesbian, for example, but a straight man, and is just as likely to be gay (attracted to other men) or bi.

Your '''sexual orientation''' describes whether you're attracted to the same gender as yourself, the opposite gender, both, or [[Asexuality|neither]]. It's important to note that '''gender''' (whether you personally identify as a man, woman, or neither) is not the same as your '''sex''' (whether your body is male or female). It's possible, for instance, to be an exclusively straight male but also swing over to the feminine side of the spectrum; [[Eddie Izzard]], who claims to be this sort of person, has described himself as a "male lesbian". For the ladies, you have characters like Shannon Beiste from ''[[Glee]]'', a rough and burly female football coach who has no sexual interest in other women. Neither have any desire to [[Transsexualism|change their sex]], it's just their personality. Furthermore, transsexuality has nothing to do with homosexuality. A female-to-male transsexual who dates women is not a lesbian, for example, but a straight man, and is just as likely to be gay (attracted to other men) or bi.

The problem is that, in Western culture (and media) especially, gay people are often stereotyped as wanting to be the opposite sex, since many act in ways contrary to their gender. In other words, sexual orientation and assigned gender are treated as though they are ''not'' separate issues, despite [[Too Dumb to Live|half a second's thought]] indicating that of course they are. This is why the [[Butch Lesbian]] and [[Camp Gay]] stereotypes are so prevalent, though (for men) the [[Manly Gay]] stereotype is slowly starting to make headway, especially as it (partially) redeems gayness in public eyes by adhering to masculinity, a quality that is much prized in most cultures. This is also why transsexuality gets bundled up in this issue, despite being loosely relate at best: the media like to stereotype it as being some sort of "ultra-gay" condition.

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Today, being homosexual is also about politics. As with [[American Gun Politics|Gun Control]], homosexuality, its legality, its normality and its social acceptability is a [[Single-Issue Wonk]] for a lot of people on both sides of the debate. In modern American politics, for example, it's valid to ask, "Would you vote for [[Barack Obama|an African-American presidential candidate]] just ''because'' he's African-American, regardless of his actual platform," because some people would ''actually answer No'' (or Yes) to that question. A politician's stand on homosexuality can be a similar deal-breaker.

Even better, there are scriptures in various religious texts condemning homosexual acts. This of course raises its own questions: Why are those condemnations there? Is it to encourage reproduction, or does <{{smallcaps|Deity Of Your Choice}}> actually consider it evil? Does the passage of scripture actually mean what you say it does, or is it being taken out of context? Is it just because, before condoms and penicillin, ~~[[ST Ds]]~~ were much more of a problem and monogamy was the best way to reduce their spread? Some people refuse to ask these questions on principle. Indeed, they tend to focus on anti-gay scriptures while [http://ozyandmillie.org/2000/08/14/ozy-and-millie-403/ ignoring those that condemn their own vices], simply using religion as an excuse for pre-existing hatred.

Even better, there are scriptures in various religious texts condemning homosexual acts. This of course raises its own questions: Why are those condemnations there? Is it to encourage reproduction, or does <{{smallcaps|Deity Of Your Choice}}> actually consider it evil? Does the passage of scripture actually mean what you say it does, or is it being taken out of context? Is it just because, before condoms and penicillin, STDs were much more of a problem and monogamy was the best way to reduce their spread? Some people refuse to ask these questions on principle. Indeed, they tend to focus on anti-gay scriptures while [http://ozyandmillie.org/2000/08/14/ozy-and-millie-403/ ignoring those that condemn their own vices], simply using religion as an excuse for pre-existing hatred.

The point is that this is an issue where personal morality, religion and politics all intersect, and if you talk about it openly someone might ask you for a political justification to what you had thought of as a purely-religious opinion (or vice versa). To call it a mess would be an understatement.