Gay Rights

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25278601.post-1162115174694197102006-10-29T01:45:00.000-08:002006-10-29T01:46:15.033-08:00Gay RightsGay, straight, bisexual: how much does sexual orientation matter to a sense of identity and a role in a society? Everybody in this society has a sexual orientation, but shall this difference make any sense in a social life and civil rights? Depending on our sexuality we all have different desires and attractions , but when the problem is about the rights and role in the society, there is one thing that should make everybody equal: the concept of human being. Each of us has his/her personal perceptions (values, beliefs and cognitions). And according to the Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties everybody should be equal no matter of race, color, sexual orientation, religion and etc…. Every human being has a free will and a freedom of choice. Sometimes this moral code is infringed based on many reasons, one of which is the sexual orientation. First of all, let me briefly explain what sexual; orientation is: “Sexual orientation refers to the sex, sexes, gender or genders, to which a person is attracted and which form the focus of a person's amorous or erotic desires, fantasies, and spontaneous feelings.” (en.wikipedia.org). It’s the whole expression of our feelings, desires and emotions towards the people that we are attracted with. It contains the understanding of such feelings such as Love, Attraction, Desire and Satisfaction. Is it really a big issue that a man can be attracted to a man and fall in love with him? Or should one’s sexual orientation change his/her role in the society where he/she acts? To these questions I don’t even hesitate to answer “NO”. One’s sexual orientation has nothing to do with his/her importance in the society. What is all this discrimination about? Lesbians and gay men are discriminated against at many levels at this society. They may face the toughest battle for equality. However, Democratic Socialists believe that the sexual preference should be recognized as a matter of individual choice, a basic democratic right. This is a free democratic society with political and economic equalities, which means equality in employment, housing, education, health care, taking part in political and social life. Seems there should not be any problems. If you ask anyone, they will tell you they are in favor of equal rights for homosexuals. They will say gays should have the same rights in housing, jobs, public accommodations, and should have equal access to government benefits and equal protection by the law. But if you specify your question and ask about the gay marriage, all this talk of equality stops dead cold. More than half of all people in the United States oppose gay marriage, even though three fourths are otherwise supportive of gay rights. This means that many of the same people who are even passionately in favor of gay rights oppose gays on this one issue. Why is there such controversy? It’s because there is a lot of misunderstanding what homosexuality really is, as well as the erroneous assumption that gay people enjoy the same civil rights, protections as everyone else. The opponents of the gay marriage bring a lot of arguments these days, and they are usually variations of a few well-established themes. A marriage is an institution between one man and one woman: that’s the most frequently heard argument, one even codified in a recently passed U.S. federal law. You can’t deny people, their rights, unless you can show a compelling reason to deny them in the very basis of American ideal of human rights. As the civil right laws in this country state that everyone is equal, gay people should be granted rights, especially regarding marriage and all the legal protections that go along with it. Granting gays the right to marry is a special right. The opposition to gay marriage stems ultimately from a deep-seated homophobia in this culture; while many people don’t realize that homophobia exists to the extent that whatever it does is a very real part of every gay person’s life. It is there, and it has far more serious consequences for American society than most Americans realize, not just for gay people, but for the society in general. When gay people say that this is a civil rights issue, we are referring to matters to civil justice, which often can be quite serious, and can have life-damaging, even life- threatening consequences. Sexual orientation is a private matter and the government doesn’t belong in individuals’ bedrooms. Anyway, now some states have the legal civil unions for gay people, so homosexuals can get married as heterosexuals under the same laws and rights. In Dec 1999, The Hawaii Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, in April 2000, the Vermont House of Representatives gave a final approval to same-sex marriages, in June 2000, the Supreme Court of New Jersey accepted it too, in 2004 Massachusetts legalized the gay marriage (<a href="http://speakout.com/activism/gayrights/">http://speakout.com/activism/gayrights/</a>). Another aspect of this is the adoption. 19 states allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt children in a complex and expensive two-step process, in which one parent first adopts and then the second can petition for joint rights.( Sean Cahill,” Same –sex Marriage in the United States”). Legalizing the gay marriage step by step is the biggest right for gay people, as they can make unions and enjoy their entire life together. But this doesn’t solve the problem of discrimination. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Islands, Vermont, Wisconsin and Nevada prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Colorado, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Washington ban discrimination in public employment based on sexual orientation. Why is it still so? Gay relationships are immoral? Who says? The Bible? I always thought that religion implied the right of freedom from religion as well. At this point, not all world religions have a problem with homosexuality; many sects of Buddhism celebrate gay relationships freely. The Bible has absolutely no standing in American law. So if one believes in religious freedom, the recognition that opposition to gay marriage is based on religious arguments is unreasonable enough to discount this argument. People with profound and deep religious beliefs that don’t accept the conception of homosexuality and try to evict the homosexual individuals from the society always make me wonder: are they actually religious? Do they realize such religious concepts as love, care, humanity, open-mindedness, generosity? People should understand that being a gay it’s not their choice. Scientists so far divided homosexuality into two parts: natural and nurtured. The basis behind the natural theory for homosexuality is that individuals are born with certain genetic makeup, which predetermines their homosexual orientation. On the other hand, the nurtured theory believes that one’s environment and experiences can predetermine one’s sexual orientation. I know that heterosexuals consider gay relationships to be merely a sexual perversion. But the homosexuality is multidimensional and is much more about love and affection. That’s what gay relationships are based on- mutual attraction, love and affection. As I’ve already mentioned above, being a gay is part of that person’s core identity, and goes right the very center of his being. It’s like being black in a society of whites. Yes, being gay is just that profound to the person. This is something that few heterosexuals can understand unless they are the part of minority themselves. And let’s remember the Declaration of Independence, where Thomas Jefferson says:”All human beings are created equally”. Yes and this is absolutely true, they are created equally and should be treated equally, have equal rights and their own role in this society. But will the discrimination towards the sexual orientation be illuminated from the world one day? I wish I could answer to this question…. Pradafreakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15807715836961697498noreply@blogger.com