I found that writer Chris Alexander (Gay awareness week glorifies perversity – Jan 22, 1999) and I agree on one very central point. Mr. Alexander says “Studies show that homosexuality begins in the womb, making homosexuality, in actuality, a birth defect.”Yes, science says there is no doubt that a person`s sexual orientation is set before birth, or very soon after. To call it a “birth defect” is semantics. Should we call being left handed a birth defect? We could, but it is of so little consequence that we usually don`t bother to give it such a perjoritive label. Where I differ from Mr. Alexander is in making the jump from science to morality. I wonder when this, presumably God given, trait that 10 percent of the population is born with becomes immoral. Does it become immoral at the same time the trait becomes part of the child at birth? Are we born pre-damned? The human race used that reasoning several hundred years ago, calling some people “Witches”, and as good moral people they rid themselves of the perceived immorality by burning the “witches” at the stake. From the perspective of 1999, we find it easy to see the error those folks made. One popular theory is that immorality occurs when the sexual feelings of the homosexual are acted out. Supporters of this theory are fond of the saying “Love the sinner, hate the sin”. They justify codifying their religious beliefs into civil law by likening same sex acts to perversions such as rape or child molestation. The distinction they fail to make is that rape and child molestation are both crimes that bring great harm on their victims. I know of no civilized person, gay or straight, who would argue that acts which harm others should not be banned from society. But one would be hard pressed to argue that the physical act of two men or two women making consensual love is any more harmful to each other or to society than is that of two people of the opposite sex making consensual love.I would suggest that morality doesn`t enter into a person`s sexual orientation any more than it enters into being right or left handed. To those who feel strong religious beliefs, I say please, use that fine mind that God gave you to think this issue through. I don`t think that God is pleased when we have blind faith in any institution, whether it be the government, a cult leader or even the church. The church has been wrong in the past. Remember those witches we were talking about? I read about the church excommunicating some of our earliest and most famous scientists for suggesting such blatant heresy’s as “the sun, not the earth is the center of the universe” and even “the earth is round, not flat”. Heck, not too long ago the church changed it`s mind and declared that contrary to it`s earlier findings, St Christopher, patron saint of travelers, wasn`t really a saint. They even came out and admitted that Catholics wouldn`t go to hell for eating meat on Fridays. Speaking of which… The Catholics believed for hundreds of years that one would go to hell for eating meat on Friday. Yet they didn`t dare try to get laws passed to force non-believers to go without meat at the end of the week. Where do religious folks who insist on calling homosexuality immoral get off passing laws affecting us gay and lesbian non-believers? They would be livid if employers were allowed to hire or fire on the basis of religious beliefs. Or if landlords could refuse to rent to someone based on the religious beliefs. Why should we be subject to such acts because of your beliefs? Believe what you want, but keepit in the church – please.
Paul Barwick San Francisco, CA
