Reply #37: Seriously though I listened to that segment and [View All]

I saw the problem. He kept conflating status with action and because the interviewer didn't know or make the distinction the questions were not properly framed. You don't chose who you will feel attracted to. You may loathe brussel sprouts and while you may eat them (to please mom who made a nice casserole with brussel sprouts) you will never like them the way you do green beans. If you are all the way on the gay end of the scale, sex with an opposite sex person will be revolting to you (kind of me and runny eggs--not to trivialize but I think they are disgusting), the same as Falwell thinks about sex with another male.

Now the question becomes if a person is so unattracted to opposite sex partners as to find that the idea of intimacy with them is disgusting, then does society have right to demand that that person be celibate? Here, celibacy is not chosen by the person but imposed by society. Then, the issue of gay marriage or civil unions becomes, "We won't impose celibacy on you but we will set conditions that impede your ability to establish a long-term monogamous relationship." In essence, encouraging promiscuity.

Forcing truly gay people into a heterosexual marriage ("That's a great casserole, Mom") seems to me to a recipe for misery, tragedy, and deception of self and others. And one of its victims is the non-gay spouse.

One additional thought--sexual orientation seems to me to be on a continuum and I wonder if these "cured" former gays (you know the "treatment" conservatives/the religious right touts are really bi-sexuals, and especially bi-sexuals who tended toward heterosexuality anyway.