I don’t like gay people. I know it’s hideously un-PC of me to admit it, at least publicly, but I don’t. I’m not a gay-basher or anything, I don’t want to hurt anyone or try to change anyone else’s beliefs, but I really think homosexuality is wrong. Mostly I keep my opinion to myself, because I just don’t want to get into any discussions about it. Recently, however, some friends of mine were talking about gay rights, and when they automatically assumed I agreed with them, I felt compelled to tell them the truth. This led to a big argument, and now some of them won’t talk to me and others are trying to convince me I’m wrong. This really bothers me because I thought I had a right to my own opinion. I mean, just because some people choose to be gay, does that mean I have to approve of it? I don’t have to accept everybody else’s beliefs, so why does everyone feel I have to accept this one?

Harry the Hetero

First of all, HTH, homosexuality isn’t like snake handling or Catholicism; it isn’t a cult or a religion you can be recruited for or converted to. And it isn’t a choice any more than your height, the color of your skin, or your parents’ religion. What I admit to is that I’m tired of smug people who believe that their good luck (if that’s what you call it) at being born straight or white or Christian or whatever means they get to despise or deny basic human rights to anyone not exactly like them.

I wonder what would happen if anyone who would deny any other group or class basic human rights were unable to reap any benefit from them. Would a true anti-Semite, for example, change his mind if otherwise he were ineligible to get Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine? Would you change your mind if it meant you could enjoy the Mona Lisa, or the novels of Truman Capote, k.d. lang’s voice, or David Hockney’s artwork? And these are just a few of the famous ones. It’s impossible to assess the contribution gay writers, actors, artists, musicians, designers, etc. have made to our cultural landscape. The only way to be sure of avoiding gay influence is to live naked in a cave and sleep on rocks.

It is absolutely your right not to spend time with people you don’t care for, and believe me, with your attitude, the gays don’t miss you. But I side with your friends who would try to change your mind. Because homosexuality is not a choice, but the way you think is.

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