Monday 4 August 2014

Arguments against homosexuality are unjustified

Silly excuses against gay marriage/gay rights/gay equality/gay anything make me so mad. I've heard so many of them, and so here I've chosen to put some of the ones I hear quite regularly. 


1. “It’s in the bible!”

No. I thought we’d had enough of religious laws. Religious laws are unjust. Not everybody follows your religion, the bible should not be the be all and end all of laws. When you start following religious laws, you start implementing drastic things such as:

 - Leviticus 3:17 “It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood”
Ban bacon immediately, folks.
 - Leviticus 19:28 “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.”
Sorry, tattoos are now forbidden.
 - Mark 10:11-12 "And He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
Henry VIII was familiar with this one.

There should be a clear distinction between religion and law. Under no circumstances should “but the bible says so!” be a legitimate reason for something to be against the law.


2. “Homosexuality produces no offspring”

We really don’t need any more offspring. Everyday 5,760 more children become orphans[1]. We don’t need more offspring. There are already too many kids without homes or families. Same-sex couples can help with this issue. They can give these kids love and a home they would otherwise not have. The fact being gay leads to no offspring is a good thing for the world as a whole.
Also, if you won’t allow partnerships that don’t produce offspring, should a sterile man be allowed to marry a sterile woman? They won’t be able to produce any offspring. The argument is invalid.


3. “Kids raised by a same-sex couple don’t turn out right”

Generally the argument here is that a child needs one of both genders in order to shape them. The Archbishop of Singapore argues that children will not find their identity without two oppositely gendered parents. This just seems ridiculous. How many single parent families exist? Last time I checked my dad raised us on his own and my brother and my brother and I turned out fine. Neither of us is struggling to find our identities as a woman or man.


4. “Being gay is unnatural”

So are shoes, but you wear them. 
Also, “Over 1000 species have been shown to engage in same-sex mating and pair-bonding.”[2]. That's so unnatural.


5. “Kids shouldn't be shown homosexuality, they won’t understand it”

Hold up. Did your parents ever have to explain to you what being straight is? Of course not. Exposing kids to these kinds of things from a young age decreases the chance that they will be homophobic when they’re older, it may seem weird to kids that have been sheltered from the real world, and that is the fault of the parents. Don't alienate those growing up questioning their sexuality. Kids are some of the most accepting and open-minded people. Show them homosexuality, and they won’t need to understand it, just like kids won’t understand what being straight is about. They’ll accept it.


6. “Marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman only. Gays already have civil partnerships”

Firstly, marriages are hardly holy anymore. How long was Kim Kardashian married for? 72 days? How holy. 50% of first marriages in the US end in divorce[3]. Also very holy, isn’t it?
Why should it be between a man and a woman? Everything seems to always come back to the fact it’s religion that’s preventing gay marriage. Christianity says marriage should be between a man and a woman, but I thought we’d separated state and church? At the end of the day, to the government, marriage is just telling the state you are a couple. Applying religion to marriage is out of date.


7. “Being gay is a choice”

If sexuality is a choice, fall in love with someone of the same sex.
This source phrases the idea that there needs to be a gene for something to be acceptable perfectly: “Autism is also not associated with a single gene, but we’d hardly claim that it is not biological, or that children choose to be autistic.”[4]


Honestly, I’m all for religious choice. Hold whatever faith you want, but it’s honestly infuriating when religion gets in the way of people’s rights. Of course it’s not all religious people, of course it’s not only religious people, but it seems like many of the arguments against it stem from religion.




[1] Source: http://www.orphanhopeintl.org/facts-statistics/
[2] Source: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unfundamentalistchristians/2014/04/top-7-claims-for-same-sex-relationships-being-unnatural/
[3] Source: http://www.divorcepad.com/rate/
[4] Source: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unfundamentalistchristians/2014/04/top-7-claims-for-same-sex-relationships-being-unnatural/

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