Gay rights

I would like to write in response to the recent comments written in the Star regarding homosexuality. First, one point of the Gay/Lesbian Awareness Week is to educate people that homosexuality is not a chosen lifestyle, yet rather a genetic difference that affects at least one in ten people. This also is one of the main tasks of the GLU, not to “out” closet cases or try to convert people into being homosexual. People are homosexual because sexual orientation is predetermined and uncontrollable. Why would a person choose a lifestyle in which they risk persecution and physical harm?

Most people do not realize that 10 percent of all people, from sports teams to theatrical groups, are gay or lesbian, because they take notice only of homosexuals who live up to the public’s stereotypes. Homosexuals who wish to avoid any prejudice are forced to live under a straight facade and therefore go unnoticed. The whole point of Gay/Lesbian Awareness Week is to educate people to these facts, not that homosexuals want everybody in the world to be like themselves.

Secondly, to the morality of homosexuality, I understand that it is forbidden in many religions. I respect people who follow their religion devoutly, but I find it most annoying when the same people who criticize gays for their lifestyles are the same people who themselves would be considered immoral because of their own sexual activities. Who are they to judge morality? People can use religion as an easy excuse to forbid something they fail to understand.

Lastly, I would like to close with a response to Keith Berkhout’s letter which suggested a clothing day for heterosexuals. The point of Clothing Day was not to force all people into supporting homosexuals, but to show that people deserve human rights and that homosexuals do exist and that they deserve equal time, as they too are people. The problem is that people take for granted that all people are straight, and they fail to recognize that a large portion of the population is being alienated. Homosexuals are being denied an equal freedom that heterosexuals take for granted. Consider the next time you criticize homosexuals that you probably have some friends who are gay or lesbian, despite of how good of a “straight” image they might portray. Give your friends the rights they deserve.

John Schneider

Freshman

Pre-Engineering