Under The Covers

Doing What's Right

People seem to ask why it matters if gays have the right to marry or not, and frankly the whole issue isn’t about being married but about receiving the same rights as any other person has.

Do we argue that African Americans are entitled to sit anywhere on the bus? Do we argue that if an African American wishes to live and cohabitate with a White person that they can’t be married (assuming one is female)?

Course we don’t, because to do so would be racist.

So how come it isn’t racism when applied to two guys or to two women?

Many hetrosexual men get turned on by seeing two woman touching and arousing each other, but lord help the world if those two woman should be allowed to become partners other than in bed to please an on looking male.

Isn’t that rather hypocritical?

Funny, the Church and all those Evangelical Churches too preach endlessly on God’s love and compassion, yet vilify anyone who dares want to enjoy the natural love between two souls. Why it is a sin to even consider such unions because of their views, but one has to wonder, isn’t adultry and lying covered in the Ten Commandments?

Yet, something like two men or two women being partners for life is a greater sin?

I mean the recent petition to have on the Mass. ballot a measure to deny equal rights to Gays is constantly making news about how the people sponsoring the measure, lied to people, coerced them into signing the petition and just out and out added names at random. (story)

Kind of makes you wonder doesn’t it?

I mean the people sponsoring this measure are the Catholic Church and Evangelical Churches. So much for following the 10 Commandments I guess…

Then we have the whole celebrity issue making news all the time. Remember the persistent rumors about Tom Cruise being gay? Or how about the recent one’s about Clay Aiken from American Idol? Or if you really want to get recent, how about the US Figure Skater Weir (story)?

To begin with, why does it even matter if Clay Aiken or Tom Cruise of Weir are gay? Does it make their acting, singing, or skating any less?

So what if Clay Aiken is gay, does it change how well he sings?

So what if Tom Cruise is gay, does it change how well he acts in the movies? Does it make Top Gun less of a movie, or Last Samuria unworthy of Oscar nominations?

So what if Weir is gay, does it make his jumps any less spectacular or graceful?

People also condemn these guys for not coming out, if they are gay, saying they hold back the drive for equal rights, but damn it, given the hysteria about whether they are or not clearly shows that to come out (if they are) would have serious economic ramifications as well.

How many movie roles would Tom Cruise get if he suddenly said he was gay?

How many CDs would Clay Aiken sell?

Think about something else such as the NFL or NHL or NBA or any other professional sport. Ever notice how there are rumors now and then about this star or that star yet the leagues do everything possible to deny or prevent the same idle speculation that goes on in Hollywood?

Think it is to protect the star or the reputation of the game?

In short, the more society deems a person’s sexuality as defining that person, the harder it will be for gays to be accepted as any other person is accepted. It isn’t that Tom or Clay or whoever comes out or not that is the issue, it is the ramifications of what happens if they do.

Would Tom Cruise get an Oscar nod for Last Samuri if people knew he was gay? (Assuming he was, and came out that is) Odds are NO!

It is for this reason that gays need to have the right to be married. It is a step in making homosexuality not the holy terror that the Church or Religious Right make it. By giving a minority the same rights, it ends the other racist laws but also puts an end to the racist attitudes people hold.

Until the courts ruled that Blacks couldn’t be treated differently, the amount of racism against them was tremendous. When the laws changed, granting them the same rights as anyone else, over time the hatred and racist views became less and less. They are now accepted in the white world, and frankly always should have been, but the fact remains, until Gays get the same rights, we will always be segregated, set upon, held in disdain, and reviled.

When someone mentions Morgan Freeman, do they automatically think, Oh the black guy… or do they think of his movies? What about Sidney Poitier? Do they think of him as black or as the actor in Lillies of the Field, In the Heat of the Night, etc?

That is what equal means… to be thought of for who you are, not your skin colour or your sexual preferences. Until that changes for gays, then actors, skaters, football players, singers etc will continue to stay under the covers.

Ian @ February 17, 2006