What do conservatives have against gays and lesbians? Really? What has a gay man or homosexual woman ever done to them to deserve the uproar that surrounds them? I know a lot of gay men and a few lesbians, and I have to tell you, they really are not scary. Most of my friends and family are, however, hetero and conservative. This is what they tell me:

1. Homosexuals choose to be homosexual.
2. Homosexuals are dangerous freaks who will turn decent heterosexuals to the dark side if we allow them to get close to us.
3. Homosexuals are perverts and deviants out to molest and/or rape our children.
4. Homosexuals, unlike heterosexuals, parade their sexuality and try to get special rights because of it.
5. Homosexuality is condemned by the Bible.
6. Homosexuals should just be celibate rather than commit sin by sleeping with same-sex partners.

So let me look at these one by one.

The first two points really fascinate me. The idea that you can choose your sexuality is bizarre. I can no more choose to be a lesbian than I can choose to sprout horns out my head. I like men. It’s not a choice I made; I’ve just never been attracted to women in a sexual way, and I cannot imagine suddenly choosing to, even if a gorgeous lesbian came up to me and begged me to be her girlfriend. I have several gay and lesbian friends. Their homosexuality has not rubbed off on me. The notion that accepting them into my society will somehow endanger my heterosexuality is ludicrous. To anyone that spouts such silliness, I must ask, “Is your heterosexuality so tenuous that you cannot resist the lure of a gay person in your near vicinity?”

Point number three begs the question, “Are heterosexuals exempt from perversion and sexual deviance?” On the contrary, most of the truly horrific sexual criminals - Marquis de Sade, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy - were quite straight. Two of my gay male friends were molested as children by married men who were supposedly heterosexual. I don’t have any statistics on it, but I’d be willing to bet that heterosexuals are just as likely, if not more so, to be criminally deviant as homosexuals.

I hear number four quite a bit from my conservative friends: “They chose to be gay, and now they want special rights? I don’t go around asking for special privileges because I’m straight!” Nope, because you don’t have to. Heterosexuals don’t have to beg for equality or decent treatment. We get it automatically. We can marry whom we want in a church with all our friends and even get tax breaks and benefits. We can wear our wedding rings proudly and not worry about getting beaten up for being married to someone we love. As far as homosexuals parading their sexuality, heterosexuals do it all the time. Turn on the TV. Go to a popular movie. Look at a billboard or a mainstream magazine. You’ll see scantily clad women and men kissing, groping and writhing all over one another. Heaven forbid we should see a gay couple now and then.

Point five is an intriguing one. People often point to verses in Leviticus or in the writings of Paul as condemning homosexuality. I’m not a biblical scholar, so I can’t dispute the point definitively. I am a language expert, though, and I know that translating the Bible is like playing the child’s game of telephone. What starts out as God’s word, goes through the initial writer, then a translator, then another translator, then another and another. As it is converted from language to language, modified from man to man, and evolved from age to age, the meaning is inevitably altered. No one can say for certain what the terms occasionally translated as “homosexual” actually meant in the original language. Plus, a Christian knows that the Old Testament was revised by Jesus. He overturned many of the old laws. Since he never mentions homosexuality, can we not assume he was disregarding the old Jewish traditions against it?

There really is no hierarchy of sin. According to Jesus, all sins are equal. If homosexuality is a sin, it is no worse than lying, stealing or cheating. Those sins are redeemed by Christ. Homosexuality would be too. Of course, some people argue that if you must be gay, you should just be celibate as Paul suggested. If celibacy is the proper way to avoid the sin of homosexual sex, than it must also be the proper way to avoid the sin of sex with someone other than your first partner. After all, Jesus specifically told us to avoid divorce because remarriage is actually adultery; therefore, all divorcees should just be celibate too. Hmm…

The point is that gay people deserve respect and consideration like anyone else. No one has the right to discriminate against them or be unkind to them just because they are gay. If homosexuality is a sin, it’s not up to us to punish those who practice it. As Jesus said, “Let those among you without sin cast the first stone.” Let’s just let God handle it, shall we?