The gays are coming! The gays are coming! Let all conservative political activists arm themselves with protest signs and fundamentalist religions hold scripture close to their hearts. It's Pride Week, and the queers are here!
As a result of President McDavis's outstanding (dare I say the first) and positive decision to include the LGBT community in the Office of Diversity and Equity, the LGBT population is finally being seen as an important entity within the university. The move (to include the LGBT center) shows us that the university administration recognizes our work to make OU a more diverse and accepting place
Will Wemer, LGBT commissioner, said. The community has a lot to celebrate this week.
Following in the footsteps of minority groups before us, the LGBT community has been on the rise ever since the Stonewall riots in the late 1960s. With quiet pleas, parades and sometimes in-your-face activism, we have been fighting for equality for years. Ohio University has embraced pride tradition with weekly student-run programs relating to LGBT and Ally concerns and interests.
Much like our predecessors in activism, the LGBT population has been met with many adversaries along the way. There are numerous amounts of people who do not want the homos to have any standing in society; we are deemed immoral and detrimental to society's family values. In the nicest way possible I disagree, because I believe embracing the uniqueness of yet another minority community can only help strengthen America.
For those who deem homosexuality immoral I urge you to question your thinking. The Bible is one of the most strict resources for teaching right and wrong. Unfortunately, instead of its use to lead oneself closer to a life modeled after Jesus Christ, it is instead used as a weapon to call out another's sin. Devouts of the Bible fail to recognize that the Bible has been chewed up, digested and spit out in order to fit what man has decided is right. Because of this, it is very hard to read with accurate understanding of what the original work might have intended.
Take the word sodomy for example. Dictionary.com defines sodomy as, Any of various forms of sexual intercourse held to be unnatural or abnormal especially anal intercourse or bestiality. I see no reference to homosexuality or the condemnation of gays. In fact, sodomy can be used to refer to heterosexual partners who engage in anal sex also. In the Bible, when the word sodomy is mentioned, one can theorize, but there is no evidence, it is meant to directly condemn homosexuality. Some newer bibles actually use the word homosexuality when referring to specific sin, but that is just another example of man creating and indulging his own way of right and wrong.
As if the Bible isn't full of enough prophetic hate, there are still those that cling to traditional family values to fuel their spitting on rainbow flags. According to www.gaymarriageNO.org, allowing same-sex marriage would allow a number of other perverted behavior-groups (pedophiles
polygamists
and transgender people) a similar argument as to why their actions are justified and why they should be able to be married as well. Comparing homosexuals to pedophiles is offensive and outrageous.
As for the idea of disrupting family values, according to the American Psychological Association, lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive home environments for children G? and some studies suggest that lesbian mothers' and gay fathers' parenting skills may be superior to those of matched heterosexual couples.
With all that said, I would like to reiterate how important this week is for us in the LGBT community. It is not meant to force opinions or ideals into the minds of others but to simply celebrate the enormous challenges that have been overcome and to gain strength for the ones looming in the future. If you find offense with the same-sex hand-holding, rainbow-wearing, proud individuals walking around this week, I challenge you to step outside your box and open up your minds. The world is turning, changing and evolving toward bigger and better things; don't let your irrational ignorance stop this from possibly being the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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Alex Jabs
