Gay Rights — Redux

 

 

Isaac Asimov wrote, “Your assumptions are your windows on the world.  Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t shine in.”

 

Opinion-forming is (and must be) an evolutionary process.  An ongoing process.  Infinity.

Once, I was interviewed and was asked if I expect to have the same set of beliefs several years from now that I hold at this moment.

“I certainly hope not,” I replied.

I wasn’t joking.  Think of it this way.  When we aren’t learning, when we aren’t evolving, when we’re not asking questions of ourselves, we are in fact — dying.

And so I’ve come to scrub one of my windows and rethink my position on the so-called “coming out” debate.  For this reason, I feel compelled to write a short follow-up, in order to clarify.  Perhaps some of you will find this discussion interesting, if not enlightening.

I continue to maintain my basic viewpoint that gays coming out of the closet and making public pronouncements about their sexual orientation is a questionable practice.  By questionable, I mean open to debate as an optimal strategy in achieving unconditional acceptance in our society.  However, at least one point was made by someone on the other side of the debate that caused me to leap the fence (in part) on this issue.

READ PREVIOUS COLUMN:  WHY MUST “COMING OUT” BE NEWS?

Patti Beadles noted the following:

“The fight for equality is far from over. There is still a great deal of discrimination in this country based on sexual orientation, and it’s a million times worse in some other parts of the world.”

Of course, Beadles is absolutely correct.  And to counter these senseless ongoing evils in other parts of the world, those societies desperately need brave people to stand up for themselves and demand something, which is the basic human right to exist and pursue what they deem to be happiness.

Unfortunately, people still can’t do that in about 75 percent of the world.  Think about that number of people.  How astonishing.  How nauseating.  Upwards of 4.5 billion people (perhaps more) still can’t freely function as who they are.  What is this — the 1300’s?

Hard to believe, but it’s actually 2014.  That’s what the calendar says.  But the majority of the world might as well be living in the Dark Ages.  Gays continue to be persecuted harshly within many societies, the hate and bigotry openly sanctioned by governments.  Persecution isn’t just school pranks and name-calling, although that would be troubling enough.  No.  We’re talking about getting killed for being a homosexual.  Or thrown into prison.  Or tortured.  Or even executed.

In fact, the pure sake of justice demands that people “come out” in countries like Iran, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and even Russia.  And many more nations as well, far too numerous to list.  Those places need their Kings and Mandela’s.  Their Harvey Milks.

But human bravery is a rare virtue.  It’s far to easy for people like me to sit here, surrounded by all the trappings of a free and modern society where I can pretty much do as I please, and pontificate on the rest of the world’s ignorance.  Writing a column that takes me perhaps 30 minutes to compose doesn’t take any forethought, nor courage.  It’s not a brave act.  It’s hardly worth noting, except for the interesting debate that ensues here and on Facebook.

If we’re really talking about acts of human bravery, imagine what it would take for a gay person to stand up for themselves in one of these closed societies.  Can you possibly imagine?  I can’t.  And that’s why no one stands up and calls attention to themselves and pronounces that they’re gay.  It would be a ruinous act.  Even suicidal, perhaps.

Fact is, those evil close-minded theocracies could use a few people “coming out of the closet.”  Little do they know, but gay or not, they’re all locked inside the same closet of darkness.

READ:  More in gay rights