some things are worth fighting for

[erratio]

So I went to the Mardi Gras on Saturday night, right, and the next day at work it turned out that of the four of us in my team who turned up that day three of us had been to the Mardi Gras. So we were chatting about our impressions of it and an older woman who works at the same time entered the conversation. Her reaction was short and to the point: "I don't believe in that.". Fair enough for her, you might say. But then what is she going to do in future if one of her three kids turns out to be gay? Is she not going to believe in it then, too? Around this time last year I had a conversation with my gay friend Hein's ex (boyfriend at the time) about how hard it is being gay, to know that for no reason you have control over most of society will look down on you; to be afraid to come out to your own family because there's a significant chance that they won't be able to accept it.

Anyway, this is a long way of me getting to the point of this post: Does anyone know where I can get a badge or something for support of homosexuality? This is one of the few fights I'm more than willing to have, and it has nothing to do with Hein. A part of me just screams in frustration that there are people who are persecuted because they act and love differently to the majority. Life's hard enough already without inventing reasons to go after other people.

Comments

[mnarciso.livejournal.com]

The Pop Shop sells gay-friendly items, including badges. To be honest, you might be better off creating your own. The Arc has a badge machine which you can use - you just have to pay for the materials (which is something like $2).

[munchingmoo.livejournal.com]

I really wanted to buy that pink Aussie flag thing they had but I thought $10 was a bit expensive especially in my current state of poverty. You should make a rainbow badge or buy one of those rainbow flags.

[doctorer.livejournal.com]

Interesting that the community itself is happy enough claiming that there is no choice in the matter when it comes to some matters of discrimination, but that it is a conscious choice when relating to others. Indecisiveness, disagreement, or simply playing with definitions for maximum convenience?

This is in fact demonstrated by your very post. The allusion to "living and acting differently to the majority" hardly implies a lack of choice. Please understand that I am not here attacking homosexuality itself, merely the approach of the community in advancing its ambitions.

[erratio.livejournal.com]

This probably isn't the best analogy, but if someone had a mental illness would you say they truly had a choice over their actions? Would you say that females who act in a 'feminine' fashion are explicitly choosing to do so (or males acting 'macho' for that matter)?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not wholeheartedly supporting the gay scene; far from it. And there are a lot of other homosexuals out there who stay well away from it, and others who act exactly the same way as all other 'normal' guys. But all these people, even the males who act exactly the same as your average straight guy, would get plenty of persecution from narrow-minded idiots just because they're fags. And that's what pisses me off.

[doctorer.livejournal.com]

It's a great analogy, but not for your argument. Until recently, homosexuality was considered a mental illness. This meant that should a person choose not to accept homosexuality, they were merely "sick" and therefore not culpable. Should they however embrace their homosexuality, they could take pride in it as do certain members of the deaf, autistic and other communities.

Now that homosexuality is not considered to be a disorder, individual homosexuals feel obligated to embrace not only the aspects of alternate attraction but also the culture and implications that go with it - whether or not they personally agree with these.

Aside from this point, I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment. While discrimination in and of itself is not inherently bad (there are many examples of good discrimination), persecution regardless of purported cause is always inherently immoral. Though I may not agree with the homosexual political movement about what homosexuality is and/or what rights a given homosexual may or may not have (such as marriage and adoption), I fervently believe that all persons should be treated with dignity, respect and understanding. To treat someone with dignity demands being honest in dealing with them, especially when detailing and discussing disagreements.