It's a Gay Thing

Of all the prejudices to have, homophobia is never one I embraced. I guess one reason is that, while I'm not macho, I'm more secure in my masculinity than most men I know. I have to be --I'm the sole Y chomasome carrier in a house full of women!

Also, growing up, my father had a lot of gay customers. "Faygellas," he called them, but he always admired and liked them. He saw how much hate and discrimination they endured (this was the 60s and 70s) and remarked, simply "Who the hell cares who they sleep with, as long as they're consenting adults?" I adopted his philosophy, but of course the answer is that PLENTY of people care who the hell they sleep with...

The issue came up recently, after my buddy Norman brought up a name from the good old days: Anita Bryant. I wonder what the creepy old homophobe was up to, and so Googled her. I was happy to discover that her idiot husband, "Mr. Christian," abused and left her, she went through 2 bankruptcies, and is now holed up in her home state of Oklahoma, running some sort of web site.

I also found a YouTube of her getting pied in Iowa, after she started a national tour to help people draft anti-gay legislation, like she did here in Miami. I thought it was hilarious, and posted it as a link on FaceBook.

Well, one of my friends took MAJOR umbrage. He thought it was typical liberal double standard --ok to bash a "fine Christian Conservative" while decrying any sort of anti-gay slur.

That began a back and forth between us, that, distilled to the core revealed a simple fact: he believes homosexuality is wrong, and I don't. To me, it's who one is, same as hair color or cholesterol level. To him, it's sinful behavior that can be changed.

My friend is someone I admire. He's a devoted father, and does work for the community that's selfless and terrific. But, he defines himself by his faith (Catholicism), and since that teaches him about the sin of gayness, that's how he sees life.

Differences like this are insoluble, of course. They go to the essence of who we are. I wrote to him this am that I will continue to admire about him his works, and his essence as a father, without caring a whit about his religion.

I guess I'm too much of an empiricist. If I'm on an airplane going through bad weather, I want a fine pilot, not someone who has my same beliefs and ethics and morals.

So to Anita Bryant, hatemonger and moron, I say that history will judge her ironically. She probably did more for gays than anyone --her speeches about how they "recruit" children and "eat sperm" did more to teach folks that gays needed to be included in civil rights legislation than Barry Manilow's singing did.

And, Anita was, in my opinion, a crappy singer, and never that good looking.