When people rant on and on....

[Emma Goldenive]

why is it a crime to be gay to most people!?!? cause it isnt. if anyone is doing a crime its the people saying its a crime. Almost all of my moms friends are gay and i dont say "Why did you choose to be an abomination to this world?" I mean seriously talk2hand it just pisses me off mad and i want to cry nice people have commited suicide and were murdered because of their sexual oreintation  

[Kaleidosaur]

When I hear homophobic rants, it makes me ashamed to be straight. It's people like them that make it impossible for acceptance to occur. It's people like them that make some gay people hate straight people. But you know what? Screw them. I don't give a crap about what they think. If they want to have closed minds their entire lives, let them. That just means they miss out on knowing some amazing people, like all of my bisexual and gay friends. If they want to make enemies, let them. Makes it easier to know what kind of people to avoid.  

[rocket drive]

Marine-Kitty

I would like to do a little experiment. Next time someone starts ranting like that about people silently get up, walk out of the room, as if you're going to get a drink or something, and see what they do.

1. If they shut up then they have realized that you weren't listening in the first place. It may piss them off but at least it might get through to them that that kind of topic is not one for casual conversation.

2. If they notice and say something, tell them flat out that you were not listening, and that you did not care to listen when they started.

3. If they notice and say something, admit to wanting a drink of water. This can often defuse a conversation like that rather quickly.

From a psychological stand point staying and listening is enabling this person to go on. The act of just getting up would speak volumes to the person talking. Also, if they ask and you say something like "I'm not trying to hurt you, but it really wasn't a helpful conversation for me," they probably won't say anything to you like that again. It's all about being assertive (but not aggressive).  

[Lady Kayura]

Sometimes you just need to pick your fights. If someone is open to listening, then I might discuss things with them in hopes of changing their opinion. But some people you can talk to until you're blue in the face and it won't help. And people like your uncle sound hostile. Let them rant. Ignore them completely.  

[PeachPunk]

MY rusty h a l o

Sunshine Peach-Heart

Lol I hate it when old white men rant about things and you try to prove your opinion with them, but then they say "You shouldn't talk back to me! I'm an old white man!"
My mother calls it "Old White Man Syndrome", and I think both of my grandfathers have it. It's common in, well, old white men, obviously, but you don't have to be old, white, or a man to have it. I think my aunt has it, my dad is starting to get it, and it sounds like your cousin has it too...

Lolololololol that was a HUGE rant right there.... but hopefully someone read it and gets what I'm saying. No offense to any white people out there (I'm white myself).

I read through all of it! Lol. to be honest, I agree entirely with you, but even kids now are starting to adopt that attitude. The "You are special, you are important"s that we're told as children to stop us from being emotionally unstable and isolated have warped to "The world revolves around me". It's really disappointing, actually, but I don't really think there is much we can do to stop it, other than putting kids in their place with a good tan on the rear end. The level of immaturity and ignorance is really upsetting, in both the older and younger generations.

Mizu-Sui Mame Uta-Ka

I have a cousin that is about 40 and absolutely HATES homosexuals and extremely homophobic...

Well, my recommendation to you is to either speak up or not. I don't want to sound harsh, but there really is no point in complaining if you don't intend to speak up. Now if you do intend to speak up... well, there I might be able to help. The most important thing is that if you're going to actually do it, you can't back down half way through. Showing weakness like that is only going to make you a target for your cousin later, so if you think you won't be able to do it then (for your sake) don't bother. Secondly is you have to be emotionally prepared for a whip-lash. If you can't handle being insulted or shouted at then I would also not bother doing it, because there will probably be a 'counted attack'.

Now! If he argues using the Bible, he's incorrect. Right off the bat. The Bible does not say homosexuality is wrong. What the bible says is that ANY sexual interaction without intent for reproduction is wrong. That is not saying you can't have a homosexual lover. What it is saying is that you can't have sex with your homosexual lover because it is impossible to reproduce that way. And seriously, taking the Bible for what it really says... most heterosexual teenage couples have sex before marriage and with no intention of reproductive purposes, so they can 'suck on that'.

Next. If he argues that homosexuality is all a mental state, and I have seen this, he is partially wrong. See, because the 'system' has expanded to include bi-curious and other similar things he could argue that in some cases homosexuality is mind over mater. That does not necessarily mean it is all cases. In my next point, you'll see why.

Quote:

He was ranting on and on about how homosexuals have just messed up everything in the moral system, and how being homosexual "isn't genetic."

First and foremost, I am sorry to say to you that acting more feminine doesn't necessarily make a male homosexual, just like how being a tomboy doesn't make a female homosexual. Now, I haven't seen Doctor Who, so I don't know the story behind your argument, but I'm pretty sure it's wrong. That doesn't go to say that your over all logic, that homosexuality is in fact genetic, is wrong. Because it's not, it's actually correct. They have done hormonal studies and proved that in some cases attraction between two people is actually related to the chemical compatibility between hormones. Theoretically, this thesis would also apply to people of the same gender, considering the brains of both parties are made up of hormones.

Also there is logic. Rough around the edges yet clean logic. Up until the recent spread of "Gay Rights Movements" (ugh, I hate the term because it is incorrect- "gay" means happy, and is only a slang for homosexual [which makes it a fun counter argument when you're cruelly accused of being "gay" as though it's a crime: Oh yes, I am quite gay! Life is wonderful! Did you know that "gay" really means happy? Come back to me once you understand all the terms in your vernacular, please!]) homosexuality was very oppressed and homophobia ran rampant. Of course, homosexuality isn't some 'fad' that has just 'sprung up' recently, so it is obvious that homosexuality is something which has been occurring for a while. Now where the extent of 'punishment' for homosexuality today is 'gay-bashing' and maybe getting beat up by your peers, you could get shot for it just a few decades ago. Just sayin'... I don't think they were faking it.

Finally, this argument travels far beyond just hetero, homo, and bi-sexuality; you have to then look into asexuality (an absence of a traditional sexual orientation; an asexual has little to no sexual attraction to males or females), transgenderism (a person whose gender identity is not clear, and who may take on the sexual identity of either male or female to carry out sexual fantasies or behaviors), transexuality (a person who identifies her/himself as having the identity “of the opposite sex, sometimes so strongly as to undergo surgery and hormone injections to effect a change of sex”), and many, many more (including one I saw on Oprah, a sexuality which looks past appearance and gender and only at the personality). So... even though your evidence may (or may not, but I'm pretty sure Doctor Who is fictinal) be flawed, your logic is not! Yay!


And, if you want to go even further... take a look at this! (or show him this!)

So from one heterosexual to another (me to him) "You're an ignorant fool, and I hope you enjoy living in the mental state of an immature child who is afraid of things they simply cannot understand. Please avoid talking to me because, as far as I'm concerned, ignorance and stupidity at your level might be contagious." and from an anti-homophobe to you, Miss Bisexual, "Good luck with life, and live the way you want to. They haven't yet proved that there might be 'second lives', so enjoy the obnoxiously short one you have! I hope I was helpful!"

P.S. I would rub my brilliant logic in his face before walking away, in that situation, because being the 'grown up' against childishly ignorant adults is always fun!

Ah yes... the clip is from the film "For the Bible Tells Me So", a documetary about young gay Christians dealing with homophobia and acceptance. I've tried to watch the whole thing on YouTube but I can't seem to find it. But I want to see that movie badly. >.<  

[ChristmasLolly]

Ugh....He realizes that no matter how much he rants/bitches that no one is going to change their sexuality because of it? Why even bother?  

[Meeatu]

Mizu-Sui Mame Uta-Ka

He was ranting on and on about how homosexuals have just messed up everything in the moral system, and how being homosexual "isn't genetic." HELL IT IS! Does anyone know John Barrowman? One of the old Dr. Who's? He videotaped his results, and it showed him having a more womanly nature. Thus, having a woman-like nature, attracted him to the same sex.

MY rusty h a l o

They have done hormonal studies and proved that in some cases attraction between two people is actually related to the chemical compatibility between hormones. Theoretically, this thesis would also apply to people of the same gender, considering the brains of both parties are made up of hormones.

You're both wrong.
'MY rusty h a l o' was correct in her supposition of the nonsense of Mizu-Sui Mame Uta-Ka's 'femininity from youth being both a result of genetics and a cause of homosexuality' argument.

However, h a l o's point on hormonal studies is very much incomplete.
First of all, the studies you're referring to do not even factor in genetics: They simply observe that certain relationships are encouraged by a hormonal 'rush'.

EVERYONE has these hormones, so it's not a result of intra-species genetic differentiation, and even if you could suggest that certain people are genetically disposed to having disproportionate amounts of one or other of these hormones, or to having these hormones perform a more active task in their brains, that would make these people more likely to engage in sexual and romantic relationships IN GENERAL, not make them more likely to be of either sexual persuasion.

In terms of a raw correlation between a certain genetic protein sequence, or defect and any particular gender inclination, again we find ourselves hitting a brick wall. In short: nothing. We've found connections to allergies, height, propensity to save, risk-taking, complexion, tendency towards alcoholism... I mean, with the human genome project mapping out human DNA since 1990, we've identified almost all the genes, and determined almost all the sequences of the chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, all in all, we've done quite a lot of poking around in there, and still nothing.
Not one scrap of evidence suggests a raw genetic-sexuality correlation; let alone provides any evidence for causality.

As far as I see it, the nature vs nurture argument is rather transparent when it comes to a persons sexuality. Sexuality is acquired through decisions, experiences and thoughts, whether consciously or otherwise.  

[Meeatu]

Unless of course you want to argue that it's an embodiment of the devils corruption, and your own weakness in succumbing to sin. In which case, I can't prove you wrong razz

EDIT: ...And now I sound like your grandfather with his endless ranting. ^___^