Same Sex Marriage Ban LTTE

In case this is news to you, there’s a “same sex marriage ban” state referendum that will be voted on in Wisconsin in November. Even though that is months off, the debate has been in full swing in the newspapers for weeks now. There was a LTTE on the Oshkosh Northwestern website today that just pissed me off, especially the bolded part:

Pro-gay advocates lying about normal lifestyle

The pro-homosexual campaign to portray an utterly (their) lifestyle as "normal" with the approaching November vote on a one-man/one-woman marriage amendment has a familiar ring. The old saying of "Tell a lie, tell it often enough and people will believe it" is a favorite tactic of the anti-decency side.

Rather than relying on logic, common sense and facts, homosexual advocates constantly repeat the same slogans and react emotionally to opponents of their agenda. Here are a few points to consider about this narcissic (sic) subculture.

Anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of anatomy can see that the human body wasn't designed for same-sex intercourse. If homosexuality is as "natural" as its supporters claim, then why is the average lifespan of homosexual men in the low 40s? Could engaging in disgusting acts with hundreds of ever-changing and often-diseased partners be a cause?

Pastor Henry Vanderbush described the situation precisely when he said, "There's nothing gay about perversion."

Al Doyle Oshkosh

Now, if you have a problem with gay people, that’s your right. But to make sweeping statements like that completely nullifies any reasonable argument you may have had.

On his first point: Rudimentary knowledge of anatomy combined with perhaps more than rudimentary knowledge of sex tells me that there is more than one way to get things done. Even straight men do what gay men do. They just do it with a woman. Really, is there that much of a different whose ass (or mouth, I suppose) you’re using? Perhaps Mr. Doyle needs to get out more. Or maybe Mrs. Doyle isn’t very adventurous.

On his second point: I don’t know where he gets his information, but I highly doubt that there’s any proof that gay men have a shorter lifespan than straight men. Perhaps the doctors among us can weigh in on that subject.

But the part that disturbed me the most was that last sentence. How can he make such a ridiculous statement? There are many deeply committed and monogamous same-sex couples out there (in fact, I know a few.) They sleep with only that one person and are disease free. There are also many promiscuous heterosexual people who sleep with someone new each day (I know a few of those too.) Every incidence of sexually transmitted disease does not involve a homosexual. There are plenty of nasty straight people around. If he’s talking about AIDS, which has typically been seen as the gay man’s disease, a lot of the new AIDS cases these days, especially in places like Africa, are women who acquire it from their husbands. Disgusting act indeed, Mr. Doyle.

Oh, and speaking of telling lies over and over until people believe them, how about what the Bushies are preaching about how teaching nothing but abstinence in the sex ed classes is the answer. Yeah, the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the civilized world is proof that’s working… In a “perfect” world, everyone would wait to have sex until they’re married. In a “perfect” world no one would cheat, exposing their partners to disease. Unfortunately, the world is not perfect. These hard-core traditionalists need to realize that what might have worked 100 years ago (and it didn’t even work then, it was just such a taboo that no one talked about it) won’t work now. Teens will have sex whether you tell them how to protect themselves or not. Making sex seem like a horrible, dirty thing that you can’t talk about will just create more confused and uninformed parents. Education is the key and the lawmakers (and educators) seem to have forgotten that.

Our culture has become like a crotchety old man sitting on his porch in a rocking chair glaring at all the young whippersnappers prancing by. We’re so far behind in the times that it’s pathetic. Denying the reality of life today won’t make it go away. The reality is people have sex without being married. People have children out of wedlock. People have sex with others of the same gender. Get over it. While I fully intend to go the more traditional route (that is marriage and then kids) many people find it makes more sense (for them) to forego the ceremony and just cohabitate. In fact it’s rather popular in Europe, France especially.

I’ve gone on something of a rampage here and I apologize for that. I just got so mad when I read that letter. Perhaps that is the reaction people like Mr. Doyle are going for. But it is this kind of ignorance that keeps this country from being all it could be. Sometimes I’m ashamed to live here.

I think there’s no doubt which way I’ll be voting in November. :)