From: rlc1028@zeus.tamu.edu (Gadson Sandor)
Newsgroups: alt.rush-limbaugh,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.bush,alt.politics.homosexuality
Subject: Re: The Analogy Betwixt Gays & Blacks (Re: Children in Same-gender Families)
Date: 15 Dec 1992 10:51 CST
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: zeus.tamu.edu

In article <14DEC199213373618@zeus.tamu.edu> rlc1028@zeus.tamu.edu writes:

>	There is a distinction between Gay identity and Gay behaviour.
>
>	Gays are like Blacks in that there is something about them,
>irrespective of thier behaviour, which they cannot seem to change.  Blacks 
>cannot, without much effort, change their skin colour, and Gays cannot 
>change their gender attraction.

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On the contrary, I have known several "gay" people who rejected 
homosexual practices and are now heterosexuals. Whether or not
they still feel "attracted" to same gender relationships is a point
of debate (they claim to me that they're not).
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	Yes, it's a point of debate, and it's also a cruxial point.

	The problem is that we have people who are anti-Gay often claiming
that Gays can change, and we hav people who are pro-Gay who say that they
cannot.  And, no one knows who to believe.

	I have known no one who could be labeled as Homosexual who
has been able to change his/her attraxions for the same gender.  I
have known people who could be labeled as ambisexial or Bisexual,
who have been able to ignore their homosexual attraxions and live
on their attraxion for members of the opposite gender.

	I have known two people who, being deeply religious, decided to 
get married and try to live an Heterosexual life.  One was Bi, and the
other Homo.  As you can imagine, it was a bit easier on the Bi.  This
example shows that it is possible to change one's behaviour, though
does not suggest that there was a change in gender attraxion.  


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"rehabilitation" is a very sore point with the gay community but
these people also claimed not to have been coerced. I would add
the "without much effort" qualification to homosexuals as well.
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	Whether or not they'd been coerced into changing is not
important.  If they were able to change their gender attraxion, it's
worth noting.  My general tendency is to believe that if orientation is
changeable, it may not be so for all.  I would hope, someday, to be able to
talk at length with people who claim to have been "cured" of an undesirable
genderal attraxion.


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I agree with this statement in as far as it goes. Most homosexuals 
seem to vehemently deny that such a thing as a gay "culture" exists.
And indeed I know homosexuals in all walks of life from totally
straight-appearing to flaming. Black people appears to come in several
flavors as well, from Clarence Thomas to Ice-T.
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	Oh, Homosexual cultures exist.  But note the plural, and note
that such cultures do not define all aspects of an individual's life.
And as you said, there are many who tend to live what we consider as
the Hetero culture, with a few exceptions.


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Very true, [being Gay] only implies a sexual attraction to a member of the
same sex. I leave off "love" relationship because I feel love for many men
in my life without being sexually attracted to them. There are many
different kinds of love, sexual love being the only one I feel sets
gays apart from anyone else.
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	Erotic love is one fundamental definitive.  But you should also
include another kind of love.  Many claim that the Platonic love they
feel for members of the gender to which they are attracted is much greater
than that which they are able to feel for members of the gender to which
they are not attracted.

	In other words, some Hetero men claim that they can love women,
non-sexually, more deeply than men.  And likewise, Homo men often say that
the bonds they feel for other men, platonically, are stronger than the
platonic bonds they can feel for women.  It can be subject to 
individuality, but this is claimed in general often.

	Consider then the degree of platonic love that is only possible
with your mate.  This love, and I don't know what to call it ("full love",
perhaps), ought to be considered too when trying to distingush Homosexual
from Heterosexuals.  It's really the right to have this kind of love that
most people find important; and it is this right that the Gays are 
ultimately after.

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