Source
r/lgbt•
devastation94

Just wanted to say something on my mind...

This is sort of towards gay people and transgender. Yes today our world is constantly getting less and less conservative, and being more accepting, and open minded towards matters such as gay people and LGBT.

Although I do support the LGBT... there is just one thing that sort of bothers me...

Im starting to the hate using the justification of "being born" this way. I do agree that people are born this way however...

Lets say we lived in a world where people aren't born this way... and people chose to be whom they want to be....

Why can't be like that... I couldn't care less if this person likes to dress or be a certain someone just because he either choose to be or because he was born that way...

People need to have this sort of mentality... EVERYONE should be whom they want regardless their reason. Who's to say what you want to be?

Now using the justification of "being born" this way i think is effective towards you know people starting to being a bit open-minded. They know understand that some matters are out of their hands, and they should let this be...

However Im not sure how effective this is towards being open-minded to other stuff. I am pretty sure that there are things in life that people can be interested in, or develop certain attachment to it without "being born" in a certain way...

These things could be anything... It could be interracial marriages, it could be spirituality and religion. (if they choose to have one or not) HECK even things like experimenting with toys or EVEN other sex.

A lot of these things towards very close-minded people are abnormal (trust me I lived and still with these people) Some do not like their family mixing with other races, some find it disgusting for you to meddle and play around with other "things." The list goes on.

Tl;DR: As much as I love for the gay community and the transgenders community to strive. I think using "being born" this way should probably be the last things to say if you are arguing with someone about these matters. People need to learn to accept others for whom they are or whom they want to be regardless of the reason/purpose.

Am I going somewhere with this? or am I sounding a bit silly?

I know a lot of people are usually just into hard facts, and some are too thicked headed to understand things like "let them be," and thats why people just like to shut em up with facts like "born this way" but yeah idk... I thought I might have stumbled upon something that could sort of resolves any social issues today, and in the future, and thats just to "live and let live."

Heck maybe the greeks understood that? They've never had issues with gay people back then and they didn't really have any sort of facts.

Posted Sep 9, 2015, 11:14 AM UTC

15
FlivverKing•

I actually agree with you on your main point, but I think "being born this way" definitely still has a use in today's society.

"Being born this way" is/ was a response to the view that homosexuality is a choice. A view still held by almost half of all Americans, and an even larger percentage of the world's population. Religious groups use this in a variety of ways to attack the LGBT community: "straight-conversion therapy" comes to mind immediately. When being gay is seen as a choice, religious groups can paint sexual orientation as a question of morality/ lack of self-control rather than something inherent. The axiom that "men were choosing to be gay" was one of the driving forces behind trying to pass the recent "kill the gays" bill in Uganda.

So yes, whether or not it's a choice shouldn't matter, but given the largely hostile climate against the LGBT community world-wide, I think movements that claim it's something inherent largely further the LGBT cause.

4
Tired_coffee_addict•

I think I see what you mean I think the same way except,

Should I lie and say what? I did not choose my sexuality

Would be nice if it just was accepted then no one would need to talk about it.

3
GerardVillefortHomoromantic Hippie•

If same-sex attraction/being another gender really is something that can be chosen, then it still wouldn't be the time now to say that. Maybe 2070 or some far flung time like that, but not now. I am not convinced that it is a choice though. I agree that people should be more open-minded and just accept us for who we are, but considering we are still actively fighting racism 50+ years after the Civil Rights Act, I believe we've still got a fight ahead of us.

2
Swqordfish•

The born this way narrative is very lacking for many people, but it does hold true for others. There are some people who knew from the earliest moment they were cognizant that they were gay, or a girl, or something. But for others, they need time to learn and understand how to identify themselves, and by focusing on such a limited narrative, a lot of then get thrown under the bus. I agree with you OP.

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FunkaGenocide•

Yeah I'm totally on board with your sentiments here. I get why the "born this way" narrative has been pushed so hard though. It's basically war times man. I try not to bring it up too often, but I can think back in my own life to times when I made conscious choices about sexual orientation and I don't think those decisions were any less meaningful than what others might consider subconscious decisions. I can't get inside another person's head so I don't know how people really experience their own sexuality, but from my own personal perspective this post is dead on.

1