Blawg
Hello, hello. Hello.
Recently, my dear friend pointed out that I should not fear being pretentious or presumptuous because I run a blog. I now realize this. Not that it was truly holding me back– I just don’t like sounding like an asshole. But I’ve come to terms with the possibility that I might sound like one anyway. So this is my flimsy disclaimer.
On facebook today, I posted a note on Gay Rights. Vs. Rights:
What is paradoxical about pronouncing “Gay Rights” vs. rights is that it distinguishes homosexuals from the rest of any community.
Does this perpetuate this labelling of others through their sexual orientation, and will this present problems in the future if we want to recognize humans as humans, and not one ‘type’ of human against another?
If rights are pronounced as thus, does this not support the opposition’s refusal to recognize homosexuals as equals in legal privileges not to mention people that have the same feelings?
Did the civil rights movement have the same problems? Gender boundaries still plague us at every turn; people are still labelled as black v white. Would things change if our language did away with categorizing physical differences in order to achieve a collective consciousness for humanity in the future?
If language is power, how can we use it to promote equality to the most efficient/optimal extent?
The note was followed by a good number of responses from dear friends– an impromptu forum, if you will. They raised excellent points, all very valid and insightful. Here are some:
“Every friend I’ve talked about this with has told me they don’t like being labeled “homosexual” because they feel like this limits them. There is a lot more to who they are then their sexual orientation. They are not an issue, they are people.”
“Maybe this is why folks have changed their wording, now saying “Equal Rights.” But, if you think about it, homosexuals are the only people who can’t get married in the majority of our country (even those under the age of 18 can get married with parental-consent). So, this also helps to define the community, bonding it in yet another way…”
Tags: civil, community, democracy, equal, equality, gay, government, heterosexual, homosexual, legal, liberty, marriage, rights, straight
October 14th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Most people in my family identify themselves as part of the gay community, though “homosexual” rarely ever leaves their lips. While pretty much everyone everywhere wants equal rights, that covers such a broad spectrum of possibilities that I think the need to label the issue as “Gay Rights” is just a given, even if only to push the topic that these are not standard rights that everyone wants, but rights that are not being given and need to be focused on.