Think About It by C. Ann Shepherd

1. Even though current research indicates that sexual orientation is fixed and unchangeable, some still insist that homosexuals could change if they wanted to.

• Could you change your sexual orientation on demand?      
• Would you want to?  
• Why or why not?

2. Many people assume that homosexuality is a choice, and that gay people have made the decision to be gay.

• If you assume that homosexuality is a matter of choice, do you assume that heterosexuality is a matter of choice also?
• When did you choose your sexual orientation?

3. Suppose for a minute that sexual orientation is a simple matter of choice (which it does not appear to be):

•  Does that mean that gays and lesbians are less deserving of civil rights protection?

Before you answer, consider the following:

• Religious affiliation is a choice in our country, yet our government provides protection from discrimination on the basis of this personal decision.

4. Currently, our government does not provide gays and lesbians with the benefits of marriage, or protection from discrimination in employment and housing.

• Should gays and lesbians pay taxes to a government that fails to provide them with basic civil rights protection?
• Why should gays and lesbians pay into funds that provide special rights and benefits for heterosexuals and their partners, but does little to benefit homosexuals and their loved ones?

5. Would you turn down a life saving organ donation, if the donor was gay or lesbian?

6. Does it seem fair that a heterosexual couple married for one hour has more legal rights and responsibilities toward each other than a same-sex couple that has been together for 25 years?

7. If your child were gay:

• Would you love him/her any less?
• Would you want your child to grow up and live in a society that refused to accept him/her, and grant him/her equal rights?
• Would you want people to make assumptions about your child based on stereotypes and myths, or would you want people to judge your child based on logic, fact and personal merit?
• Would you believe your child was less deserving of basic civil rights, the freedom to spend his/her life with the person they love, and the benefits of legal marriage?

8. If your neighbor or co-worker were gay:

• How would his/her sexual orientation affect you?
• Would granting him/her equal rights, infringe upon your rights?
• How?

9. Currently, gay and lesbian couples are denied the benefits of a legal marriage, while heterosexual couples  continue to reap the benefits of a legal union.

• Who has special rights now?
•  Would granting gays and lesbians the right to marry interfere with anyone else’s right to marry? 
• How?
• How would it affect the benefits heterosexual couples currently enjoy?
•  Would granting gays the right to marry affect your marriage? 
• How?

10. A common misconception is that gays and lesbians molest children at a far higher rate than heterosexuals.  This myth has long been used to prevent gay men and lesbians from working with children. In truth, most children who are molested, are molested by heterosexual men.

• Why don’t we use the same logic that has previously, and is still applied to gay men and lesbians, to restrict heterosexual men from teaching, leading scout troops, or working in any field where they may be in close contact with children?

11. If the true intention of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is to protect the sanctity of marriage then…

• Why not outlaw, or limit the number of divorces one person is allowed to have?
• The divorce rate in our country hovers around 50%. Divorce poses a real threat to the sanctity of  marriage, yet DOMA does not address this issue.
• Why?
• Consider the fact that so many of DOMA’s supporters have been divorced, many of them more than once?
• Can they be trusted to understand the sanctity of marriage?
•  Are they really concerned about protecting the sanctity of marriage, or are they more concerned with protecting their heterosexist views?

12. Why do so many people consider AIDS/HIV to be a gay disease when:

• The World Health Organization reports that heterosexual contact is responsible for over 70% of all AIDS/HIV cases world wide?
• According to CDC statistics (July, 1997) heterosexual sex is the fastest growing mode of transmission for HIV in the United States – growing at a rate of 15 to 20 percent a year, compared to 5 percent for intravenous drug users and 5 percent for male homosexuals.
• Lesbians remain the least likely group of people to acquire HIV through sexual contact.

©1996-1998 C. Ann Shepherd – Taken from: “Homosexuality: Common Questions & Statements Addressed”