Settling The Gay Issue

By Jim Watkins
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I am trying to grapple about why the big deal about being mad at people for not wanting to let transgender folks use a bathroom when a lady has her twelve year old daughter in the stall. I did not realize there was such a huge shift in the number of transgender people needing to go to the bathroom.

On the other hand, there is a common sense approach to all of this, and it’s called human kindness. Do we really need these protection rights for LGBT to be able to choose the restroom that best fits their comfort level? How long do you plan on being in there?

People want some privacy when using public restrooms, so either give it to them, or hurry up so they can use the facilities. If one is uncomfortable with the other, then wait outside.

In all of my years of using public bathrooms, it never once occurred to me who was gay, straight or somewhere in the middle of a sex-change operation. Let’s just say I kept my visits very brief, and eye contact was not my priority. I actually think it is possible that I have never said anything to anyone while using a public bathroom, except “excuse me.”

But it does bother me that there is so much controversy about these laws, and I am trying to decide which side I agree with, as I can see the argument from both sides. People of faith shouldn’t be punished if they disagree with the gay lifestyle and people who are gay shouldn’t be discriminated against just for being gay. I guess its all about behavior and attitude – from both sides.

I needed to know one thing. Are people born gay? Is it nature or nurture? Is it genetic or a choice people make? Why is this important? Let me tell you why.

People say that today’s gay rights movement is akin to the civil rights in the sixties. But for this to be true, that would mean that people are born gay. Black people are born black.

If a person is not born gay, then why are they gay? Did they choose to be gay, or did something happen to them that made them unable to be intimate with a person of the opposite sex?

What causes behavior leads to trying to determine if the behavior is ultimately good or bad. Would a normal person choose to be gay? It does seem to be a difficult lifestyle.

On the gene question. Is there something that causes some or most gay people to be born that way? The answer is kind of.

Recently, there was a study at UCLA where they compared the genetic makeup of 37 sets of twins. In 10 cases of those involving twins where one is gay, something called “methylation,” was detected in a nine-link strand of DNA Further, it is believed the “methylation” occurred while both embryos were developing in the womb, not at conception. These findings will be presented at a science symposium in Baltimore later this year.

The study wasn’t conclusive, but it was revealing. It showed its possible there might be a gay gene, or at least some external influence in embryonic development that effects certain hormones that could nudge someone towards homosexual preferences in later life. I hope they continue the study, despite fears that such a discovery might end up being the premise of infanticide. That would be tragic.

But if nature is partly responsible for homosexual traits, as this new UCLA study seems to indicate, then doesn’t that solve the argument? If gay people are born that way, it can’t be changed and they are entitled to any ad every right other humans are entitled to.

I think there is a great need for a national debate on how we proceed as a nation moving forward. Religious leaders and leaders from the LGBT community need to sit down and talk about what the issue in a way to that seeks reconciling from both sides.

Does the gospel really teach that two 60 year old overweight lesbians can’t share a life together if they love each other? Contrarily, does every transgender really need to make a law governing where they need can pee?

Or is it really about setting some ground rules about perceived behavior?

We have laws on the books protecting gay’s from discrimination in the work place and in state and federal work environments, but if your sexuality has something to do with ordering pancakes at an iHop, please explain that to me, because the last time I checked, no one was having sex at iHop (at least in the dining area). You are not entitled, because of your sexual proclivities, to mandate services from another human being against his or her will. That ended in 1865.

What challenge for two sides to come to a historical reconciliation on this issue. How do gay and straights get along? That is way above my pay grade, but again, it goes back to judging a person on the content of their character. That method seems pretty reliable enough to do the trick.