I live in the heart of fundamentalist Texas and the other day at the golf course I heard a guy say that homosexuality is a choice. This is a hypothesis and, as such, it should be tested against the facts. It fails. It is unsubstantiated.
Homosexuality is a choice. The implication of this claim is that heterosexuality must be a choice as well, and there is no evidence of that either. This hypothesis is easily refuted. If one’s sexual orientation were merely a matter of choice then it would be an extremely important choice, and would be celebrated, or lamented, in all forms of popular culture.
Novels would be written about the coming-of-age period during which an adolescent male or female made his or her choice. The novels would tell us in detail the factors that led the adolescent to make that choice. The novels would be turned into movies and television series. Reality television programs would show us adolescents who would give us live, blow-by-blow accounts of what they are thinking about this important choice.
Self-help books would appear that provided checklists for making the decision. Pros and cons of each "lifestyle choice" would be endlessly discussed on the morning network television shows. Rock bands, during their concerts, would undergo costume changes to illustrate the choice facing their audiences.
Parents would be interviewed to learn what advice they were giving their children as they make the choice. Parents seem always to be reluctant to have the "sex talk" with their children and if choosing between heterosexuality and homosexuality were part of our sexual journey then imagine how much more complicated that "sex talk" would be. First the parent would have to help the child decide, or maybe not depending on the parent, and then he would have to give the "sex talk" based on the child’s choice. If the child opted for a sexual orientation opposite that of the parent’s then the "sex talk" would get even more complicated.
There would be a great debate about whether the schools should teach children how to make the choice. Fundamentalists would picket school boards demanding that heterosexuality be favored and children be taught that "abstention from homosexuality" is the proper course.
As the adolescents make their choice and become adults, they may come to doubt or even regret that choice. So new books would be written about this dilemma – and those books would become movies and television dramas. Sermons would be preached in church. A thriving counseling industry would spring up to assist those who were considering changing their sexual orientation. First person accounts would tell us how some people changed their minds and switched their choice. Still others would tell us how they changed and changed again.
Because none of these things ever happen, and because there is no other evidence, not a single shred, that homosexuality and heterosexuality are choices, this hypothesis fails. But that fact does not stop people who hate homosexuality from making the claim. Of course, in our system of rights and freedoms anyone is free to express any hypothesis they wish. But a system of government that takes absurd, fanciful hypotheses and turns them into public policies is a seriously flawed system and must be changed.
There are other unsubstantiated hypotheses put forward by those who hate homosexuals. One is that homosexual pedophiles prey on little children more often than heterosexual pedophiles. Another is that same sex marriage, or gay marriage, will destroy heterosexual marriage. All are unsubstantiated.
Another is that homosexuals, if permitted to serve openly, will destroy morale in the military. This last argument reveals the natural revulsion that some people feel toward homosexuals, a revulsion that springs from within their own heterosexual psychological makeup. I think it is likely that if these offended people had actually made a conscious decision to become heterosexuals, if heterosexuality and homosexuality were actually choices one must make, they would not feel this revulsion. But no matter how they feel or why they feel it, there is no factual support for the ideological claim that homosexuals serving openly in the military will destroy morale.
The same thing was said about blacks and about women before the white, male, heterosexual, Christians who rule our world gave in, and it was discovered that men and women of all colors make good soldiers and serve their country effectively, courageously, and with honor. In short, the excluded non-whites, non-males, non-heterosexuals, and non-Christians are every bit as worthy as the included white, male, heterosexual Christians.
The excluded people, who have as a group been vilified by the rulers of our world, are just as American as the next person, and should be acknowledged as full members of "the People," just as the facts demonstrate them to be. The days of ideological nonsense need to end. Our society is facing threats that can destroy our world as we know it, and fanciful, unsubstantiated hypotheses must never again serve as the basis for making public policy. The institution that has made an art, no, actually a lucrative business, out of enacting public policies based on nonsensical hypotheses is the Two-Party System, and it needs to go the way of slavery. It needs to be extinguished.