9:25:02 PM Nathan Gower: thos is terro lee
9:25:59 PM cottonballz313: u is u u
9:26:16 PM Nathan Gower: I'm on grooms
9:26:17 PM Nathan Gower: sehl sins
9:26:30 PM cottonballz313: sel win
9:28:16 PM agorm429: was gud
9:28:23 PM savage5224: dug saw
9:28:34 PM Nathan Gower: I'm on grooms, thos is terro lee
9:28:37 PM cottonballz313: shrumlar
9:28:40 PM Nathan Gower: iax is so drunk right now
9:28:43 PM Nathan Gower: passoutax
9:28:51 PM Nathan Gower: pzvage
9:29:07 PM cottonballz313: ^
9:29:26 PM Nathan Gower: gorm
9:29:32 PM agorm429: jis
9:29:49 PM Nathan Gower: I picked her because she has kawaii desu eyes and a pink dress ^.^
9:29:54 PM cottonballz313: .
9:29:57 PM agorm429: i sent sehl a text saying this terro lee
9:29:58 PM agorm429: he said
9:29:59 PM agorm429: ?
9:30:01 PM agorm429: i said ^_^
9:30:04 PM Nathan Gower: lul
9:30:05 PM Nathan Gower: cot
9:30:05 PM Nathan Gower: http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/jiangjunizzy/kawaii.jpg
9:30:18 PM Nathan Gower: lmao sehl
9:30:23 PM agorm429: sehl is on grooms!
9:30:23 PM Nathan Gower: Lol just ley e sleep
9:30:25 PM agorm429: SINULAR
9:30:30 PM cottonballz313: shrumlsr
9:30:36 PM agorm429: let me sleep?
9:30:49 PM Nathan Gower: yes
9:30:57 PM Nathan Gower: This is why I don't like shrumz
9:31:00 PM agorm429: why does he want to sleep
9:31:06 PM Nathan Gower: Bad trip
9:31:09 PM cottonballz313: wtf lmao
9:31:10 PM agorm429: oh lol
9:31:11 PM cottonballz313: whats he saying
9:31:16 PM agorm429: first time bad trip
9:31:19 PM agorm429: thats why i love wid
9:31:22 PM agorm429: naw bad treep
9:31:22 PM Nathan Gower: sehls tess:
9:31:28 PM Nathan Gower: I'm on grooms, thos is terro lee
9:31:32 PM Nathan Gower: me: wot
9:31:34 PM cottonballz313: thos is terro lee?
9:31:44 PM Nathan Gower: sehl: I am on shrooms, and having a bad experience.
9:31:52 PM cottonballz313: he sz
9:31:55 PM Nathan Gower: riv: told u, theysuce. all music is frightening, stay away!
9:31:56 PM cottonballz313: i told him to smok first
9:32:04 PM Nathan Gower: sehl: Lol just ley e sleep
9:32:10 PM cottonballz313: lmao
9:32:49 PM cottonballz313: ask him what he sees
9:32:58 PM Nathan Gower: If sehl wasn't under 18 I'd send penis pics
9:33:01 PM Nathan Gower: and has chtmk do the same
9:33:06 PM agorm429: lmao
9:33:07 PM Nathan Gower: The Bat
9:33:30 PM Nathan Gower: onslaught of pnspcs
9:33:33 PM Nathan Gower: I'm such a nigger
9:33:35 PM Nathan Gower: I hate doing work
9:33:52 PM agorm429: why are you working on a friday night
9:33:59 PM Nathan Gower: homework
9:34:00 PM Nathan Gower: husswuss
9:34:03 PM agorm429: i know
9:34:07 PM agorm429: grshrsh
9:34:09 PM Nathan Gower: 5894_125956419987_652449987_3019528_1364595_n.jpg
9:34:11 PM Nathan Gower: yeah cuz
9:34:14 PM cottonballz313: riv u said u didnt kno his number
9:34:15 PM cottonballz313: i h8 u
9:34:22 PM Nathan Gower: No cot
9:34:28 PM Nathan Gower: You asked "Did you get sehl's tess" or something like that
9:34:32 PM cottonballz313: ...
9:34:36 PM Nathan Gower: do u has sels text
9:34:38 PM Nathan Gower: that was what you sent
9:34:41 PM agorm429: just do her already
9:34:43 PM cottonballz313: lol so what
9:34:43 PM Nathan Gower: srsgorm
9:34:45 PM Nathan Gower: srs
9:34:45 PM Nathan Gower: fakin
9:34:46 PM Nathan Gower: gorm
9:34:48 PM cottonballz313: u kno wat i meant
9:34:53 PM agorm429: like dont talk about it
9:34:54 PM agorm429: be about it
9:34:57 PM cottonballz313: ._
9:35:01 PM Nathan Gower: She's like i dun has friends les hang out
9:35:03 PM Nathan Gower: im awl O_O
9:35:04 PM cottonballz313: gime sels number
9:35:06 PM agorm429: do it
9:35:12 PM Nathan Gower: she's kinda bitchy though gorm desu ^.^
9:35:17 PM agorm429: hang out with ur wang out
9:35:20 PM Nathan Gower: srs
9:35:29 PM Nathan Gower: can u peep this gorm
9:35:29 PM Nathan Gower: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=7000741693&subj=652449987
9:35:43 PM agorm429: yes
9:35:47 PM Nathan Gower: Her friend is an annoying cunt
9:35:51 PM Nathan Gower: but she's like ._
9:36:13 PM Nathan Gower: ima per in her butthololololol
9:36:16 PM agorm429: that was annoying
9:36:48 PM Nathan Gower: cot
9:36:52 PM Nathan Gower: 6
9:36:53 PM Nathan Gower: 7
9:36:54 PM Nathan Gower: 8
9:36:55 PM cottonballz313: 8
9:36:56 PM Nathan Gower: 4
9:36:58 PM Nathan Gower: 6
9:36:59 PM Nathan Gower: 2
9:37:00 PM agorm429: wat
9:37:01 PM Nathan Gower: 7
9:37:02 PM Nathan Gower: 1
9:37:03 PM Nathan Gower: 0
9:37:04 PM Nathan Gower: 7
9:37:05 PM Nathan Gower: O_O
9:37:05 PM agorm429: o ok
9:37:19 PM Nathan Gower: sechs sieben acht
9:37:29 PM Nathan Gower: vier sechs zwei
9:37:37 PM Nathan Gower: sieben eins null sieben
9:37:39 PM Nathan Gower: ^.^
9:37:50 PM Nathan Gower: Wie ist deine Telefonnummer?
9:38:05 PM agorm429: Telefonnummer
9:38:18 PM Nathan Gower: das rite
9:38:42 PM Nathan Gower: Ryan Adams awn yo tts
9:39:06 PM Nathan Gower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-Z1zjlf8g
9:40:48 PM cottonballz313: rivs ist ein dumkopf
9:41:20 PM Nathan Gower: wtf is that
9:41:31 PM cottonballz313: ._
9:41:36 PM cottonballz313: know what a kopf is?
9:41:44 PM Nathan Gower: I kinda want to see Blink
9:41:49 PM cottonballz313: ._______________________
9:42:32 PM Nathan Gower: dem they already came here
9:43:07 PM Nathan Gower: cotgorm
9:43:15 PM Nathan Gower: wanna go to Madison Square Gardern first week of oct
9:43:20 PM Nathan Gower: see blinkox 18x
9:43:30 PM Nathan Gower: or we could gaw to hotlanta on the 7th and see it wit sehl ^.^
9:43:34 PM cottonballz313: ni
9:43:49 PM agorm429: i would go to msg
9:43:49 PM Nathan Gower: u ain liek blank?
9:43:54 PM agorm429: im sure theyre sold out tho
9:43:56 PM Nathan Gower: iax fh me ritenao
9:44:06 PM Nathan Gower: It's NY
9:44:13 PM Nathan Gower: They'll be scalping tiz outside
9:44:17 PM Nathan Gower: cot though
9:44:20 PM Nathan Gower: u srs ain dig dem?
9:44:22 PM agorm429: i wouldnt wanna take the risk lol
9:44:49 PM cottonballz313: ni
9:44:52 PM cottonballz313: they fucking suck
9:44:57 PM Nathan Gower: they did towards the end
9:45:03 PM Nathan Gower: but their first few albums were guap
9:45:03 PM cottonballz313: they
9:45:05 PM cottonballz313: fucking
9:45:06 PM cottonballz313: suck
9:45:06 PM Nathan Gower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUq_gBa_8iQ&feature=channel
9:45:13 PM Nathan Gower: Did you like any of that scene though
9:45:16 PM Nathan Gower: like the offspring and ish
9:45:24 PM Nathan Gower: bostonez :D
9:45:54 PM Nathan Gower: I traded my Enema of the State CD for a ghetto ass Independent sweater when i wasin 5th grade
9:46:00 PM Nathan Gower: my mom wouldn't let me have any skater clothes and shit
9:46:32 PM agorm429: lol
9:46:52 PM Nathan Gower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taspcBxs48Q
9:46:57 PM Nathan Gower: Did you guys peep wrasslin?
9:47:03 PM Nathan Gower: That was Stevie Richards intro on ECW
9:47:05 PM Nathan Gower: guapguapguap
9:47:30 PM Nathan Gower: My cousin and I used to dl title music for wrestlers off Napster and come into the room like the different nigs
9:47:36 PM Nathan Gower: dem I miss being supa young :(
9:47:45 PM agorm429: i didnt watch wresling
9:47:56 PM Nathan Gower: Used to be win before they were like wesuce
9:47:56 PM cottonballz313: gorm
9:47:59 PM cottonballz313: gimme sels numb
9:48:06 PM agorm429: why hes sleeping
9:48:08 PM Nathan Gower: omg you idiot
9:48:10 PM cottonballz313: is he srsly
9:48:11 PM Nathan Gower: cot I gave it to you already
9:48:16 PM cottonballz313: i dont trust u riv
9:48:22 PM Nathan Gower: Well I gave you the number lol
9:48:49 PM cottonballz313: well usz
9:49:52 PM agorm429: i might seet n da fort if i gaw to riv
9:50:31 PM Nathan Gower: pzpzpzpzpzppzpzpz iax
9:50:36 PM Nathan Gower: He's like srs f u riv
9:50:37 PM Nathan Gower: ifhysm
9:50:39 PM Nathan Gower: i awl :(
9:50:43 PM Nathan Gower: n he like good crai nigger
9:50:49 PM Nathan Gower: n im liek dem iax shame racism!
9:50:53 PM Nathan Gower: n he awl I DUN GIVE A FUCK
9:50:53 PM Nathan Gower: D
9:50:54 PM Nathan Gower: M
9:50:54 PM Nathan Gower: X
9:50:55 PM Nathan Gower: BARKBARKBARK
9:51:01 PM cottonballz313: wat was that thing sel said again
9:51:07 PM Nathan Gower: I'm on grooms
9:51:09 PM cottonballz313: after i did shrums
9:51:11 PM Nathan Gower: thos is terro lee
9:51:21 PM cottonballz313: im on grooms lmao
9:51:25 PM Nathan Gower: sinular
9:55:25 PM cottonballz313: what do u think thos is terro lee means
9:56:18 PM agorm429: this is terrible
9:56:45 PM cottonballz313: lmao
9:56:58 PM cottonballz313: i could type fine when i was tripin

Christopher Nolan’s Inception is a film about ideas. Not an idea, simply ideas. It states this case early when Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character, Arthur, tells a multinational conglomorate’s president “Don’t think about elephants. What are you thinking about?” To which “Elephants.” is replied.

The Piaf tune, “Non, Je’ne regrette rien” which essentially translates to “No, I regret nothing”, a happy coincidence considering Marion Cotillard’s casting, seems to imply Dom feels no shame towards his first patient of Inception.

The ending shows his children’s face, though we the audience are left unsure as to whether or not he’s deeper into his subconscious or in what is established as reality.

The film is not perfect, nothing is, but as far as cinema is concerned it is a textbook case of unflawed plot mappings. Nolan’s inner struggle over years to master a screenplay can be seen in hints laid by Dom. He tells Page’s character she is not to show him anything regarding her constructs, as any knowledge of this could allow a deviation from the original storyline. In addition, the percision with which the main cast is required to participate, while Dom breaks the rules is another allegorical instance of Nolan and the audience. We are tested, as Page was, by Nolan. We are constantly required to layer the plot to comprehend what is essentially a character study of loss, dreams, and fantasy. We constantly lose ourselves and must wake up as to where the story happens to be in time.

It seems the ensemble cast all represent “projections” of Dom’s subconscious. Arthur is the voice of experience, Page of reason and logic, Cotilard of guilt, Watanabe of freedom. Everything is almost dreamlike. We are taken into a world that seems to be from out own vantage. For some reason, in retrospet, I seem to be recalling vague notions of scenes. But they seem like my ideas. Given the fantastical element of the film, I feel as if I’m taking the Page viewpoint of creating a world from memories, but as Dom alludes to, memories are dangerous. So in some sense we all take place in the here and now, but lose details here and there. This furthers my explanation of the end, to which I feel Dom is entirely in limbo. The entire situation, the heist, all of it is a projection of his subconscious in a means of admitting guilt, or saying that Yes, he does regret! In a sense, Dom is pure emotion: guilt, sorrow, anguish, fury, etc, while his “team” represent reason and intellect.

The final conversation between Dom and Mal, in which Mal explains that everything he knows is not reality and that he must simply give in. The ideas of a heist, of Fischer, of the energy corporations...all of it is non-sensical fabrications of Dom’s mind.

When Dom is explaining to Page to never fill the world with memories, and that the dreamer fills in the blanks, he alludes to the later sequences. He fills in the children’s faces, he fills in the passport (which you’ll notice had the same paradoxical arrows mentioned early in the film).

If you note, the children never age.
There has been no mind-fuck intellgent science fiction like Inception since Children of Men, Dark City, Blade Runner, The Matrix, et al.

Nolan’s rules perfectly clear up any ambiguities one’s mind could deviate to through the progression of the multi-faceted film. Without these rules, the film would confuse the audience thorougly. However, Nolan masterfully executes the rationale behind the film, and though at times we do lose ourselves, entrust in the rules and you always revert to a sensical vantage point. Without these rules, the climax fails. The ending fails.

Perhaps I missed it, but I cnanot recally Dom ever fully explaining how he escaped Limbo. He tells Cotilard he wants to be above. This never says escapes dreams, but just thathe wants to climb higher. If anyone is a fan of Dante’s Inferno, Limbo isn’t the end, it’s simply another layer of hell with which more are to come if one is going deeper or higher.

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INTRODUCTION What rationale can a person reference when attempting to excuse their bigotry towards homosexuals? What brings forth this contempt to begin with? Additionally, whatactions do homosexuals take or have taken in attempts to rectify the homophobia experienced in everyday life? This paper will attempt to first unravel the methodology behind bigotry. Using the principles found here, we shall more closely focus on homophobic attitudes of heterosexual men and women through the lens of social psychology. Additionally, the exploration of homosexual responses, both submissive andaggressive, will be considered in order to gain a broadly encompassed understanding ofthe dual between homosexual being and homophobia. Closing, and with previous application of bigotry and homosexuality, I will bring the discussions into the realm of social psychology, hoping to understand the reasons behind political, social, and inter-sexual injustices. With this understanding of the argument at hand, it shall then be attempted to conclude with a plea to the homophobic and homosexual alike of ways to overcome their disagreement.UNDERSTANDING HOMOSEXUALITYBefore unraveling the reasons behind their actions, each party must first be explicitly defined in a psychological sense. While their sexual identities are relevant, the arguments of nature versus nurture and the general psychological profile, as well as the Gower 1
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understanding of each in a psychological sense, as pertaining to the ream of social psychology will be the main focus henceforth in this analysis.I feel it is unnecessary to dwell on the fact that a homosexual man or woman favors sexual and emotional relations with the same sex, and conversely a heterosexualis one that prefers a connection with the opposite sex. But with what reasons do these disparities exist? For it is known fact that two men or two women cannot reproduce, so itis clearly against biology for homosexuality to exist. Despite this fact, homosexuality is prevalent in not only humans, but zebras, lions, swans, baboons, and an enormous amount of other animals. (Science of Homosexuality) However, recent research and a modern understanding of homosexuality feels that while oneʼs environment certainly plays a role in fostering homosexual tendencies, one is born with this instilled difference.The most notable early research in the field of sexuality came in Sigmund Freudʼs theory of sexuality through nurturing. Freud believed the roots of oneʼs sexualitylie predominately in the immediate familial environment. For example, a son with a closerelationship to his mother and an absent father, or vice versa for females, could fail to emerge from what he called the “Oedipal stage” of sexual development. This would, in turn, further the close relationship with the parent of opposite sex, fostering oneʼs homosexual nature. (LeVay) While advances have been made on the biological understanding of sexuality, many “studies confirm that gay men tend to describe their relationships with their mothers as unusually close and with their fathers as distant or hostile (Bell, Weinberg et al. 1981; Freund and Blanchard 1983).” (Levay) Gower 2
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Additional psychological theories have since been developed using Freudʼs work as a starting point. The most noteworthy came in Dr John Moneyʼs varying research assignments on early research of “psychosexual neutrality”. (Salmon) One experiment considered two twin boys, one of whomʼs penis was damaged in circumcision and was later gender reassigned to a girl at twenty-two months. Both were raised as normal children, though the reassigned male was raised as if the twins were conceived as a pair of opposites, and not as two boys. Initial followups would see the “female” as a completely normal young girl. However, in a later followup of the “girl” conducted by Milton Diamond, he found the adolescent, “to reject this sex of rearing, switched at puberty to living as a male, and has successfully lived as such from that time to the present.” (Salmon) This largely discredited his original theories of sexual neutrality at birth, but has been viewed as one of the major studies in explanations of homosexuality through socialization.These psychological analyses were generally accepted as fact, and continue to hold firm ground in the field, but Simon LeVayʼs findings, as pertains to biology, would contribute immensely to a greater understanding of sexuality.Within the hypothalamus, “the most sexually dimorphic region of the brain”, consist four cell groups called Interstitial Nuclei of the Anterior Hypothalamus, or INAH. Of the four groups, it is known that both INAH-3 and INAH-2 are up to three and two times larger, respectively, in the male brain than in the female brain. LeVay hypothesized that this difference would be probable in heterosexual and homosexual men as well. Analyzing fourty-one postmortem tissue samples, prominently AIDS victims, he found that INAH-3 was around two to three times larger in heterosexual men Gower 3
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than in homosexual men, and that almost no differences were prevalent in gay men or lesbians. (Rana)As groundbreaking as these findings were, the nature of sexuality as having a number of psychological factors meant it simply was not enough to affirm or deny biologyʼs impact. A study conducted primarily by Laura Allen and Roger Gorski and funded by the University of California at Los Angeles furthered research pertaining the implications of homosexuality as a biological trait. Essentially, the groupʼs findings reinforced LeVayʼs differences in the heterosexual and homosexual male brain. (Groski)Since these findings in 1989 and 1991 respectively, little advancement has been made in regards to a biological comprehension of homosexuality. The debate continues as to whether or not homosexuals are born this way, nurtured through childhood, or decide to make homosexuality their particular lifestyle. The general consensus, in what is known, is that homosexuals are born with particular hormonal and genetic makeup that contains homosexual traits which are fostered through life. While this is how we acknowledge the situation, no one has developed as firm and grounded an understanding as we would like, and for this the debate continues; nature or nurture?A SEMANTIC UNDERSTANDING OF HATE THROUGH BIGOTRY, PREJUDICE, ANDBIASThe terms bigotry, prejudice, and bias provide a thorough makeup of the angered soul who attacks, abuses, and belittles others. I feel each word, independent of the Gower 4
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other, is strong enough in its own right, but only when the three are combined can we gain an understanding of hate.What is hate? The New Oxford American Dictionary provides two definitions of hate as, “to feel intense or passionate dislike for someone” and to “have a strong aversion to (something).” (Oxford) Freud provided his own definition of hate as a meansto destroy the source of unhappiness.What then of the other three terms? Perhaps it is best to briefly pass over their meaning before application to hate. According to the Psychology Wiki, a bigot is “a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own.” (Psychology Wiki) Prejudice, as the name implies, is a pre-judgement of one applying preconceptions and personal biases. A bias, as the Psychology Wiki defines, is “a tendency or preference towards a particular perspective, ideology, or result, when the tendency interferes with the ability to be impartial, unprejudiced, or objective.” (Psychology Wiki)As is evident in the definitions above, each interweaves with the other to the point where the one could encompass all into a pre-judged, subjective, and intolerant perspective of the world. This is how I choose to define hate.A PSYCHOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF HATEThe nature of conformity and individuality can be seen as oneʼs social identity. Social psychologists Henri Tajfel and John Turner, in their “Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict”, formulated what is now known as the Social Identity Theory. This Gower 5
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1979 study formulated a four-step approach to oneʼs social identity:•Categorization: Applying a term to yourself and to others. Examples would be simple categorizations such as psychologist or more complex terminologies such as a one term under the LGBT umbrella.•Identification: Association with groups such as a soccer team, a teacherʼs union,or a gay rights association as a means of growing confidence and self esteem within the individual.•Comparison: A comparison of groups as superior, inferior, or attuned with others.This is when prejudices begin to develop, such as the popular crowd versus the nerds in high school, or a more severe conflict of race or sexuality.•Psychological Distinctiveness: A development of distinguishing traits from boththe group and opposing groups; a need for individuality.These principles adhere to oneʼs need for conformity and need to establish their personality within the dominant group. This seemingly provides a rational understandingof heterosexual imposition against homosexuals. I do not intend to say that homophobiais rational, but rather we can understand the reasons behind hate given oneʼs need to identify with a particular social group. Conversely, we can also understand some homosexual behavior traits such as flamboyance, over-sexuality, and the need to conform to particular stereotypes. This is an entirely different discussion however and we must revert to the topic at hand: hate. Gower 6
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Those who built upon Freudʼs analysis that hate is a means of destroying the source of unhappiness claimed that hate is not temporary anger, but rather a state of near-permanence that can be overcome, but only through diligence and a desire to change. However, both assessments consider homosexuals as a source of unhappiness, but for what reasons?HOMOPHOBIA: FEAR OF HOMOSEXUALS If we are to apply a linguistic understanding of homophobia, we split it into the Latin “homos” (man) and Greek “phobos” (fear). Fear of man. Through our understanding, fear of the homosexual man. This much is certain, but why? What Freudfailed to consider in his explanation of hate was fear. Fear is unsettling, it is nerve-racking, and if oneʼs neurobiology goes haywire, can cause harm to others. This has been made evident in the verbal and physical assaults of homosexuals that has resulted in death on more than one occasion. The most conclusive list of reasons why homophobia is as prevalent it is can be found in Scott Bidstrupʼs essay, “Homophobia: The Fear Behind The Hatred.” Bidstrup categorizes the list into two parts: the given reasons and the real reasons behind homophobic hate. The given reasons for hate are (1) It is not natural, (2) It is a perversion, (3) It is against Godʼs Law, (4) It is disgusting. (Bidstrup)In refutation of point (1), as has been proven in our understanding of homosexuality outlined above, it is theoretically against biology for homosexuals to exist, but they are nonetheless a relevant portion of the animal kingdom, most notably in Gower 7
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humans. Point (2) is but a sidestep of point (1), and can generally be seen as a matter of opinion; do homosexuals consider their romantic or sexual love as perverse? I think not. Point (3) considers the Bible and the word of God as the end all, but prior to it beingscribed, there were known homosexuals. Additionally, this presumes all are followers of God, and fail to consider Buddhists, Atheists, Muslims, et al. Bidstrup claims (4) can be disproved similarly to point (2) as a mere matter of opinion. More so, he makes it a pointthat many “disgusting” acts happen all around us. When eating a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, does one think of how the chicken was slaughtered and processed, an later cooked in rundown fast food cookware? No, we accept it.Having invalidated these given reasons, Bidstrup provides five real reasons for hate of homosexuals. (1) Us versus them, (2) Loss of control, (3) Threat to oneʼs world view, (4) Fear of rape, (5) Fear that one may be homosexual himself. (Bidstrup) While he fails to effectively argue these points, there are some things that have to be presented in any discussion of real homophobia.Firstly, we address his notion of “Us versus them” as an offshoot of Tajfelʼs Social Identity Theory. The need for heterosexuals to impose their strength over homosexuals, and subsequently the need for homosexuals to establish themselves as equals providesconditions for an endless conflict completely independent of politics and religion. This is a completely social element. Though I shall confront the issue of gay marriage at a later point in more detail, Bidstrup feels the heterosexual claim that gay marriage will destroy the “sanctity” of marriage as backwards emotional response rather than a grounded principle. Gower 8
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Combining points (2) and (4), as Bidstrup essentially makes the same argument, we consider the heterosexual fear of rape, or in a less drastic wording, a general fear of homosexual flirting as emasculating to the heterosexual. My opinion on the matter, as should be the rational response of any critical thinker, is that a gay man or woman favors other gay men and women, for what reason would a homosexual fight for the love of one who will not love them back? Moreover, gay flirting with straight individuals can often result in physical harm to the gay man or woman. Why would they bring this pain upon themselves? Bidstrupʼs third point is unnecessarily dragged out, and can be summated quickly as religious ideals versus human rights. Again, this topic shall be considered at a later point in this essay. What is arguably the most dominant assertion made by Bidstrup, and just about everyone when referring to reasons behind homophobic behavior, are fear that one may be homosexual him or herself. I feel that this fear could be completelyirrelevant if we, as society, were to simply accept homosexuality as a normal behavior. Itis our stereotypes, biases, and general discomfort with homosexuality that makes it an issue for one to fear homosexuality itself. This can be seen daily in a number of social settings through terms like “fag” applied in a negative context towards someone that, forexample, expresses themselves artistically or in some way condescending to others. It is the need for equality that spurns the discussions in favor of gay rights, and the fear of identity that fuels the opposition. THE STRUGGLE FOR GAY RIGHTS: HOMOPHOBIA IN OFFICE Gower 9
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As has been addressed in a psychological and sociological understanding, homosexuals are oppressed in their everyday interactions with the majority of people. Though there are many who accept homosexuals as friends, neighbors, lovers, co-workers, and the like, they face a real threat in their everyday lives of some form of scrutiny. This harassment has not been tolerated in a broad sense by the government, who umbrella violent acts against homosexuals as hate crimes, but there is still much that the government does to further the homophobia that has sadly implanted itself in our society.The most recent advance in gay rights, and without question the most controversial, is whether or not to allow gays and lesbians to marry. Some consider marriage a religious institution, to which two major red flags arise.One is simply that under United States law, which I shall consider for I am not versed in the politics of the world, there should be a separation of church and state. If we are validating reasons for denying homosexuals the right to wed solely on religious backing, whether directly or indirectly, we contradict the principles on which this country has been established. Let us take a brief reversion to the founding of this country in both the initial settlements and the Declaration of Independence as a means of escaping religious tyranny in England. Should we continue to deny marriage rights to homosexuals on these grounds, we apply an archaic sensibility and deny ourselves the American ideals with which we pride ourselves so heavily on.The roots of marriage in religion unravel quite easily, too. Marriage is not a Christian ideal. Prior to the first scribed words of God, homosexual relations were known to exist through depictions in the humanities. Though sparse as the art of the Gower 10
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time was quite primitive, more and more references have been made through Greek and Roman scholars and artists that came after the Bible had been written. Homosexuality existed, perhaps not prevalently, but nonetheless in some instance prior to Bibleʼs first implementation sometime around 1400 B.C. (Bible). The first known depiction of homosexuality is the Egyptian portrait of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum (Homosexuality in Ancient Egypt). This predates the Bible by nearly a millennia.What I hope has been made clear in my research is that homophobia is rooted almost exclusively in fear on irrational grounds. Homosexuals typically have no interest in wooing the heterosexual, though admittedly some gawk at others. This cannot be misinterpreted as a reason for riposte on the heterosexualʼs account, but simply a teasethat must be discredited and ignored.Furthermore, to root our bias against homosexuals in a religious connotation is simply wrong. One has the right to hold true to their religious ideals, but if we are to apply the Bible as the end-all law, we must too follow the rules we carelessly ignore such as the disallowing of woman to speak in Church. One cannot apply certain rules and ignore others, particularly when they infringe on oneʼs social rights, such as the right to live.A failure to recognize this not only socially, but politically, can lead to greater harm to the homosexual population. We fear what we do not know, and hopefully this essay has at least enlightened the general population ever so slightly. We must be diligent in the protection of homosexuals from irrational violence rooted in unnecessary fear. It is time to end the homosexual struggle for the same rights we take for granted. Gower 11
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Just as has been the case in black and womanʼs rights, we must fight for social and political reform. This is not simply a matter of want, but rather of necessity. These people deserve their rights, and we cannot vote for their rights simply because we are the majority. Recognize the faults that are so easily refutable and educate yourself in ways to help. This is not a suggestion, but rather a call to arms: It is time to end this needless hate. Gower 12