Gay Wedding Due Soon On The Simpsons

[Scribbler1]

I believe most people do not have a problem with gays any more, despite what organized gays say. What many straight people DO have a problem with, however, is the "in your face" stuff. Over the years I have come to know several gay men and I don't think any of them wanted anything to do with "gay pride parades" and the like. Of course the gays I knew were no different from myself (which was why we got along). They suppressed nothing but also didn't yell "look at me" all the time. I don't believe most really WANT to be the center of attention and people like Boy George would NOT be welcome in their circles.

BTW, how come I never see "heterosexual pride parades"? Dammit, I want equal rights. I want a parade without having actually DONE anything to earn one! You know, like Saint Patricks day. :)

[The Fyrdman]

St. Patrick did do something, he murdered pagans and converted Ireland to an intolerant religion. And so the last bastion of celtic religion died. Why the hell do I go out and drink in celebration on this day I don't know...

[Scribbler1]

Why the hell do I go out and drink in celebration on this day I don't know...

Cuz you CAN? You really don't need any other reason.

Actually I used that to point up the people who do the celebrating haven't done anything, and I don't think old St. Pat cares whether they paint the lines on the street green one day a year or not. :)

[The Fyrdman]

Nah, the reason I celebrate St. Paddies day is because there are special deals on Baileys, Jameson and Guinness everywhere, and almost every pub and bar plays Irish music all night which I love. And everyone is just more...sociable on St. Pat's.

And best of all, I can sing Danny Boy and Suil A Ruin all the way home without (well, fewer) people shouting out the windows "fuck off you IRA prick".

[Scribbler1]

LOL! Good enough reasons to celebrate, I think.

[Chris the Chees]

Jameson and Bailies are foul. I'll take a good scotch blend over Jameson anyday, a single malt if I have the money.

[The Fyrdman]

*shudders* Scotch blends are foul. Single malts however...hmmm. If they had a Saint Osama day that sold cheap single malts I'd be out there with the best but till that day I'll stick to Jameson in March.

[SVMc]

SOS
The normalisation of the homosexual way of life began with the Stonewall group,

Actually homosexual behaviour was normal and accepted in many ancient cultures. The repression of homosexuality is fairly recent (in historical terms).

SOS It is no coincidence that since this worldwide attempt to reprogramme society begun, the number of reported gay people in the community has risen from under 2% of the population to over 7%

So, according to you this rise in people willing to admit that they are homosexual would have nothing to do with the years of repression of homosexuality in wester cultures? It may be just me (but I don't think it is) but people are probably much more likely to feel safe admitting they are homosexual in a more accepting society.... hence a rise in numbers of the demographic.

SOS Perhaps you should research the issue at hand rather than making ignorant allegations that you have memorised from your 10 hours a day watching queer eye for the straight guy.

Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who sources from a TV, but then again maybe you should worry, I am the kind of person that gets paid to research and write about social gendered tendencies.

While it is becoming increasingly evident that as religious bigotry wins fans it becomes socially acceptabe to act in an intollerant manner especially towards homosexuals, the roots of homophobia do point to an insecurity in sexuality. This does not necessairly mean that a homophobe is prone to become gay, but more along the lines that homophobes feel that their heterosexuality is enhanced or reinforced by bashing homosexuality. Homophobes are not able to let the two sexual orientations co-exist, they feel that one is a threat to the other, and homophobia and violent homophobic acts increase.

Here are some non-TV sources for you that you should be able to find on the internet, that reference social patterns of Homophobia.

In studying the virulence and tenacity of anti-gay feelings, psychologists are finding clues to the deeper sources of homophobia. The new findings confirm the theory that some men use hostility and violence to homosexuals to reassure themselves about their own sexuality. But the greatest portion of anti-homosexual bias, psychologists now say, arises from a combination of fear and self-righteousness in which homosexuals are perceived as contemptible threats to the moral universe.

- Daniel Goldman, New York Times July 10, 1990

Hatered, bigotry,and Prejudice. by Robert M. Baird, and Stuart E. Rosenbaum. ISBN #1-57392-748-1.

The Hate That Makes Men Straight: Psychoanalysts Probe the Roots of Homophobia
By: Richard Goldstein

The homophobic-crime rate may actually be rising as the religious right steps up its anti gay organizing, and as homosexuals achieve greater visibility. - Richard Goldstein

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick writes in her landmark study Epistemology of the closet. “male homosexual panic is the normal condition of male heterosexual entitlement.”

. NYU Medical Center's Donald Moss offers a definition: “homophobia will refer to the entire spectrum of conscious and unconscious fantasy-feelings-idea-sentiment” through which people are driven to avoid “all things sensed as homosexual.” in the new scholarship, homophobia isn't just a symptom; its a system.

Antigay bias is “not a phobia in the clinical sense,” researcher Gregory M. Herek insists, for one thing, it's too functional;... homophobia serves to affirm male identity through a rejection of what is deemed either unmanly nor negating the importance of males. This explains why effeminate men and butch women are mot common victims of anti gay violence. They threaten the terms of masculinity.

G. Adams Nah, the reason I celebrate St. Paddies day is because there are special deals on Baileys, Jameson and Guinness everywhere, and almost every pub and bar plays Irish music all night which I love. And everyone is just more...sociable on St. Pat's.

I think it's a toss up here as to wether or not St. Paddies or Gay Pride would be more sociable events. But they're both great excuses for a celebration... and I've never found that an excuse for a celebrations is a bad thing.... I think we could all use a lot more celebrating :)

[Seeker_Of_Sins]

well SVMc, for someone who claims to research issues for a living, you seem to have failed to grasp one vitally important point. That point is assumption. Because you have failed to grasp this critical point, every conclusion you reach is likely to be flawed.

First you attacked me as a closet gay, now you attack me as a religeous zealot. Thats 0 for 2 for you. Keep up the excellent work.

The standard dogma sure rings true with you, if someone disagrees with the gay lifestyle, attack their sexuality. If this doesn't cause them to back down in shame, attack their religeous beliefs and accuse them of being a christian fundementalist.

Since I am confident in my sexuality and I am not a religeous person, where does this leave you? Perhaps you would like to attack my upbringing? Or maybe my outlook on family values? Don't forget the obligatory attack on the damage I am causing my children with my bigotry and intolerance. Sheesh, you haven't even begun to get stuck into me yet. I would expect that you won't stop bagging me until I fall silently upon my sword so that your immoral values system can once again move forward unchallenged. How else can you justify your motives if everyone doesn't agree with you. Shallow is all I can say.

The Stonewall group was the start of the political movement to forward gay rights, not the start of homosexuality so your point is mute as we were discussing completely different things.

What I originally said was that a gay marriage on the Simpsons was a continuation of the normalisation of the gay lifestyle and that it was a symbol of moral corruptness in society. I stand by that statement. You accuse me of intolerance whilst eagerly bagging my moral values as unacceptable in todays society and listing a range of studies to try and prove your point. Apart from the fact that your view of my lifestyle choice is as intolerant as my view of your standpoint on the issue,(which you seem to overlook with apparent ease), why would you allow the morality of society to continue on a downward spiral? Has your acceptance of the unacceptable reached such a point that you can no longer say no?

Do you think I should be able to have sex with a dog as long as I do it in the privacy of my own home? What about my urge to have sex with the dead? I mean who does it actually harm? What if the dead person is my wife? Is that more acceptable? How about my uncontrollable desire to have sex with my children? How much depravity will you allow before we reach your level of intolerance? How will you defend your intolerance when that level is reached?

[Seeker_Of_Sins]

Yesterday in Auckland, NZ, a gay pride parade/celebration physically and vocally abused hetrosexual couples who were endeavouring to make a point that they valued their lifestyles. In the end, these hetrosexual couples were arrested and removed by the police, from a public park no less, because THEY were disturbing the peace. Its a sad day when a minority group can take over a public park, on a Sunday, and stop the average citizen from enjoying the amenities or making a statement. Now thats tolerance SVMc, I am so glad that my tolerance level hasn't reached this great stage.

[Mr.Vicchio]

The militant Gays are called such... for a reason.

[Matrixxx]

The whole issue is a phase which will soon pass. No one is shocked by it, no one is worried about it, and basically, who cares? Like it or not it is a fact of life today in our society, propping it up on the screen on national television through avenues such as cartoons, talk TV etc. will soon die off.

It just doesn't matter that much.