Gay people have been fighting for the rights that all others have for quite some time. All over the world gays are persecuted, punished, and tormented all for being themselves. It is a terrible thing. This essay will be an attempt to explain the actions taken against homosexual people in recent years.
Let's start by talking about Matthew Shepard. Matthew was a good person, murdered cruelly just for being the person he was born as. Matthew was born on December 1, 1976. He was a 21 year old student attending the University of Wyoming. He was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming in October 1998. Matthew was a very bright student who cared about many people and was very approachable. During his sophomore year of high school he transferred to The American School in Switzerland. After graduating from high school in 1995, Matthew attended Catawba College and then later Casper College before he moved to Denver. Matt became a first- year political science major at the University of Wyoming. There he was chosen as the student representative for the Wyoming Environmental Council. It seems he had a great future ahead of him. In February 1995 during a trip to Morocco, Matt was beaten and raped. This subsequently caused him to be withdrawn and experience depression and panic attacks. It was later said by one of his friends from school that the depression had caused him to experiment with drugs.
Sometime after midnight on October 7, 1998, Matthew met two men by the names of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming. The two men offered Matt a ride home. After admitting he was gay, Matt was robbed, tortured, pistol-whipped, tied to a fence in a remote area and left to die. Shepard was found 18 hours after the beating by Aaron Kreifels. When Shepard was discovered, he was in a coma. Matthew suffered fractures to the back of his head and in the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage. The damage to his brain stem caused an inability in his body to regulate heart rate, body temperature, and other vital functions. Collectively the injuries were to severe for the doctors to operate successfully. Matt never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. During his time in a coma, candle light vigils were being held in his honor. Matthew Shepard was pronounced dead at 12:53 A.M. On October 12, 1998 at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. The two men responsible for the terrible beating were arrested shortly after. The bloody gun used to hit Matthew as well as his shoes and wallet were found in their truck. Both of the men attempted to convince their girlfriends to provide alibis.
Henderson and McKinney both managed to avoid the death penalty but are serving out two life sentences each. All of this because he was gay.
After the incarceration of the two perpetrators, the “Anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, led by Fred Phelps, picketed Matthews funeral as well as the trial. They were displaying signs such as “Matt Shepard rots in HELL,” “AIDS Kills Fags DEAD,” and “God Hates Fags.” Fred Phelps even had the gall to attempt and get a city permit so that he may have a statue built. The monument would be a bronze plaque bearing Matthews picture and the words: “MATTHEW SHEPARD, Entered Hell October 12, 1998, in Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is an abomination.' Leviticus 18:22”
If protesters had done something like that to a normal person who cheated on his wife then died, there would not have been such an uproar. Even though the bible forbids cheating, stealing, disobeying parents, coveting, and pride. All of this because he was gay.
Marriage is a right that should be allowed to all people. But we are not allowed in most states to marry. I am fortunate enough to live in Massachusetts where I am not experiencing such bigotry as other gays around the country. There are many different religious arguments about the sanctity of marriage. I find that none of them truly have value. Statistically speaking in a census done in 2000-2004 demographic information showed that most of the gay couples that married were older and better educated than average newly wed couples, with more than 74% over 35 years old and 69% holding a college degree. That is pretty good when you think about it.
Homosexual people have been persecuted for quite a long time all over the world. During the Holocaust, Jewish people, Gypsies, and homosexuals were 3 of the biggest targeted groups. I know that I can't rightfully compare the murder of the Jews with the murder of gays but my point is that we are targeted. In countries in the middle east, it is punishable by death to perform sodomy or even be suspected of it.
In my own experience, I have been beaten, threatened, robbed, and overall hurt just because I am gay.
There has been a lot of talk about a “gay gene.” The first significant study was conducted by Simon LeVay. LeVay was looking for a possible biological role for homosexuality. In 1991, Dr. LeVay reported very subtle differences between the brains of heterosexual men and homosexual men. Simon measured a particular region of the brain (the interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus [say that ten times fast]). This experiment was performed on postmortem tissue of three distinct groups: women, men who were presumed to be heterosexual, and homosexual men.
It was reported by Levay that clusters of the neurons (INAH) in gay men were the same size as those in women. Both of these were significantly smaller than the clusters found in the heterosexual men. This difference was interpreted as strong evidence for a biological link to being gay. Many scientists have all tried variations of this experiment with varying results. But it is one step closer.
Science is slowly getting closer to finding a gay gene. And when the day comes that we shall be able to perfectly prove it, then I suppose we will have to fight a lot less for rights that all men and women should have equally.
I am a working student, I pay taxes, have a job, have a family that I love. But I am different because of my sexuality. That is not fair. Not in my eyes, my families eyes, or in any gods eyes. Man is fallible.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The idea that someone is gay just because that's who they are is (arguably) wrong. It goes along with all the various psychological disorders kids are suddenly being diagnosed with. In modern science, we have this idea that there is nothing wrong, just different. A kid throwing a tantrum because his mom told him to go to bed must mean he has anger management issues, so they give the kid drugs (which simply alter the brain chemistry to subdue his malicious whims).
ReplyDeleteThe fact is that everyone has personal difficulties they have to work through. Rarely are people dramatically "different" or "special." Some poeple are prone to anger, some prone to desiring men as sexual partners, some prone to theft, some who like being secluded from everyone, and so on. By the time I go down the list, everyone will have something they can point to and say, "Yea, that's me." But rather than fighting what is wrong and disorderly and encouraging what is right and orderly, we have encouraged the disorderly (or simply neutralized it where we can't encourage it), rather than dealing with the issues. We'd rather pat people on the head than tell them the honest, blunt truth they need to have a good, clear-conscious life.
That's my take on it.