Sex

A sneaky way to get your attention, isn't it?  Titling this post "Sex"?  But I do it for good reason--to have the opportunity to highlight the essential difference between what many people, gay and straight, think being gay is about, and what it's really about.      

Nat Nasci of Vancouver gave me the perfect gift, tied up with a big, red bow, when he responded to an email I submitted in late July to Xtra!, Vancouver's biweekly gay and lesbian newspaper, and suggested I don't get what being gay is.  In his letter, Nasci went on to write, 'Gay rights is about sexuality.  It's always been about sexuality.  We are supposed to be free from the restraints of oppressive religion, thought and people like you--the "don't flaunt it because I'm uncomfortable" crowd [p. 5].'

Too late to take that back, Nat.  But, if you think about it, do you really mean to say gay rights are not about sex, but about love?  The right to love people of the same gender?  Do you see the difference between sex and love?  I hope so, because there is one.  A big one.  

But, really, is that all gay rights are about?  Sex?  Or even love?  Don't you think, Nat, we could look at them a little more broadly, because they're about so much more?  Like, for example, human rights?  The right to dignity and respect?  The right to equality under the law?  The right to get married?  Things like that?

Couldn't we all agree being gay is really a little bit about sex, within the context of love (of course), and a whole lot about what makes us like everyone else in the human race?

To read my email and Nasci's letter in their entirety, please click here.