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Straight

I do not like homosexuality
My aversion towards the subject matter is, in fact, more of a gut reaction, one that I have typically left unquestioned

 

July 26, 2005
iranian.com

My name is Aras Shahzadeh. I do not know if this article is appropriate for your site. Here's my bio: Aras Shahzadeh is a film director, Psychology graduate from Harvard University, and one proud athlete. His father is a retired neurosurgeon, and his mother, who passed away at age 47 from cancer, was a basketball coach. He likes chocolate milk, Pepsi, pizza, The Simpsons, martial arts, and his AMG Mercedes SLK. He hates indolence, politicians, war, violence, and disease specially fucking cancer. God bless! Zende baad Iran!

Introduction
It is perhaps unwise to be frank and straight to the point, in my first internet publication, and with a topic like this. The title is innocent enough, an entitled opinion, but the implications about this author, merciless. A bigot and dogmatic essayist, one assumes, perhaps homophobic and conservatively religious also. Either a senior or a juvenile, a shrinking brain or one yet to develop.

Yet I choose to voice my view lest I sacrifice honesty and curiosity for political correctness and stupidity. Even in certain intellectual circles, it is apparently less controversial to support the Iraq invasion or to turn away from African hunger, than to appear a bigot. Still I persist.

My aversion towards the subject matter is, in fact, more of a gut reaction, one that I have typically left unquestioned. Sexual relations between an adult and a minor or an animal are no less nauseating to me, as are certain Chinese dishes and one Afghani delicacy. Were my gut endowed with a mass of nerve tissue, akin to my brain, I could perhaps explain my dislike for barbequed rabbit also, to the wide-eyed camp companions one unforgettable summer eve.

Hence, instead of abortive attempts at alleviating these intense feelings, I have attempted to justify them. Let me use logic. There are plenty of issues surrounding homosexuality that I simply fail to comprehend which may have exacerbated this knee-jerk reaction.

Disease
Homosexuality spreads disease, specially sexual illnesses. I befriended an AIDS sufferer years ago, the victim of a ghastly disease, reminding me that scary aliens in the sugar-coated Hollywood movies are far less brutal than the microscopic terror network of viruses and bacteria. Like Bush's army, AIDS broke down the defenses of her body, a country without soldiers, and opened the way for insurgent and opportunistic diseases, to destroy her frail body from within. She caught the disease from her closet-homo husband.

Danger
Homosexuals also live a dangerous life. It is a life of promiscuity, drugs, and violence. Not every gay man is a Will Truman, a lovable neat-freak attorney, healthy and wealthy, confidant to an attractive female friend, and symbolizing all the goodness in character many aspire to. Will & Grace portrays reality as much as The O.C. The real lifestyles of homosexuals, as portrayed in some documentaries, are far less cheerful than their yearly circus-like parades.

Some may claim that none of these defects, such as promiscuity, are inherent to this sexual orientation, but are correlates of any similar secret lifestyle and unstable society. Once homosexual marriage becomes legalized and more acceptable, generating more freedom and the resultant responsibility, those deleterious activities are bound to abate. Time will tell. In the meantime, the cost of disease and death is unforgiving.

Religion
For those amongst the several billion followers of major organized religions, the answer is beyond dispute, except for the rebellious youngsters, whose youthful stamina defies the enforced spiritual values, and invites a death match against Satan in the fires of Hell.

Animals
Although 2-3% of population are gay, a greater percentage of animals prefer the same sex. In reality, the majority of these animals are bisexual rather than strictly homosexual. Nevertheless, some have argued that the presence of gay animals indicates that homosexuality is "OK." Interestingly, some animals urinate to mark their territory though I would prefer if my neighbors used fences instead.

Evolution
Why is the "gay gene" still around? How is the gene passed to future generations? Maybe some homosexuals have wedded the opposite sex, for fear of facing public bigotry, and have produced children with a dash of Will-&-Grace-gene. Or maybe the gene performs essential functions, with help of other genes, and homosexuality is merely its "side-effect." Or perhaps evolution takes longer to work. One thing is undisputable though: evolution does not favor childless couples, be it homos or impotent heteros.

Aberration
If attraction to the same sex is acceptable, then why not attraction to one's offspring, a loyal dog, a pretty minor, or a pair of silver high heels? When does the deviant become the perverted? Who decides this? Is it politics of the time, or scientific studies? Is science value-free? Even though my skin color deviates from the white majority, I appreciate being accepted as normal. On the other hand, it is the deviant nature of a model's skinniness that may land her a multi-million dollar deal.

Optional?
Some studies indicate that homosexuality is not optional. In that case, one must attempt to teach safe sexual practices, discourage secrecy, and demand more responsibility. If it is not optional or at least not in some, if it is a brain disease or hormonal imbalance, the cause must be identified.

People with social anxiety, low self-confidence, sexual inexperience, or youthful confusion specially that of puberty, may prefer to believe themselves gay than to face rejections from the opposite sex. Those in prison, even some students in all-boys schools in Iran may have pseudohomosexual attraction towards the same sex.

Acceptance
Overemphasis on political correctness and unquestioning tolerance of gay orientation, forces hasty acceptance and precludes open discussion and a true understanding of the nature of homosexuality. To accept homosexuality blindly, just for the sake of being tolerant, is akin to teaching boys and girls using the same method, ignoring boys' preference for the visual and girls' for the verbal, lest you be labeled sexist.

Blind tolerance, like blind patriotism, is dangerous. Even though I love my country, I would prefer a reflective and reasoned dislike for Iran than a superficial "Zende baad Iran." Those who flaunt their undiscriminating tolerance in the hopes of obtaining a pass to erudite circles, are sadly mistaken. There is no positive in token tolerance and no minus in reasoned intolerance.

Conclusion
My aversion to homosexuality is primarily instinctive and merely my humble opinion, but the questions raised, universal. It is the boundary of normal and aberrant, of healthy and diseased, of rights and responsibilities, of bigotry and inquisitiveness, of tradition and law, and of science and politics. These are questions with more than one answer. What is yours?

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