Views in brief

Sexual orientation can’t be shifted

SHERRY WOLF makes some excellent points ("Putting Prop 8 on trial"). A loss at the Supreme Court could be a big setback for the cause of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.

However, I sharply disagree with her preposterous claim that millions have changed their sexual orientation. In fact, the scientific research on the topic is quite clear--nobody changes their sexual orientation. People discover things about themselves they may not have known; a person can bury homosexual feelings and desires through years of marriage, until they are finally no longer able to live a lie and leave the marriage for a life as an openly gay person. That does not mean they "turned gay."

The dangerous falsehood of people, much less "millions," changing their orientation plays right into the most destructive of myths from radical right hate groups--that homosexuality is a "disease" which can be "cured." Groups like Exodus International claim that they can help you get rid of your unwanted homosexuality and live a happy, heterosexual life.

That there's no reason whatsoever for Christians to want a person who is gay to magically turn straight is a side issue--the real issue is that these hate groups have caused tremendous suffering, torn families to pieces and have exactly zero true success stories. Even the founders of the group who lived as "ex-gays" for years now admit it was a complete fraud and are both now openly gay. The current leader, in interviews, will admit that while he claims to be happy in his "marriage" to his "wife," he still "struggles with temptation."

In other words, he's still attracted romantically and physically to men. In other, plainer, words--he's still homosexual.

There is zero science behind the claims of those who pretend to cure homosexuality, and not a single article backing their claims has ever been published in a peer-reviewed journal. It's deeply depressing to see a source like yours, upon which we depend for news without the conservative bias rampant in most of the mainstream press these days, making claims that could have come from the 700 Club.

Whether or not arguing the "immutable" trait of sexual orientation is the wise political move can certainly be debated. But that it is immutable can't be. It certainly is. I'm heterosexual, others are homosexual or bisexual--and regardless of what we are, or whether we're honest with ourselves or others about what we are, two things are true about our sexual orientation: it's not chosen, and cannot be changed.

I hope I'm misunderstanding the writer's stance, and hopefully there can be a clarification which will show that I've overreacted. But as it appears right now, this is not something those concerned about equality can stand behind. One of the major cornerstones of those who excuse their homophobia and bigotry is that homosexuality is a "chosen lifestyle."

Thanks very much for your continued excellence in reporting and opinion. Your Web site is a daily stop as I use the internet.
Darren M. Hellwege, Columbia, Mo.

My right to choose

REGARDING "ABORTION shouldn't be a dirty word": Thank you for this article. It's been 11 years since I exercised my right to terminate my pregnancy.

My situation was not hard for me at all, given the fact that I was very young and pregnant by an ex-partner who had moved on with another woman. Call it a termination of revenge, call it "killing my baby"--the fact remains that I'd do it again in a split second.

I had doctors sigh deeply, roll their eyes at me and tell me this was an unnecessary procedure, if I was had just been more careful. There was nothing anyone could have said to make me want to become a mother. If abortion wasn't my safe and legal right, I would have sought out an illegal, unsafe or foreign option. This is an unpopular opinion many women share--one pro-lifers are just going to have to swallow.
Katherine Morris, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Obama's disappoints on LGBT rights

THE KOOL-Aid is starting to wear off, and a disillusioned left is finally realizing that for all of Barack Obama's grand speeches promising "hope" and "change," he practices little more than timid realpolitik.

This is certainly evident on the issue of gay rights. On the campaign trail, he promised to overturn the low-hanging fruit of "don't ask, don't tell." Yet his administration defended the policy in court last year, arguing it "rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion."

Similarly, during the election cycle, Obama promised to work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Since assuming office though, all evidence of the pledge has been zapped from the White House Web site. His Justice Department has even defended the "Leave It to Beaver" legislation, arguing with a straight face (no pun intended) that DOMA does not discriminate against homosexual couples.

All of this could easily have been predicted from Obama's milquetoast support for civil unions over gay marriage.

It's hard to believe Obama, a potent intellect who happens to be Black, doesn't recognize the parallels between this position and the "separate but equal" policies of the Jim Crow South.

Just as the Warren Court found that segregated schools were inherently unequal, so are separate marriage laws. Even if civil unions provided identical rights as marriage, the segregation of homosexual relationships would still send the message that to be gay is to be "other," to not be one of us.

I have no doubt that, in his heart, Obama supports gay marriage. He's simply unwilling to spend the political capital to achieve it.
Jon Hochschartner, Lake Placid, N.Y.

Musical solidarity

WE ARE FC Apatride Utd, a Marxist reggae band and your faithful readers--and we often share your most interesting articles on our Myspace page. Here's the new video we released, you might enjoy it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWYgWlwh8kw. Happy New Year, and keep up the struggle.
Fc Apatride Utd, from the Internet