I hear this take a lot but doesn't it justify a lot of homophobia? Would all of the many gay people who have faced terrible discrimination have gone through all that if they were actually 5 or 10% hetero and could have just chosen a heterosexual relationship?
Absolutely. The "being gay is a choice" line is doubly homophobic- once because it's often not a choice, and twice because even if it was, that doesn't mean it'd be wrong to make that choice. But, two things:
One, in practice there is oppression based on the idea that gay people can choose to be straight, like gay conversion camps, and it's harmful to validate the idea that they could work, even if you're clear that you don't agree with their aim.
And two, it imples that all the gay people who have suffered oppression have, to some extent, chosen that. And while that is true for some courageous or determined people, there are many for who it's not.
Yes that's fine. I just worry that "everyone is at least a little bisexual" or equivalent sentiments is thrown around a lot quite uncritically without any thought for what that means for gay people. What you're saying is fine, I just think people should be careful with their wording here.
(To be fair, camarade actually said at least 5% gay specifically, rather than straight, but it's often phrased to imply nobody's completely straight or gay)
I hear this take a lot but doesn't it justify a lot of homophobia? Would all of the many gay people who have faced terrible discrimination have gone through all that if they were actually 5 or 10% hetero and could have just chosen a heterosexual relationship?
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Absolutely. The "being gay is a choice" line is doubly homophobic- once because it's often not a choice, and twice because even if it was, that doesn't mean it'd be wrong to make that choice. But, two things:
One, in practice there is oppression based on the idea that gay people can choose to be straight, like gay conversion camps, and it's harmful to validate the idea that they could work, even if you're clear that you don't agree with their aim.
And two, it imples that all the gay people who have suffered oppression have, to some extent, chosen that. And while that is true for some courageous or determined people, there are many for who it's not.
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Eh not really. It’s more recognizing how many people are closer to being bisexual than probably realize it.
Yes that's fine. I just worry that "everyone is at least a little bisexual" or equivalent sentiments is thrown around a lot quite uncritically without any thought for what that means for gay people. What you're saying is fine, I just think people should be careful with their wording here.
(To be fair, camarade actually said at least 5% gay specifically, rather than straight, but it's often phrased to imply nobody's completely straight or gay)
Yeah, bisexual people have to fight for recognition in both straight and queer spaces, which I think can cause us to generalize sometimes.
That's totally understandable.