@Acratopotes I actually mostly agree with you on all points. At the same time...i think there's value in being pedantic sometimes. Not all the time mind you but sometimes.
Yes. Heterosexual people who don't have children do face a certain amount of backlash for not having done so. At the same time...
Supreme Court to Hear Case on Gay Rights and Foster Care
[ The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether Philadelphia may exclude a Catholic agency that does not work with same-sex couples from the city’s foster-care system.
The city stopped placements with the agency, Catholic Social Services, after
a 2018 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer described its policy against placing children with same-sex couples. The agency and several foster parents sued the city, saying the decision violated their First Amendment rights to religious freedom and free speech.
]
..we're talking large groups of people putting much more effort toward keeping members of the lgbtq community from even fostering kids. Which to me is worse than someone bingoing a heterosexual person about not already having kids.
I also agree that by and large people's sexual and romantic relationships doesn't affect other people. At the same time...
Colorado Democrats block effort to ban transgender girls from participating in female sports
[ A host of anti-LGBTQ legislation is set to be blocked by Democrats at the Colorado state Capitol.
Among the pieces of legislation include efforts to define marriage as between a man and woman, block same-sex couples from adopting, allow businesses to deny LGBTQ services over religious beliefs, criminalize doctors for performing transgender surgeries on youth, and prohibit transgender girls from participating in female sports teams.
]
..we're talking large groups of people putting much more effort toward jamming themselves and their beliefs down people's throats than those who aren't. And in both situations (there are more) massive lobbying campaigns are involved. Big money. Along with flat out hate groups. Who if given the chance, would murder those people on the spot.
(I am sure that has had a very positive effect but it also seems to me that treating LBGTQ people as normal humans should not depend on a proof of "born this way".)
I agree. It shouldn't. Sad part is..a fraction of it does. Not because i or anyone else wants it to but it just does.
When we're talking homophobic, transphobic and so on people. We aren't talking consistently logical people. If anything, since all of those things are inherently illogical, we're talking the least logical people. The kinds of people who react emotionally first, middle and mostly the end. People who brute force stupidity into every last corner of humanity's psyche.
(On promoting the whole spectrum of sexual orientation as being normal, as I said before, I am not sure the size of the LBGTQ community is the issue but the number of people who are prepared to treat LBGTQ people as normal human beings, as friends, as work collegues etc. and confirm that they are happy to do so.)
This is where we get to a difficult part of the conversation. Or at least i think it's the difficult part. Without people seeing the lgbtq community as human there would never have been a chance for people to see them as friends, work colleagues and so on. The humanity comes first. Then everything else follows behind.
Now i can understand your point if you're saying you don't know if we STILL need for members of the lgbtq community to be seen as human beings. Enough time has passed and enough civil rights leaders have given their all towards where we are as a human race.
Making it possible to think we no longer need to make the case that members of the lgbtq community are human. And to that i'd say...
Westboro Baptist Church attempts a homophobic protest and it backfires spectacularly
[ The notoriously homophobic Westboro Baptist Church attempted to pick a fight with an LGBT-inclusive university, but the students were having none of it.
The
Phelps family church, also known as “the most hated family in America”, held anti-LGBT+ protests at several locations throughout Los Angeles on Monday, having travelled all the way from Kansas to picket the Academy Awards.
]
Nah. It's still very much needed. Sadly. Especially considering...
Why NJ Needs a Law Banning the Gay-Trans 'Panic' Murder Defense | New Jersey Law Journal
[ On Jan. 21, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy signed “A1796/S2609 Prohibiting the Gay and Trans Panic Defense for Murder” into law. Effective immediately, the law made New Jersey the ninth state to ban this tactic, which the American Bar Association (ABA) defines as “a legal strategy which asks a jury to find that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction, including murder.” Governor Murphy declared: “Under this law, a defendant [is] prohibited from using a victim’s actual or perceived gender identity or expression or affectional or sexual orientation as a heat of passion defense to murder in New Jersey courts.”
]
..the ninth? We aren't talking acceptance here. We're talking life and death.
Support groups are awesome. When they are serious about supporting people. They can and do save lives. Here's the problem though. If alcohol isn't a large issue why have aa? If there's a support group. That means there's a need for it. If there's a need for it. Then that means there are people out there who target others. Others who have very little or zero defense against them overall.
Meaning. Those people use belonging as a weapon. Gatekeeping. Elitism. And so on. My guess is you weren't saying that it was ONLY about people wanting to belong somewhere but like i said..to me being a tad pedantic has it's positives.
When it comes to certain kinds of people. Certain kinds of groups. They use heterosexuality as a weapon. Something to harm members of the lgbtq community with knowingly or unknowingly. Considering how normal heterosexual seems to most people who either don't understand what science has said, refuse what science has said outright or both.
Which is why we need to keep saying it. Not just members of the lgbtq community but everyone (great..now i have that scene stuck in my head).
(there are usually only two of them though in a very few individuals the genotype and phenotype can differ.)
Usually yes. But there's a reason why there's a t in lgbtq. Groups of people who aren't included are usually the groups picked out and picked on the most. So again, being a bit pedantic is a good thing.
As far as gender rolls....(yummy) roles go. That's a whole nothing can of worms in my opinion.
And are a large reason why so many people are confused when it comes to both the lgbtq community and the people against them.
A woman can be and is masculine. A man can be and is feminine. Those words don't mean as much as i think most people think they mean. Woman have what is considered strong jaws. And men have badonkadonks. Yes. I expressly wanted to bring that word back because of how fun it is to both say and write. Sue me.
Every last characteristic humanity has deemed ONLY for men and ONLY for women is shared across everyone. We describe everything in terms of masculine and feminine. Even inanimate objects. Which should be more than enough proof that...we human beings mostly just make shit up as we go.
Attracted to boobs? Men have those. (Or at least i do) Attracted to rough or rougher skin? Women have that. Hairy asses? Women have that. Small soft fingers? Men have that.
And then there's trans people. Who basically explode every last notion we have regarding the differences between men and women.
Leaving only childbirth and that time of the month. And if science keeps continuing to kick as much ass as it has for the last few hundreds of years......well there'll be zero differences at all.
Which i think. Confuses the ever loving fuck out of a lot of people. Across the spectrum of humanity. And that's because..masculinity and femininity doesn't actually exist. They are constructs we've placed on everyone and everything with no real attachment to anything or anyone.
Sure. There are men. There are women. There are transpeople. But. That's about it.