"Steve's Getting Married to Jim?": One Straight Man's Perspective on Homosexuality

President Obama, I understand your stance. No, not your B-Boy stance that cemented you as the coolest president in U.S. History, but your eye-opening, head-turning, twitter-trending stance on same-sex marriages. It allowed many to reflect on their perspective on this topic and homosexuality overall, stopping to do some soul-searching. As a young Black heterosexual male, I grew up in a culture that (to this day) is fearful, judgemental, and demeaning towards gays and lesbians.

In this culture, conversations with friends and associates result in the use of phrases such as "No Homo" and "Pause", a charge to excuse the previous statement because of its homosexual connotation. This excludes the "gay " metaphor, comparing something or someone bad to being gay (e.g. "You didn't get the job? That's so GAY.") While NBA players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley do their part to curb this behavior, it is still an ongoing issue. In my opinion Gay Rights are unique and different from the struggles of African-Americans or women in the Suffragist Movement. There are similarities, however, and their cause is no less important. We are all children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus (aka The Real Jeezy); all of us deserve to be treated fairly.

Ricky Martin's gay? I thought he was a singer.

Not to jock-ride, but the stance of "The Pres" gives us opportunity to look at the REAL issues at hand,  Respect and Insecurity. A deeper look at these two points helped me to gain a comfortable view on Same-sex marriage, Homosexuality, and their effect on the heterosexual man and woman.

Respect

The obvious sexual differences between hetero and homosexuals masks the fact that both parties are insensitive to the other party as a whole. Each of us are different and there is nothing wrong with that; anything else would be a "co-sign". While I admit that I love women and struggle to comprehend other physical interaction, to devalue another man or woman (because they feel otherwise) is cruel and ungodly. Don't spit on Jerry because he doesn't like large chested women like you do. On the other side, I feel it is important to give people the chance to gain their own feelings about that lifestyle, whether they participate or not. It is my hope that people who disagree do not display malice towards the LGBT community, but it should be understood that everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just don't be ignorant about it.

Insecurity

There is no end to the importance of knowing, loving, and expressing yourself. We now live in a society, however, where people wear their sexual preference like a graphic t-shirt. Our views on intimacy are now our biggest representation of ourselves. It is saddening (and a bit annoying) to hear heterosexuals (and homosexuals; y'all too lol) frequently discuss their romantic lives, sexual desires, and events regarding their preference. After a while, we resemble reproductive organs more than fully functional human beings. More importantly, it creates an appearance of insecurity; there is no reason to commonly discuss a certain lifestyle (either way) unless you have doubt about it. Let's believe in ourselves and our purpose in life, and stop harping on this one function of life.

Though the world around us seems to think otherwise, people of the world are deeper than sex (deeper than rap, like Rozay). A human is the most unique mammal in the land; its collection of thoughts, emotions, and actions allow it to capitalize on its environment. So yes you are straight, or gay, but you're also a doctor, or a poet, or an international player (like me). The display of ALL or MANY of our characteristics reduces the ability for us as people to be stereotyped. So if you are going to show off, show it all off.

In closing, it would be foolish to believe that  resolving these two premises would end all tension regarding same-sex marriages and homosexuality. But it is important we work towards ending the hatred and discrimination of all people. All that hate is wiggity whack.