You know, people who start sentences 'I'm not blank, but....'
Someone I follow on twitter brought attention to someone who has some strange thoughts about homosexuality, and yet doesn't think he is homophobic at all.
Callum Wright is a freelance writer. He is also very worried about his son.
To start with, his son is under two years old, so he doesn't even understand heterosexuality yet. He knows mummy and daddy, the people who love him. He cannot tell gay people apart from straight people.
Another thing, what is with that phrase that these people keep using? They never want 'gay stuff' to be 'shoved in their faces', like we are running around and jumping in front of them and screaming at them when they are just going about their day.
I can only assume this post has come up today because today is pride. You know, that one day a year when we have a big party to celebrate the progress made, and ponder what still needs to be done.
Several friends have put rainbows on their Facebook profile pictures, maybe his friends have done the same and this has got him riled up. Perhaps something as simple as that counts has it being 'shoved in his face'.
For many people, simply existing is 'shoving it in their faces'.
I find this post just fucking heart breaking. I mean to start with, this 'writer' has used the incorrect 'there'. That is simply unforgivable.
This comment is exactly the kind of thing that tortures people. This is the kind of thing that keeps you closeted. This is the kind of thing that keeps you repressed. This is the kind of thing that damages your mental health. This is the kind of thing that people have killed themselves over.
I hope that Mr Wright's son grows up to be a straight man. Seriously, this guy has said that he would be disappointed if his son grows up to be gay. That is a lot of pressure to put on someone who is still a toddler.
I had to respond to that tweet.
I don't plan on having children, but if I did, I probably wouldn't want them to be gay either, but not for the same reasons as Mr Wright.
I wouldn't want my kids to be gay partially because I don't want them to go through the same emotions that I did, and partially because people like Callum exist.
I wouldn't want my children to deal with idiots like this, who think they are being reasonable, and don't give a shit who they hurt.
Ah yes.
'You're gay, were you molested as a child?' Of course he thinks that gayness is something that 'happens' because of 'something' that happened in childhood.
Are they starting 'gay lessons' in school? Are schools going to start showing gay porn or something?
What I remember learning about 'the gays' at school was that there was something wrong with it. I don't recall a single comment about homosexuality that was positive. The word 'gay' was an insult. I am nearly 30 now and I still hear hear it as an insult. I imagine school kids are much the same today.
So Mr Wright needn't worry, chances are, with your help at home of course, your son will be molded into a mini homophobe while in the classroom and playground.
The guy seems baffled that people found his comments offensive.
But look, he doesn't hate gay people.
He knows his stuff, he isn't homophobic, he is clearly a fucking expert on this kind of thing.
He even provides a definition of homophobia to 'prove' he isn't homophobic.
He doesn't want his son to be gay, but 'doesn't have an aversion to homosexuality'.
Sorry, sunshine, it doesn't work that way. You don't want your son to be gay, and by claiming that homosexuality is caused by some childhood event, just proves you know nothing about this life that you disapprove of.
That is homophobia.
What reasons do you have then, Callum, for my desire to have sex with females?
My reason for wanting to sleep with woman is that I am attracted to them, and sex is far more enjoyable and natural for me than it ever was with men.
In fact, if people like you didn't exist, it is safe to say that I would never have slept with men because people like you that surrounded me everywhere wouldn't have made me feel like a broken human.
There is probably nothing anyone can say to change Mr Wright's mind on this, like others of a similar mindset, they believe they know best, so there is very little point arguing with them.
My concern is for his son. Mr Wright is going to raise his son to believe that there is something wrong with homosexuality, that it is not normal. If his son is heterosexual, then all that is going to do is create another man who probably shares the same views as his father.
If his son grows up, to be gay, however, then I worry for him. I can recall both of my parents, and other family members making homophobic comments, and yet it didn't stop me being gay.
Homophobia from family, in addition to what I heard at school made me hate myself, I tried to 'talk myself out of it'. As a teenager, I would have done anything to change myself.
Not because I thought I was doing something wrong, but because I really thought that people would be disappointed in me and reject me.
So to Mr Wright's son, be yourself, let yourself have your own opinions, and good luck.
