Texan Mosaic

by BRITTNY STEGALL//Opinion Editor

Living in the world today, if someone is a homosexual, he or she gets treated as if they are infected with a disease that is going to spread to whoever they come in contact with.

Being homosexual is not an infectious disease. Whether someone is gay or lesbian, they are normal people, just like everyone else. Why do we treat them differently? They get called “fags” or “queers,” and the list goes on. Parents turn their kids away from them as they walk by. They get bullied physically and mentally, and that does not just go away overnight. It is continuous. No matter how many laws are passed or views are changed, there will still be somebody out there to throw vile words into their faces.

Being gay or lesbian is something you are either born with or not, because nobody in his or her right mind would choose to go through their lives being bullied until the day they die. Why is it that people torment others if they are not like them?

I have a brother and multiple friends who are openly gay. I even have a few friends who are not open about it, because they fear how their friends and family are going to look at them once they come out. Every single one of them has said, “how it was something I was born with, I never chose to do this.” One even prayed that it would go away. Nobody can tell me that someone who would pray for it to go away would ask for it to happen.

They are homosexual, but that does not mean they have HIV or AIDS. It does not mean that they cannot raise a proper family because there is not a mother or a father in the picture. It is not a free pass to call them names and mentally and physically harm them. It isn’t something that should be treated like a disease. It is not a sin that out-weighs other sins.

We should love them equally as we would love a straight person. It is a chance for two same sex-people to be happy raising a child together in their home. It means their blood is not infected with a “gay” disease. It means we call them by their names, not by any other godforsaken name you can think up. It means we treat them with the same respect you would treat your mother. God loves every one equally. Just because someone is homosexual does not mean He is going to banish them to hell or make that sin worth more than others.

Being homosexual is not a life choice that one can decide overnight. It is a gut feeling one has when he or she is younger and realizes “I might not be like other boys and girls my age.” Young boys and girls who might be lesbian or gay are growing up in a world where they see homosexuals being bashed and harmed, not loved like they might be now.

So how can it be OK to look at a grown person and call him or her names and hate them when you would never think about doing that to a child? You are supposed to raise children so they want to be themselves and be proud of who they are. So, if we keep mentally and physically harming homosexuals, how can we be raising our kids to grow up to be proud of themselves if they are homosexual? People are raising them to hide who they are and to fear who they are without even realizing they are doing it. We need to allow them to BE who they are, not who they are TOLD they are.

Take a step back and think of the world you want your children, friends and family to live in. Do you want a world where it’s OK to call them hateful names, or do you want a world in which we can all be loved? The next time you use some insult that you think is OK to say, think about if you would want your son or daughter being called that.