How wonderful. And reading this makes me realize how lucky we your regular readers are to have had you hammer this home for us so many times in so many ways.
I of course approve of this article and anyone advancing, you know, sanity. However, one small quibble: advancing the biological-deterministic of homosexuality here, as Hari does, kind of glosses over the fact that someone can indeed 'choose' to engage in homosexual activity without actually being all-the-way gay, and that early teaching that gay is okay might actually make that number uptick a little. And that there's nothing wrong with that! But I suppose he'd be foolish to mention that in a public forum meant to convince homophobes.
Love this line in the article "Don’t demand the right to spit in the face of gay people, and claim you’re being picked on when you’re asked to stop." What the right seems to not understand is that no one wants to take away their free speech. But they want more than that. They want the right to control the behaviour of other people. They want the right to deny civil rights to people they don't approve of. As a general rule, I don't approve of people who cite religion as a reason for what they do but I'm not actively trying to take away their right to do so. I know I'm preaching to the choir here but still had to say it.
Indeed a wonderful article. It's so heart-warming to see such points being made in such an open way, and in a country in which a big change in the opinions of most citizens has already taken place!... And I say this as someone who was, during my childhood, quite homophobic. It's good to be able to say that one can indeed see the light, change opinions and realize that prejudice is simply that: prejudice, in the absence of any real reasons for fear.
It's coming. It may take some time; in some sense, it will take all the time (since there will always be some bigotted people, there will always be some assholes). But it's coming.
Hari has a ton of good points. I'll be grateful when that kind of logical thinking makes its way over here and becomes the majority.
Shit... the religious fundies already did that centuries ago.
Anyway, good article.
It's coming. It may take some time; in some sense, it will take all the time (since there will always be some bigotted people, there will always be some assholes). But it's coming.