We hold these truths to be selfevident

1
We hold these truths to be self-evident --
That all men and women are created equal that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights that among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of
Independence America has, since its founding,
struggled to fulfill the Founding
Fathers vision. Traditional dogmas
supporting the sub-
jugation of women,
prohibition and slavery have been abandoned.
Now is the time for the United States to
allow yet another stigmatized group of its
population to share in life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. We hope that the
following information will help you understand
the issue better, and will give data that aids
in discussions with family and friends.
2
DEFINITIONS JUST WHAT ARE WE TALKING
ABOUT?
Homosexual Attracted physically and emotionally
to members of the same sex. The root is from the
Greek homo, meaning same (as in homogeneous),
not the Latin homo, meaning man (as in homo
sapiens). Gay De-emphasizes the sexual
aspect and is less clinical than homosexual.
Used since the 1700s for people who lead an
unconventional lifestyle. Lesbian Many women
(though far from all) prefer this term, because
1) it makes them more visible 2) it points out
a different life style from that of some gay men.
(less consumerist and less promiscuous, more
emphasis on sisterhood and support. From the
Greek Island Lesbos where the poet Sappho (b. 612
B.C.) lived.) Kinsey Scale from Alfred Kinsey,
et al, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (W. B.
Saunders, 1948), 638. Kinsey uses it to cover
only one year, but often used to describe an
entire life. May include emotions, physical
experience, or both. Numbers run 0-1-2-3-4-5-6.
0All of their psychological responses and
all of their overt sexual activities are directed
toward persons of the opposite sex. 6if
they are exclusively homosexual in their
psychological responses . . . even though they
may never have overt homosexual contacts. 1 and
5 -- almost entirely . . . respond only
incidentally 2 and 4 -- definitely respond
toward and/or maintain a fair amount of
contact 3 -- about equal response a perfect
bisexual
3
DEFINITIONS SOME FINER
DISTINCTIONS
Sexual Identity Which gender one feels as if
one belongs to. Most homosexuals are happy with
the gender they were born into. But some people
feel as if they are a man trapped in a womans
body and vice versasee transsexual. Sexual
Orientation Which gender one falls in love
with. Parallel one is oriented to using the
right or left hand efforts to change a childs
handedness are unsuccessful and cause
problems. Sexual Preference Which gender one
would prefer to fall in love with. Since this
term implies a choice, it is a favorite of people
who oppose LGBT rights. Psychologists say that
Kinsey 5s and 6s, at least, dont have a
choice. Parallel one prefers Coke to Pepsi,
but it doesnt make much difference which one
drinks if one is thirsty. One isnt orientated
to a food or a color, nor is one orientated to
multiple partners. Transsexual A person who
desires to change genders, is in the process, or
who has changed. Transvestite A person who
responds sexually to wearing clothing of the
opposite gender. Note Most transvestites are
heterosexual males very few women are
transvestites, though there are fewer stereotypes
about appropriate clothing for women. Drag
Queen Often a professional entertainer or one
hoping to be so. May be a transvestite or
transsexual but often is not may have believed
that all homosexual men were supposed to behave
like this. Homophobia The irrational fear
and/or hatred of homosexuals and of
homosexuality. GLBT OR LGBT Gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender. Occasionally an I or
an IQ are added, for intersexed and queer,
but this becomes awkward. In academic and
activist circles, the trend is toward using
queer as inclusive. Queer Once a slur (and
still used as such occasionally), reclaiming this
term began with a group called the radical
fairies in the 1980s. Many academics now use
the term not only to indicate sexual orientation
but to signify other unconventional methods of
thinking, thinking outside the box.
4
STEREOTYPES WHAT PEOPLE THINK THEY KNOW, BUT
DONT

• Gays are sick and can be cured. On December
  15, 1973, the American Psychiatric Association
  removed homosexuality from its list of mental
  disorders. The American Psychological
  Association followed suit the next year.
  Ego-dystonic homosexuality, problems adjusting
  and accepting oneself, remains, so that people
  with such problems can be covered by health
  insurance. Historically, homosexuality has
  frequently been accepted, especially in ancient
  Greece and in Western Europe till around A.D.
  1200 (c.f. John Boswell, Christianity, Social
  Tolerance, and Homosexuality Gay People in
  Western Europe from the Beginning of the
  Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century, Chicago
  UP, 1980) and other titles.) Two/thirds of the
  cultures reported on in the Human Relations Area
  Files accepted some form of homosexuality.
• Gays become homosexual as a result of a
  homosexual seduction and thus try to recruit
  others, especially children. Nobody knows the
  cause of homosexuality, but psychological
  thinking today stresses the likelihood of an
  inborn predisposition combined with an unknown
  environmental trigger ones orientation is
  determined by age six, certainly before
  adolescence. (c.f. Alan P. Bell, Martin S.
  Weinberg and S. K. Hammersmith, Sexual
  Preference Its development in Men and Women,
  Indiana UP, 1981.) The definitive study in
  this country, conducted by the Childrens
  Division of the American Humane Society, reported
  that 11 of every 12 incidents of child molesting
  in America were committed by heterosexual males
  against young girls. A large proportion of these
  incidents involved incest. For further
  statistics, see http // www. acf.dhhs.gov/program
  s/cb/pubs. For decades young people were told
  to marry and get over it. Recent examples of
  political figures and evangelical ministers show
  that even with high motivation, this doesnt
  work.
• Gay men are extremely promiscuous. Some are
  some arent, just like heterosexual men. This
  behavior is encouraged by the problems which
  society places on their forming permanent
  attachments. Question what would be the
  fidelity rate of heterosexual couples if they had
  no hope of marrying if they could not introduce
  their partners to their parents if their church
  refused to accept them if they could be fired
  from their jobs if anyone found out about their
  relationship?
• ..

5
MORE STEREOTYPES SOME FALSE, SOME TRUE

• Gays are easily recognizable. Some people may
  feel this is the only way to meet people, or
  (especially before prominent politicians and
  evangelists were outed,) that this is the
  proper way for a lesbian or gay man to act. But
  you probably know many such people without having
  a clue about their sexual orientation. (Fantasy
  imagine that one morning when people wake up,
  everyone is shaded according to their rank on the
  Kinsey Scale. Zeros remain as they are, 1s and
  2s are tinged with lavender, but 6s are deep
  purple. What surprises the population would be
  in for! As many as 10 would be purple, said
  Kinsey.
• Gays are unhappy. Yes, many glbt people are
  unhappy. The most unhappy are teenagers, who are
  coming to terms with their orientation in a
  hostile society. A GLSEN survey found over 90 of
  LGBT youth reported hearing homophobic comments
  in school regularly, 1/3 of them said no one ever
  intervened, and 1/3 reported hearing such
  comments from teachers and staff. Another study
  showed nearly 1/3 of GLBT students had been
  threatened with a weapon at school in the past
  month, compared with 7 of heterosexual students.
  http//www.aclu.org/issues/gay/Statistics.html
• However, those who accept themselves and
  live accordingly may end up fine. A 1982 study
  of older gay men, Gay and Gray, (Raymond M.
  Berger, Allyson Press) showed many of its
  subjects to be happier than older heterosexuals.
  
• I thought that people like that killed
  themselves. The title of a 1983 study by Eric
  E. Rofes subtitled Lesbians,Gay Men and Suicide.
  Unfortunately, this may too often be true.
  Fourteen studies listed at http//www.youth-suicid
  e.com/gay-bisexual/news/studies.htm10 in a table
  entitled Gay/Bisexual Male Youth Lifetime
  Suicide Attempt Data Studies with
  Heterosexual Male Control Samples varied from
  2 to 14 times more likely for a gay youth to try
  suicide than for a heterosexual one the median
  was 5.8 times more likely. This, of course,
  lists only obvious suicide attempts those who
  die in an accident or who contract AIDS on
  purpose because they think they are worthless are
  not counted. Very few studies on lesbian
  suicides have been conducted, but articles
  generally agree their statistics would be
  similar. Cf. an old newspaper story about two
  teen-age boys, best friends, who shot each other
  several times till both died. No one in their
  small town could figure out why they did it.
  Were they just playing with guns? Both knew how
  to hunt. (from an old newspaper clipping I cant
  locate at the moment.)

6
MYTHS UNLIKE STEREOTYPES, MYTHS FORM PARTS OF
BASIC BELIEF SYSTEMS. IT IS HARDER TO COMBAT
THEM WITH EVIDENCE, BUT SOMETIMES A MYTH
MAY FADE AWAY WHEN CHALLENGED BY ANOTHER
BASIC BELIEF.

• Gays choose their orientation (preference) and
  therefore can change if they want to. This
  belief is the most detrimental of any. It is
  sometimes based on lack of information about what
  professional psychologists say, sometimes on not
  realizing that there are degrees of orientation
  as described in the Kinsey Scale, sometimes on
  wishful thinking. Perhaps the best evidence that
  basic orientation cannot be changed is the sad
  stories of such prominent citizens as Governor
  James McGreevey, Senator Larry Craig, and
  televangelists Ted Haggard and Paul Crouch. All
  of these men apparently struggled against their
  orientation for most of their lives. They
  married, but were caught having same-sex affairs.
  We must pity them and others, such as a Denton
  man who died in his late forties of a stroke
  brought on by high blood pressure. He was
  married and loved his wife and child, did not act
  on his feelings though he confessed them to a few
  friends and through his research, and took his
  medicine irregularly till the tension of living a
  life that was essentially a lie killed him.
• Gays are against family values. It is all too
  often the families who discard their gay members.
  It is impossible to get accurate figures, but
  ABCs program 20/20 for Sept. 13, 1999, estimated
  that 63,000 children a year are thrown out of
  their homes when their heterosexual, often
  fundamentalist, parents find out that they are
  gay. Older persons may be rejected when their
  families finally realize their orientation.
• If this myth were true, why is same-sex marriage
  so high on the list of political goals of LGBT
  groups? And why are there so many long-term
  same-sex couples, in spite of the dangers
  associated with being found out? Again, accurate
  figures are impossible to find, but the 2000
  census lists 601,209 same-sex couples, about half
  and half gay men and lesbians. 85 of these
  lived together five years earlier 30 have
  children under 18. Denton county statistics
  include 867 such couples, 378 of them male, 489
  female. For more information, see
  http//www.gaydemographics.org /USA/PUMS/nationali
  ntro.htm
• Gays hate members of the opposite sex, yet they
  want to be members of the opposite sex. Lets
  hope Will and Grace ended the first part of
  this belief like them, many homosexuals have
  good opposite-sex friends. As for wanting to
  change, that is true of transsexuals, not of gay
  men and lesbians.

7
MYTHS (CONTINUED)

• Homosexuality is illegal if it isnt, it should
  be. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) was
  a landmark U. S. Supreme Court case. In the 6-3
  ruling, the justices struck down the criminal
  prohibition of homosexual sodomy in Texas. The
  court had previously addressed the same issue in
  1986 in Bowers v. Hardwick, but had upheld the
  challenged Georgia statute, not finding a
  constitutional protection of sexual privacy.
  Lawrence explicitly overruled Bowers . . . The
  majority held that intimate consensual sexual
  conduct was part of the liberty protected by
  substantive due process under the Fourteenth
  Amendment. Lawrence has the effect of
  invalidating similar laws throughout the United
  States that purport to criminalize homosexual
  activity between consenting adults acting in
  private. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v.
  _Texas Here the conflict between value
  systems is clear. Our country is not a
  theocracy, but the main arguments against
  homosexuality are religious. The Supreme Court
  has ruled that our Constitution takes precedence
  in law.
• Homosexuality is against Biblical teachings if
  one is a Christian, one must condemn
  homosexuality, and believe in . . .
• Allowing employers and landlords to discriminate
  against same-sex couples
• Denying health insurance, hospital visitation,
  inheritance of property, and similar partnership
  benefits to long-term committed couples
• Refusing to allow gays and lesbians to serve in
  the military though currently those without high
  school diplomas and those with criminal records
  can, and most of our allies allow such service
  (For instance, badly needed translators of Arabic
  were discharged when they were outed.)
• Not allowing adoptions nor foster care by
  same-sex partners
• Prohibiting public schools from discussing
  homosexuality and from including books in their
  school libraries which feature positive
  information on the topic
• Amending the Constitution to define marriage as
  a union between one man and one woman, thus
  striking down state laws such as that in
  Massachusetts which allow same-sex partners to
  wed. Many states have passed such amendments to
  their own constitutions
• SO -- LETS SEE WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS.

8
Does the Bible condemn all homosexuals and all
homosexual relationships, even loving ones?
How much does it really talk about the topic,
and in what contexts?
Genesis 1-2, The Creation Story Yes, God
created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. But is
the Genesis account the whole story? Why does
127-28 say that both male and female were
created in Gods image and both given dominion
over the earth, but 221-23 show woman created
from Adams rib and subservient to him? And
where do the daughters of men (62) come from?
Did Cain, Shem, Ham and Japheth have sisters whom
they married incestuously? Who else was there
for them to marry? Is not a great deal of
history left out here? Are we not choosing which
parts of Genesis to follow? If the marital
relationship is the only approved one, why did
the early church promote celibacy? Is friendship
wrong, since it is not mentioned here? Why
arent Hams descendents still slaves, as not
only Genesis but many other Biblical passages
support? 921-27 was long used to justify
slavery. Why isnt it practiced today? In other
words, Genesis does not form a good pattern for
the entire future world. Genesis 191-9, Sodom
and Gomorrah (also Judges 19 and Ezekiel
1646-56) The people of Sodom sinned angels
were sent to warn Lot to escape his neighbors
demanded the angels so they could rape them Lot
offers his virgin daughters instead but is
rejected the angels blind the Sodomites and the
family escapes. Nobody today condones rape,
homosexual or heterosexual. When Jesus spoke of
the sin of Sodom in two passages (the only times
he spoke about a topic that can be interpreted to
deal with anything approaching homosexuality), he
makes it clear that the sin of Sodom was lack of
hospitality (Matthew 1014-15, Luke 1010-12), as
do other O.T. passages. Victor Paul Furnish, in
The Moral Teaching of Paul, (Abingdon,1985), says
that In every instance where the term
sodomite is used, the reference is to male
prostitutes associated with places of worship
(57). The main problem of pastoral religions,
like that of the ancient Hebrews, was keeping
young men with the tribe. The Old Testament is
full of injunctions about avoiding rituals of the
surrounding agricultural people with their many
gods of fertility, because Our God is a jealous
God. (Agricultural people have many gods
because their main problem is fertility, thus
requiring gods covering areas like rain, heat,
insects, etc. The story of Samson is an example
of a young man thinking of straying.)
9
The rest of the passages in the Bible yes,
folks, thats all there is.
Leviticus 1822 and 2013, The Holiness Code.
Leviticus begins with a long list of dietary and
other restrictions for the Israelitesno eating
of beasts with cloven hoofs nor fish without fins
and scales no red dresses for women. Then God
promises to lead them out of their subjugation in
Egypt and tells them For all these
abominations have the men of the land done, which
were before you (1827), clearly saying the
problem with the forbidden practices in Ch. 18 is
that they were practiced by the pagans. (He does
not forbid polygamy mostly the chapter deals
with incest.) Ch. 20 continues the theme,
prescribing the death penalty for adultery with
his neighbors wife, (10) mankind, (22)
beast, (23) and for incest with stepmother,
mother-in-law or daughter-in-law. Incest with a
sister is less serious, as are relations with a
woman having her period the couple will be
banished. Ch. 21 forbids men to shave off the
corner of their beard (5) nor can any man who is
lame or has a blemish or broken bones
approach to offer the bread of his God,
(17-21), thus forbidding priesthood to them.
Nor shall crops be planted or grapes harvested
every seventh year (254-5, passim.) Does it
make sense to pick out two verses to obey and
disregard all the others? Even incest does not
result in the death penalty today men shave
crops are planted and harvested every year.
Romans 126-27, Dishonorable passions among
wealthy Romans. Peter J. Gomes in The Good Book
(HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) states that when Paul
says Roman women exchanged natural relations for
unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural
relations with women and were consumed with
passion for one another, Paul is writing about
the fallen nature of humankind. It is this
fallen nature, this corrupted will . . . that
has caused both Gentile and Jew to suppress the
truth about God by their wickedness (155).
The wealthy Romans were decadent, and Paul
continues that they were Full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips,
slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty,
boastful, inventors of evil,disobedient to
parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless
(129-31 cited on 156). Homosexual
relationships were generally power relationships.
(c.f. the conversation between Laurence
Oliviers and Tony Curtiss characters in
Spartacus). Does condemnation of such behavior
imply condemnation of a faithful relationship
between two people who love each other? Does
giving up natural relations show an
understanding of an inborn sexual orientation, in
which same-sex relations seem natural and
opposite-sex ones feel wrong? I
Corinthians 69 and I Timothy 1-10, St. Pauls
lists of vices. Paul has discovered in Corinth a
man living with his fathers wife, and so he
repeats the list of vices forbidden to
Christians. This list includes references to
effeminate males and men who have sex with
them. . . meaning youthful call-boys and their
customers. . . . Such conduct Paul regards as one
of the forms of unrighteousness by which
unbelievers are distinguished from saints. .
. . The various kinds of vice and wickedness
listed here and elsewhere are understood by Paul
to be symptomatic of sin, not its roots and
essence (Furnish, 72).
10
TWO THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT
THE BIBLE PASSAGES

• Until the work of Freud, Ulrichs, Hirschfeld,
  Hooker, Kinsey and others, beginning less than
  150 years ago, there was no understanding of a
  homosexual orientation. Note Nor was there an
  understanding of schizophrenia, which is similar
  to possession by demons as described in the
  Bible, nor of certain other psychological
  conditions.
• Is it fair to cherry pick the Bible and accept
  some of its teachings while rejecting other
  teachings in adjacent verses, chapters or books?
  Some parts clearly were written to guide the
  early Hebrews in specific circumstances.
• And for further reading . . .
• Websites
• http//www.equalitytexas.org/ EqualityTexas. A
  statewide organization, this year concentrating
  on creating anti-bullying policies in Texas
  school districts. (Denton ISD has one, the fifth
  in the state to include lgbt students
  specifically.)
• http//www.hrc.org/ Human Rights Campaign.
  See in particular New Report Finds Unprecedented
  Growth in Employer Policies for Gay and
  Transgender Workers , showing 195 businesses
  employing 8.3 million persons now meet all of the
  HRCs top rating on treatment of lgbt persons.
• http//www.lambdalegal.org/ Lambda Legal. The
  main legal defense organization, this website
  covers both national and state issues.
• http//www.nbjcoalition.org/ Look in particular
  at Jumping the Broom A Black Perspective on
  Same-Gender Marriage, which has much useful
  material on homosexuality in general and at
  Black Leaders Speak Out.
• http//www.pflag.org/ Parents and Friends of
  Lesbians and Gays.
• http//www.publicagenda.org/issues/debate.cfm?issu
  e_typegay_rights
• www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/ The
  Rockridge Institute deals with how to frame
  issues of all kinds.
• http//wwwTheCarrolltonProject.com The
  Carrollton Project is a nonpartisan effort to
  expand the gay lesbian community. . . Include
  educational outreach, forums, voter drives, and
  outreach to other communities who share our
  aims.
• A Few Ground-Breaking Books (In addition to
  those cited in the text above)
• Abbott, Sidney, and Barbara Love. Sappho Was a
  Right-On Woman a Liberated View of Lesbianism.
  Stein and Day, 1972. A classic work.

11
AND A FINAL COMMENT ON THE SUBJECT FROM A
LONG-TIME CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER
Is gay rights a civil rights issue? Julian Bond,
Board Chairman, NAACP ARE gay rights civil
rights? Of course they are. "Civil rights" are
positive legal prerogatives--the right to equal
treatment before the law. These are rights shared
by all--there is no one in the United States who
does not--or should not--share in these
rights. Gay and lesbian rights are not "special
rights" in any way. It isn't "special" to be free
from discrimination--it is an ordinary, universal
entitlement of citizenship. The right not to be
discriminated against is a commonplace claim we
all expect to enjoy under our laws and our
founding document, the Constitution. That many
had to struggle to gain these rights makes them
precious--it does not make them special, and it
does not reserve them only for me or restrict
them from others. When others gain these rights,
my rights are not reduced in any way. Luckily,
"civil rights" are a win/win game the more civil
rights are won by others, the stronger the army
defending my rights becomes. My rights are not
diluted when my neighbor enjoys protection from
the law--he becomes my ally in defending the
rights we share. Objections to "gay rights" take
many forms. For some, comparisons between the
African-American Civil Rights Movement and the
movement for gay and lesbian rights seem to
diminish our long historical struggle with all
its suffering, sacrifices and endless toil.
However, we ought to be flattered that our
movement has provided so much inspiration for
others, that it has been so widely imitated, and
that our tactics, methods, heroines and heroes,
even our songs, have been appropriated by or
served as models for others. No analogy between
movements for rights is exact. African-Americans
are the only Americans who were enslaved for more
than two centuries, and people of color carry the
badge of who we are on our faces. But we are far
from the only people suffering discrimination--sad
ly, so do many others. They deserve the law's
protections and civil rights, too. Some who
object to gay rights see homosexuality as a
choice, but science has demonstrated conclusively
that sexual disposition is inherent in some, not
an option or alternative they've selected. In
that regard, it exactly parallels race--I was
born Black and had no choice. I couldn't and
wouldn't change it. Like race, our sexuality
isn't a preference--it is immutable,
unchangeable, and the Constitution protects us
all against prejudices and discrimination based
on immutable differences. Some who believe in
Biblical literalism find sanction for their
anti-homosexuality there, but selectively ignore
Biblical injunctions to execute people who work
on the Sabbath (Exodus 352) and to crack down on
those who get haircuts (Leviticus 1927) or who
wear clothes with more than one kind of thread
(1919). There's no Biblical mention of
lesbianism--are we to think that male
homosexuality is wrong but female homosexuality
is not? Many gays and lesbians worked side by
side with me in the '60s Civil Rights Movement.
Am I to now tell them "thanks" for risking life
and limb helping me win my rights--but they are
excluded because of a condition of their birth?
They cannot share now in the victories they
helped to win? Not a chance. http//findarticle
s.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_9_59/ai_n6100475/prin
t