Comeback: reflections of a truly disturbed mind...

Long time no see. I really am the worst at keeping up with blogging but now I've got some thoughts to share that just won't accept not being penned down here...

Today I was once again reminded of the general ignorance among people around me. My office is right next to the break room so I can hear pretty much anything that’s said in there. Today I heard a colleague express such ignorance and unwillingness to even try to think differently that it shocked me to the core. This person is someone whom I generally do respect and whom, in addition, is in a position where they should be a support to everyone who works in our workplace. And yet this person was sitting there talking in a somewhat exasperated, derogatory way about LGBT and Pride-festivals. The quote that shook me the most was this:

“They [the ones participating in Pride-festivals] say they want to be considered normal, but if that’s so, why are they doing things with guys [if they’re guys themselves]?” 

That statement was made with the full assumption that hetero is to be considered the only normal, everything else is abnormal. Sadly that seems to be the opinion anti- (or even just neutral-) LGBT people likes to nurture the most. In that instance I really wanted to just shoot out of my office chair, run out and blatantly ask that person if their head was screwed on right. But I lost my chance, being stuck doing some actual work. Either way, it got me thinking. Why is it that hetero is “normal” to the point that no one even questions the assumption that that is to be the norm?  

Looking at mythology and history, they’re riddled with stories about same sex relationships. Alexander the Great was reported to have male lovers; Achilles had his Patroclus, not to mention the whole tradition of Japanese Shudo. The last one is, by the way, believed to have been inspired by homosexuality in ancient China, where it was, according to Wikipedia (and hopefully other, more reliable sources) fairly common until the mid-1800s when Western culture began to change the mindsets.  

Anyway, what do the examples above have in common? All of them were pre-Christianity and pre-Islamic. And the conclusion then is? Yeah, that’s right. Heterosexuality as “normal” is something we have been brainwashed to believe because of organized religion.  

I live in a country where religion typically doesn’t have a particularly strong hold any longer. And yet, outdated, bigoted Christian beliefs and doctrines are still very much alive and kicking up trouble. Those doctrines and whatnot were “penned” down during a period of time where procreation was more or less a matter of sheer survival. We don’t have that problem any longer, one could even argue it’s quite the opposite today, really. And yet those old misconceptions still linger on, causing lots of heart ache, persecution, pain and sheer misunderstandings to a lot of people. It truly saddens me. And, to be honest, I doubt I’ll ever be able to see my colleague the same way from now on, knowing that they, too, are victims of age-old bigotry that serves no practical purpose in today’s society.

About damn time

I heard on the news today that the UN has finally passed a resolution that states that it's a human right not to be persecuted for one's sexual orientation. A great decision in my opinion and about damn time it happened.

No one should ever have to hide part of who they are just because there are narrow-minded bigots infesting the world. There is a reason why one has something called "private" life. What does it concern anyone else what gender a person's chooses for his or her partner, after all? As long as it's consensual and both (or everyone, in cases of polygamous relationships) are of legal age I don't see why it should concern an outsider how the partners live their private lives.

The only thing bothering me is that it's taken so long for a resolution like this to come into effect. I shudder to think of all the people who have been persecuted, ridiculed, abused or even killed/executed because of their sexual orientation up to now. And, unfortunately, I am too cynical to believe it will end completely just because the UN has decided so. As long as there are narrow-minded idiots out there who are unable to stop sticking their nasty paws into other people's private business this world will continue to force people to hide who they are and what they like. I blame a lot of those narrow-minded views on sexuality and the likes on religion. I've never quite understood where religion applies to human relationships, really. It's a lot of rules that frankly don't seem to fit in anywhere other than in the narrowest and most bigoted world.

I want to see a more open-minded world where no one should have to be afraid to be who they are (provided they don't hurt others in doing so). Sadly, such a world will never exist. So I'll just hope that this UN resolution will at least help to give a few more people some peace of mind, and that the UN won't cave in at the pressure from countries built on outdated and bigoted views.

Go UN! Stand strong and do what you're supposed to be doing: Protect the rights of all human beings.