The point is that the conversation needs to happen to point out when they are being idiots who gobble down this rhetoric of anti gay, anti poc, anti woman bullshit.
And I’m not doing it for him as much as his daughter and my daughter. They need to know that hating people isn’t the only option. Being gay is ok. Not being gay is ok. Being different is ok and it’s up to us to make sure people are not treated as if they are lesser because they are different. People in a position of privilege need to use that to help, not hinder those who have issues in our society.
By virtue of genetics, I’m a white guy who can’t tan. People automatically listen to me more than some other members of my family. They took more after my maternal grandmother’s side and get greeted with Spanish before English in our area. I have an obligation to speak up when people act a fool especially now that it’s become government policy to hate and ignore sound science.
If you have an obligation to speak up, your obligation surely is to speak effectively. So if you’re trying to convince children who are hearing from others that being gay is a choice and an immoral one at that, this analogy is unlikely to do anything.
This is my point: it’s an analogy that only works if you already agree with its conclusion. If you’re trying to convince kids at risk of being turned into bigots, you’re better off just exposing them to positive representation and positive talk. Getting there via an argument that only works if they don’t believe the bigotry is ineffective - or at least, it’s no more effective than just saying “being gay is OK,” while being less direct. And a smart kid who is hearing “being gay is an immoral choice” will realise that this analogy doesn’t contradict what they heard from their dad or their friend and may become harder to convince due to having heard a shit argument.
That analogy was never going to work on anyone though…
It works out the same. You can choose to be gay as much as you can choose to be black. You choose to be gay as much as you choose to be straight.
It isn’t the media you consume that makes you into what you inherently are.
The people this is targeted at don’t believe that though, so what’s the point?
The point is that the conversation needs to happen to point out when they are being idiots who gobble down this rhetoric of anti gay, anti poc, anti woman bullshit.
And I’m not doing it for him as much as his daughter and my daughter. They need to know that hating people isn’t the only option. Being gay is ok. Not being gay is ok. Being different is ok and it’s up to us to make sure people are not treated as if they are lesser because they are different. People in a position of privilege need to use that to help, not hinder those who have issues in our society.
By virtue of genetics, I’m a white guy who can’t tan. People automatically listen to me more than some other members of my family. They took more after my maternal grandmother’s side and get greeted with Spanish before English in our area. I have an obligation to speak up when people act a fool especially now that it’s become government policy to hate and ignore sound science.
If you have an obligation to speak up, your obligation surely is to speak effectively. So if you’re trying to convince children who are hearing from others that being gay is a choice and an immoral one at that, this analogy is unlikely to do anything.
This is my point: it’s an analogy that only works if you already agree with its conclusion. If you’re trying to convince kids at risk of being turned into bigots, you’re better off just exposing them to positive representation and positive talk. Getting there via an argument that only works if they don’t believe the bigotry is ineffective - or at least, it’s no more effective than just saying “being gay is OK,” while being less direct. And a smart kid who is hearing “being gay is an immoral choice” will realise that this analogy doesn’t contradict what they heard from their dad or their friend and may become harder to convince due to having heard a shit argument.