To Be or To be comdemned for being...?

Recently, I came across a post on someone's blog while i was blog hopping.The author had described in passing that there were some people in her college who advocated equal rights for women as something natural and normal but the same people felt that homosexuality was something horrific. This brought to mind a debate we had in college some time back about whether homosexuality should be legalized. I realise that this is a topic which has probably been discussed ad nauseum, but the very fact that it has been discussed so much is to be wondered at, methinks.

I was rather surprised that some people whom i had considered liberal and rather broadminded in their outlook were vehement in their opposition to the idea. And more so their reasons! some of them were just plain ridiculous.
I get that people dont deal well with things or actions they arent used to or things they consider abnormal. Actions which detract from their comfort zone may make them feel threatened. Thats what we call a culture shock. But to go so far as to outlaw it???? Isnt that taking things too far?

The Indian Penal Code says that sexual practices with someone of the same gender is against the law. It actually outlaws something which most people dont have a control over. whatever happened to equal rights? Doesnt this law go against the very fabric of our democracy?
And when you think about it, a sexual prefrence is all it is. How does it affect other people in any way whatsoever? Ok, someone prefers people of their own sex. Does that make you feel insecure in any way? Is anyone forcing you to participate in acts of homosexuality? and if they do, that comes under rape which happens amonmg heterosexuals also. Being gay is considered an insult, something you mock people with. How many times have you heard people say "He looks so gay!" when they see a flamboyantly dressed man?
Pardon me, but i wasnt aware that your sexual preference had anything to do with your dress sense. If you are assured about your sexuality, then why do u bother so much with people who are different? why do you feel so threatened?
The chief argument one hears against homosexuality is that it is against nature. Gee, omniscient are we? they are there, arent they? Nature created them. And they are present in sufficiently large numbers to prove that its not some freak mutation. And its found even in the animal kingdom. Guppy fish, for example. There were even a pair of gay gorillas in some zoo, though i forget which.

And another common argument is it being against our tradition. Some people have this vague idea that homosexuality is some new fangled thing which is against our culture. That, is total shit. Its been around for as long as people can remember. There are numerous instances in history, legend, myth and even some of our religious texts to show that homosexuality is as old as documented history. And more, it was an accepted part of life then. One story in particular comes to my mind. In ancient Sparta, the warriors were encouraged to be homosexual so they dont go around lusting after women. Why, even the Greek gods showed bisexual tendencies!
The Greek god Apollo once fell in love with a Spartan prince and was greatly enamoured by his beauty. But Zephyr, the west wind, also fell madly in love with him. This chap's name was Hyacinthus. So Apollo and Zephyr battled it out for Hyacinthus' affections and Apollo was chosen. Now, Zephyr was so mad at this that he killed Hyacinthus. Apollo took pity on him and turned him into a water plant and named it Hyacinth.
Theres even ancient Greek and even Indian art which depicts homosexual love scenes (and no, they arent being burnt or tortured).
The Kinsey report which was a survey done by an American scientist, Alfred Kinsey, in the late 1940s and the early 1950s showed that 37% of men and 13% of women have had atleast one sexual encounter. Rather a large amount to be against human nature.

And anyway, like a friend of mine said, just because there are some homosexual people in the world doesnt mean its an epidemic or that its contagious. So any argument that the 'natural' scheme of things would be overturned if these people are allowed to exist is compleetely baseless and downright stupid.
And really, its all the same thing. Its still love and infatuation and passion...just with someone of the same sex. Why shouldnt these people be given an equal oppurtunity to love? why must they be persecuted so much and made to hide to hide their love? Dont you think they might want to go walking hand in hand under a moonlit sky too? Or do you think its just a sexual perversion and such people arent capable of love?

Why should they be condemned for being what they are?

what thinketh you?