http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150420/PC1002/150429970/1025/
Kirkpatrick Sale’s serious op-ed on April 11, “How did gay power get so much clout?” contains a number of unintentionally humorous comments. I’ll mention just two.
First, Sale accuses gays of being an uppity minority in this country, compared with larger minorities like Jews. As proof he asks, “Are the 6 million American Jews boycotting stores that sell pork?” Speaking as a Jew, I can unequivocally say no— any more than gays are boycotting heterosexual weddings like the one I had. Gays simply ask for equal rights. Incidentally, most American Jews who don’t eat pork are more likely to refrain because they are vegetarians, like me, than because they observe all the strict kosher laws.
Second, Sale decries “the bizarre idea of marriage between two people of the same sex, which for most of human history was not only not proposed but for the most part not even thought of.” Do you know something else that was viewed as bizarre and against God’s will through most of South Carolina history? Interracial marriage. It was illegal until 1967, when the Supreme Court overturned all miscegenation laws. It wasn’t until 1998 that a referendum to remove miscegenation laws from the South Carolina Constitution passed with the support of 62 percent of voters. I wish “live and let live” were a philosophy we could all adopt, whether religious or not. Those who prefer to live in the past may personally choose to do so as long as it doesn’t interfere with equal rights for everyone else.
Gays are a minority, but I agree with Dorothy Parker: “Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.”
Kirkpatrick Sale’s serious op-ed on April 11, “How did gay power get so much clout?” contains a number of unintentionally humorous comments. I’ll mention just two.
First, Sale accuses gays of being an uppity minority in this country, compared with larger minorities like Jews. As proof he asks, “Are the 6 million American Jews boycotting stores that sell pork?” Speaking as a Jew, I can unequivocally say no— any more than gays are boycotting heterosexual weddings like the one I had. Gays simply ask for equal rights. Incidentally, most American Jews who don’t eat pork are more likely to refrain because they are vegetarians, like me, than because they observe all the strict kosher laws.
Second, Sale decries “the bizarre idea of marriage between two people of the same sex, which for most of human history was not only not proposed but for the most part not even thought of.” Do you know something else that was viewed as bizarre and against God’s will through most of South Carolina history? Interracial marriage. It was illegal until 1967, when the Supreme Court overturned all miscegenation laws. It wasn’t until 1998 that a referendum to remove miscegenation laws from the South Carolina Constitution passed with the support of 62 percent of voters. I wish “live and let live” were a philosophy we could all adopt, whether religious or not. Those who prefer to live in the past may personally choose to do so as long as it doesn’t interfere with equal rights for everyone else.
Gays are a minority, but I agree with Dorothy Parker: “Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.”
