Different views than those around you

I was wondering if anyone has the problem of parents or friends who have different views from you in the Gay Rights area. I was wondering how you guys deal with this or how you discuss it. Have you guys known that maybe your parents are totally against gay rights but you are totally for them and gotten into arguments with them? Could you guys maybe post stories? I want to hear how you guys feel about having different views than those close to you. Such as if it makes it hard to talk to them or makes things awkward.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by NerdyClarinetGirl17 on June 30, 2012 at 10:14pm

I'm straight, but I'm an advocate of LGBT rights. My best friend, Sam, is a strong Christian and also has significantly different political views than me. He doesn't hate gay people, but he thinks it's wrong. We don't really talk about it much because I know we'll just start to argue, but I will bring it up with him sometimes. And then we'll debate about it for a while... neither of us ever really win because he's never going to not believe what the Bible says, and I'm never going to turn my back on the GSA, so it's a little pointless. He's really just his own person, and as long as he doesn't openly insult gay people or bully them (he doesn't), I'm really fine with it. In my school, homosexuality isn't really brought up (it's kind of a taboo subject because I live in an are that's predominantly white and Christian) so I'm sure most people in my school are at least uncomfortable with gay people. I've never seen anything really extreme, but bullying happens more frequently over the internet now, so I'm certain at least one person in my school really hates homosexuals. I'm lucky I don't live somewhere with more people like that.

Permalink Reply by Brianna Marie on July 6, 2012 at 7:18pm

What I recently learned was that Leviticus was meant for Jews or something, and were now invalid. I think it's because Leviticus is part of the "old rule" system that was invalidated, along with Original Sin, when Christ died on the cross, thus bringing in a new system of rules. So yeah, Leviticus 18:22 is not a valid argument against gays.

Permalink Reply by Grace D. on June 30, 2012 at 10:22pm

Literally the story of my life. I grew up in a very conservative Christian home and went to a very conservative Christian school, so I was constantly surrounded by, "Being gay is a sin, and they don't deserve rights" and all that crap. Around age 16 I realized I could think for myself and form my own opinions on that matter. I realized that I don't care if some people see it as a sin or not, gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. I was scared at first to go up against my teachers and parents, but I got over it and stood up for what I felt was right. It made things uncomfortable at home and I would launch into lectures whenever my parents would make a homophobic comment and would eventually start leaving the room whenever they spoke about politics. However, amidst the frustration and disagreement, my parents saw how truly passionate I was about it. That forced them to look at it from a different side. Recently they came to me seperately and said that they now believed that gay people should be able to get married. My everyday enviroment constantly makes me feel like the minority with this opinion on this issue, and it sucks and it's frustrating, but I do have hope that more and more people will see the reality that everyone should be treated equal.

Permalink Reply by Brianna Marie on July 6, 2012 at 7:21pm

That was kind of a nice story. It had a happy-ish ending :) It proves that people can change and it gives me hope for later. I believe that we will give gays equal rights, because how could we not? This is blatant discrimination, and most of the arguments were the same arguments in use to prevent African Americans from receiving the vote. Everyone should be treated equal.

Permalink Reply by Sydney on July 1, 2012 at 8:07am

I recently made a comment to my mom about how I thought gays should have equal rights. Her response was, "So, are you gay now, or what?" (I'm straight)

Don't get me wrong, I love my mom. She is one of my best friends and we agree on a lot of things. I don't know if she is against gay rights or gay marriage; we haven't discussed it further.

Last week, at my church, the pastor (female) made the comment that being gay is a sin. I believe her words were, "It doesn't matter if you identify yourself as gay, lesbian, bisexual; we will love and welcome you. We won't love the sin but we will love the person and we will help them through the healing process with God and get them help." This made me really angry because there she was, preaching (literally) about how people were sinning. She seemed to be completely ignorant of the fact that a hundred years ago it was her and I that weren't given certain rights. She wouldn't be up there if a lot of male preachers had had their way a hundred years ago.