Objection: A Not So Gay Definition
Daily Observer
S.Q.
Lapius threw the newspaper aside impatiently. “What ridiculous twaddle!” he exclaimed.
“Something
catch your eye, Simon, pique your ire?”
“Obviously,
Harry. The American Psychiatric
Association has just agreed that homosexuality is not a psychiatric
disturbance, but is henceforth to be known as a sexual disorientation
disorder.”
“You
find that annoying?”
“No. Disingenuous, would be a better
description. After all, a rose by any
other name….”
“You
think homosexuality is a disease?”
“It
seems to be perverse,” Lapius countered.
“But
do you believe it a disease?” I pressed him.
“Probably. But what
difference does it make whether it is called a disorder or a disease. Why must a housewife be a homemaker? Why must a garbage man be a sanitary
engineer? Why is a physician now a
professional provider? Makes him sound
like a pimp, doesn’t it, Harry?”
“Well,
if you put it that way….”
“Well,
I am putting it that way. Why the play on words and names?”
“To
enhance the dignity of the role,“ I said trying to
assume a neutral stance. “You talk as if
you had a bias towards homosexuals, Simon.”
“Well,
I do have one prejudice, I must admit.”
“What
could that be, Simon? Till now I thought
you were 100 percent objective.”
“Almost. Let us say
99 percent. My abiding prejudice is
against their use of the term ‘gay’.
Here is a perfectly delightful word, that heretofore could be used to
conjure up all sorts of delightful images; viz,
merry, blite, jocund, jovial, jolly, playful,
frolicsome, sportive. But now that the
word ‘gay’ has been applied to describe a homosexual, we have lost it as an
expression of joi de vivre. Even if you talk about a gay child, the
parents will deal you malevolent looks.
A gay blade evokes images of a homosexual skater. See what I mean, Harry?”
“Let’s
go back to the beginning. Is
homosexuality a disease or disorder?”
“What
difference does it make which it is. The
important issue is that it is an unnatural condition. Heterosexuality is natural to the order of
things. The instinctual sexual response
is to odor. Female animals in heat put
forth an odor that rouses sexual instincts in the male. Without these stimuli and responses, there
would be no animal life on earth today.
Thus, an attraction of a male for a male, or female for another female
runs counter to the natural order of things.”
“But
if a person is destined to have aberrant instincts, ought he or she be censured?”
“Of course not. But
they should be treated. Research into
the cause of the problem should continue.
But if we play semantic games with the problem, and reduce the
dysfunction from a disease to a disorder, or, as some claim, to normal variation,
then research will stop, and people stricken with the problem will not seek
treatment. If doctors suddenly decided
that cancer were a disorder rather than a disease that it is the natural
destiny of man to die of cancer, then there would be no purpose in trying to
cure it, would there?”
“But
many great people were and are homosexuals.”
I said, trying to play the devil’s advocate.
“Of
course, Harry. In addition, many great
poets were drug addicts, De Maupassant had syphilis, Caesar was epileptic, Chatterton and Galois were suicidal, Lord Keynes a
pederast, and Joan of Arc a delusional visionary. But because these people were great doesn’t
imply that we must adopt their habits, disturbances and diseases. A healthy society can tolerate a certain percentage
of abnormal citizens, but if abnormality becomes the rule, society will
disintegrate.”
“You
still haven’t answered my question, Simon.
Is homosexuality a disease?”
“The
important thing is that it is a treatable condition. Once this is kept in mind, it doesn’t matter
whether it is called a disease or disorder or disturbance. But if changing the name changes the nature
of the problem, so that those afflicted fail to seek treatment, then semantics
has dealt society a foul blow indeed.
There is scientific proof now, that hormones affect the perception of
sexuality; that sexual drives can be altered by giving either men or women
hormones of the opposite sex; that animals deprived of their hormone secreting
sex hormones lose their interest in sex; that a close endocrine link between
the brain and the sex organs has been proved to exist. Certainly homosexuals must suffer some
alteration in the physiological network.”
To
deny that homosexuality is abnormal is to consign future generations of
potential homosexuals to a role that if nothing else, is unnatural and
uncomfortable. Thomas Mann felt that
sexuality was the result of an overwhelming force that overcame a person’s
natural inhibitions to intimate contact.
Certainly in homosexuality, this force would seem to be misdirected.”
I
decided to deal Lapius a cruel blow. “How come you never married, Simon?”
He
peered at me obliquely. “To avoid the possibility of siring someone like you, Harry.”
Touche.