While some homosexual men and women might ask for or expect affirmative action or set-asides, they are an unjustified and extreme fringe. The vast majority of homosexuals merely wish to be allowed to live their lives without discrimination against them, and possessed of the SAME (READ:Equal) protections afforded everyone else. Is this really such an unreasonable thing for them to ask for and expect?
Gays are discriminated in housing and in employment all the time. A gay man or lesbian woman can be fired just because they are homosexual. In point of fact a HETEROSEXUAL could be fired because of the PERCEPTION that they are gay or lesbian. And there is, in the vast majority of states, counties, cities and towns, absolutely no protections afforded them which are present if someone is discriminated agaist for almost any other reason!
In fact the government ITSELF discriminates against homosexuals. Gay marriages exist in large numbers, however none of these marriages have any of the same legal recognitions afforded to heterosexual unions. The arguments made against gay marriages are the SAME arguments made in the failed policy of governmental banning of interracial marriages up through the early 1970's. The names change but the discrimination stays the same. Just change "interracial couple" for "gay couple" and the same playbook is seen to be used today in this context! The government has no place dictating who can or cannot marry whom without extremely valid justification. There is no such justification in this case. And the multitudinous host of benefits from taxes to survivorship to insurance benefits to hospital access and beyond are flatly denied to homosexual couples. There is a trend towards 'partnerships' and so forth which 'would have some of the same benefits as marriage without actually being marriages'. The points here are that 1) they are still not the same, and 2) it smacks of the 'separate but equal' crap which was ruled unconstitutional in the south regarding blacks. Add to this they systematic purging of the US Military of homosexuals under the insidious and inherently un-American "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is further evidence of this governmental discrimination against homosexuals by their own government; a government supported by their tax dollars.
Anyone who denies there is discrimination against homosexuals is either blind, deaf, stupid, hopelessly delusional or some combination of these! There are many groups, mostly of a conservative fundamentalist Christian stripe, who outspokenly advocate discriminatory action up to and including murder. Homophobia in this country, and others, is such that merely the impression that someone perceived as gay might be considering making a pass at them sends people into violent and/or murderous action! There are far too many cases of this to be ignored.
We have bills declaring this or that is a 'hetero-only concept', people attempting to 'define' what is a 'real' family. Forget that their definition would exclude the vast majority of families, both gay and straight!
One other interesting and offensive wrinkle in all this is the opposition to equal rights for homosexuals from groups that one would expect would be supportive of such; racial minorities. It is only a few decades since interracial marriages were banned... a couple other decades since 'separate but equal', one or two more decades since poll taxes and literacy tests and the like. One would expect these groups to be supportive of someone else seeking what they themselves fought so long and hard for. Not a chance! These groups appear to have an "I've got mine... I am part of the system now so I will defend that same system from all other interlopers!" attitude that is truly as offensive as it is hypocritical!
What needs to be done about this?
First, and foremost, the government needs to stop its practice of discrimination. In areas of marriage recognition, military service, employment and all other areas the discriminatory practices must end. Not only is this only fair, but it is mandated by the US Constitution no matter how vehemently the homophobes rant and rail that it is not. It is extremely clear.
Second we must stop allowing homophobic groups to appear as 'normal' and acceptable. They are no better, and no worse, and in fact no different, from the Ku Klux Klan, and any attempts to differentiate them are specious and semantical at best. They need to be seen as such and they need to be opposed in the same manners and to the same degree. Anything else is unacceptable and hypocritical.
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