Jason Collins: "Coming out" as political act.

And the approval of the LGBTQ lifestyle.

President Obama recently congratulated Jason Collins for coming out. “Given the importance of sports in our society, for an individual who has excelled at the highest levels in one of the major sports to go ahead and say, ‘This is who I am. I’m proud of it. I’m still a great competitor. I’m still 7 foot tall and can bang with Shaq and deliver a hard foul’…I think it’s a great thing,” the President said.

Earlier on Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney expressed praise from the White House for Collins. 

"Here at the White House, we view this as another example of the progress we've made and the evolution that has taken place," Carney said. "We commend him on his courage and support him in this effort and hope that his fans and his team support him going forward." - The Hill

"Coming out is the existential counterpart of 'gay is good'."

It means for most gay people, accepting, celebrating, and sharing their truth about who they are sexually.

"[T]he coming out process is important politically as well as personally.  Studies have shown that in those areas where people have had to vote on gay rights, those who knew a gay person were more likely to vote affirmatively than a person who didn't.  It's difficult to vote against the rights of someone you know." - Brian McNaught.
 

Coming out is a pop-culture term originating in the 20th century.  It is very much a political act or statement and is useful for propaganda purposes.  It goes beyond mere self-acceptance and establishes a new identity for the person.  For a wiki history, go here.

This is why I objected to Fr. Barron's recent statements on 'coming out':

"Over roughly the past 25 years, many gay people have “come out of the closet,” and this is indeed welcome. Repression, deception and morbid self-reproach are never good things. The result of this coming out is that millions have recognized their brothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, uncles, and dear friends as having same-sex attraction.

The homosexual person is no longer, accordingly, some strange and shadowy “other,” but someone I know to be a decent human being. This development, too, is nothing but positive. The man or woman with a homosexual orientation must always be loved and treated, in all circumstances, with the respect due to a child of God." - Fr. Barron

The online definition of gay pride is as follows:

Main Entry:	gay pride
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	a sense of dignity and satisfaction involved in the public admission of one's homosexuality

Be careful boyz and girlz.

 

Nixon's Political Correction

That was quick.

In a new interview with The Advocate, actress Cynthia Nixon felt the need to clarify what she meant in an earlier statement reported by the NYT:

For 15 years, until 2003, she was in a relationship with a man. They had two children together. She then formed a new family with a woman, to whom she’s engaged. And she told The Times’s Alex Witchel that homosexuality for her “is a choice.”

“For many people it’s not,” she conceded, but added that they “don’t get to define my gayness for me.” NYT

They may not get to 'define her gayness' for her, but obviously their negative reaction more or less persuaded Nixon to clarify what she really meant to say.

Cynthia Nixon... giving a statement to The Advocate to explain what she meant in the interview -- saying bisexuality is not a choice, but her decision to be in a homosexual relationship is.

"My recent comments in The New York Times were about me and my personal story of being gay. I believe we all have different ways we came to the gay community and we can't and shouldn't be pigeon-holed into one cultural narrative which can be uninclusive and disempowering," Cynthia said.

"However, to the extent that anyone wishes to interpret my words in a strictly legal context I would like to clarify: While I don't often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have 'chosen' is to be in a gay relationship." - Source

Disordered and unstable.

I expect the gay community will be satisfied with that clarification, but I personally think it doesn't change anything - her first statement may have been closer to the truth.  In my opinion, bisexuality by its nature implies choice.  Sexual fluidity results in choice - one chooses to follow his or her attraction.  Concupiscence... lust... perhaps the falling in love with love... aroused by our passions... the feelings and emotions, work together to convince us that we have no choice.  Even when we don't permit ourselves to realize we do.

A friend* sent me a link to a great article on the subject of bisexuality and sexual fluidity which may be helpful in understanding what all of this means in today's political battle for equal rights.

Unstable behaviour.

Sexual orientation is much more accurately thought of in the category of a conditioned (and often variable) preference than a determined biological condition.

Most researchers now accept that sexual orientation (the predominant direction of sexual attraction one feels) is the result of a complex interaction in which nature, nurture and choice all play a part. But whether one acts on those feelings by having same sex relations is actually a matter of personal choice.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has stated, ‘some people believe that sexual orientation is innate and fixed; however, sexual orientation develops across a person's lifetime’. The APA also says that ‘for some the focus of sexual interest will shift at various points through the life span...’

A report from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health similarly states, ‘For some people, sexual orientation is continuous and fixed throughout their lives. For others, sexual orientation may be fluid and change over time’

And in a recent Huffington Post article, ‘Future Sex: Beyond Gay and Straight’, a leading British gay rights activist, Peter Tatchell, affirms the fluidity of sexual attraction.

So what?

Well, like many, I am getting rather tired of the term ‘homophobic’ being used as an accusatory label to tar anyone who does not accept, approve and celebrate same-sex sexual relationships and believe that homosexual orientation is a biological characteristic like race or sex. 

There are a large and growing number of people (I call them ‘homosceptics’) who neither hate nor fear ‘gay’ people but simply believe that sex outside a lifelong exclusive heterosexual marriage is morally wrong and the fact that we have certain feelings of sexual attraction does not mean that we should therefore act on them. - Read the rest here.

Works for me.

[Editors note:  Sexual fluidity theory is one reason why we are witnessing the rise of gender neutral discussions/policies/influences around the globe in marketing, politics, media and education... even biblical translations.]

*h/t to Raydar.

The Road to Genderlessness...

People think this stuff is a joke.
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Or at the most the provenance of a subgroup of intellectual and cultural elites.
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That Swedish couple raising a child without gender - not a joke.
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Cher thought she gave birth to and raised a little girl named Chastity - now she's a he - well sort of.  No breasts, no penis, and lots of testosterone.  No joke.
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Lady Gaga, Elton John - born this way.  What way?  No joke.
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Ever heard of sexual fluidity?  No joke.
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From Lisa Diamond:  An Associate Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at the University of Utah.  Her new book, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire challenges everything we thought we knew about fixed notions of sexuality:
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Fluidity and a broadened version of sexuality could get us to ask the questions, what is healthy sexuality?  How can this potentially help someone accept their sexual desires?  How can this help us adopt a more accepting and empowering view of sexuality writ large for all individuals at all ages?   We need to get over this anxiety about sexuality.  It would be an amazing thing if a thirteen year old went into health class was told, “you are at the beginning of an incredible journey.  I’m going to give you some tools and strategies for figuring out what you want and how to get it.  But you are in the beginning of an adventure and it’s going to be great!”  That would be a really profound transformation. - Source
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Genderlessness is very much related to GLBTQ interests.
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Sociologist Mary Bernstein writes: "For the lesbian and gay movement, then, cultural goals include (but are not limited to) challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity, homophobia, and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family (heteronormativity). Political goals include changing laws and policies in order to gain new rights, benefits, and protections from harm."[2] Bernstein emphasizes that activists seek both types of goals in both the civil and political spheres. - Source
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If gender identity is fluid then sexual orientation is as well.
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“If gender identity is fluid, then sexual orientation is as well,” contends psychology grad student lorne m. dickey, who identifies as a gay FTM and spells his name entirely with lowercase letters.  Though many scientists and laypersons believe sexual orientation is fixed and immutable, dickey disagrees.  His own experience suggests otherwise: “Prior to transition, I identified as a lesbian.  I’d never once had sex with a man. Shortly after beginning my transition, it was clear… I was more interested in being sexual with a man than I was with a woman.” - Source
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The Evolved.
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Leaders of the lesbian and gay movement of the 1970s, 80s and 90s often attempted to hide masculine lesbians, feminine gay men, transgendered people, and bisexuals from the public eye, creating internal divisions within LGBT communities. - Source 
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All of that has changed today, which accounts in part for the movement towards 'genderlessness'. 
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Photo:  Chaz Bono - before and after. 
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H/T PML for some of the links.