Clarity on the Issue of Sexuality ~ Ye gay Ol’ Valley

By: Dani Langevin – May, 2014

Paul Murano is the winner of a 2014 Valley Patriot President's Award. He is the cohost of Paying Attention and has been writing for the Valley Patriot since 2004
Paul Murano is the winner of a 2014 Valley Patriot President’s Award. He is the cohost of Paying Attention and has been writing for the Valley Patriot since 2004

Last month, Paul Murano’s column on clarifying the issue of homosexuality was run right next to mine, appropriately so. I’d like to add more clarity to what Mr. Murano had to say.

He talked about issues, “purposely obscured by those pushing an agenda to justify a lifestyle.” First of all everyone has an agenda and everyone purposely obscures issues to push whatever it is they are trying to justify: lifestyle, political platform, etc. Even the religious right does this, Murano included. To mention this is purposely obscuring and pushing an agenda.

He discussed judging acts and condemning bad behavior. It is my opinion that excluding heterosexual acts from his discussion falls under obscuring facts, pushing an agenda and exhibiting bad behavior.

In his column, Murano stated that, “Sodomy is intrinsically evil and can never be condoned regardless of the propensity’s origin or the difficulty it may post in some to control.” He is under the misconception that all gay men engage in sodomy, which they do not, and that there are no heterosexual couples that do, which there are. Has Murano done any research in this matter? By leaving out these so called ‘sinless’ heterosexual couples, he proves that he most certainly is pushing his agenda by calling homosexual men intrinsically evil and excluding heterosexuals who engage in the same behavior.

Later in his column he discusses the purpose of sexual reproductive organs and that, “no one is offended if we ask the same questions about the respiratory or digestive system.” Well that’s because none of us need someone else to breathe or digest food. They are both singular, autonomous acts AND they are involuntary. You don’t have to date air to breathe it or ask food out for dinner in order to digest it and hope that someone will find you attractive enough to allow you to consummate the relationship with each. It just happens.

If the purpose of the respiratory system is to breathe then we should consider smokers as intrinsically evil. Smoking is unnatural and hazardous to one’s health and the health of those around smokers, therefore we are all sinful when we see someone smoking and don’t grab the cigarette from their mouth and break it. We can all agree that the sexual reproductive organ’s purpose is to reproduce. But the function of sexual organs when used correctly is a voluntary act where two people are needed to make them work as the organs were intended to do. This poses the question, what do we do about those people who ‘naturally’ cannot reproduce? Should a sterile man or women hang up their libido and call it a day? Are they not allowed to engage in a healthy sex life with their spouse or partner? Their sexual act can be likened to sodomy because it will never produce a child. What about those women who have become past their prime? Their sexual organs will also never produce or house another child. Should their sex life be over? Murano is under the delusion that every heterosexual who engages in intercourse is intending to produce a child and if they are not then they are intrinsically unnatural and evil. He said himself, “Acts that attempt to separate pleasure from purpose and love from life, whether between people of the same or opposite sex, violate human nature and dignity and are by definition objectively abusing.” So, all you healthy heterosexuals out there, unless you planning on having a child, STOP HAVING SEX! It’s a sin.

Another question that Murano asks is, “Are homosexual acts in accord with the order of human nature as contributing to the flourishing of the individual, family and society?” The answer is unequivocally yes! Almost every gay or lesbian I have spoken to have said that they became happier, physically and emotionally healthier and a more productive, contributing citizen when they finally accepted and acted upon their homosexuality. It is virtually impossible to hide one part of yourself without shoving other parts away with it. When a person finally ‘comes out of the closet’ it opens the flood gates. I became much more creative, outgoing and happy when I came out at twenty-nine. I got my master’s in education, I began writing, more physically active and a met the love of my life. This has been highly influential on the health and happiness of my children and they will be the first to tell you. I have become a more productive citizen, becoming politically active and conscious along with giving more to my community and society. I find this is so with the majority of people who have embraced their homosexuality and participated in the acts that are associated with it. I also know that every homosexual couple who have had a child together whether it is through adoption or invitro wanted the child without reservation. There is no homosexual couple who has had a child by accident.

In conclusion, just as Mr. Murano mentioned at the beginning of his column, I believe mine is just as important as his, but saying so is boastful and prideful. Isn’t that a sin?