Tennessee lawmaker, Joe Ragan is not a fan of gays. We don’t have to be. He is free to be a bigot in this country as long as that bigotry does not lead to violence or discrimination.
But a just and decent society should do everything in its power to protect the life, liberty and happiness of its citizens, be they homosexual or heterosexual.
In doing so it means that we have a moral obligation to make sure that homosexuals are not coerced, intimidated, bullied, harassed and/or oppressed since all men should have freedom from fear as FDR once said.
Tennessee on the other hand is crafting a “License to Bully Bill,” that:
would allow students to share any “religious, philosophical, or political views” that are “unpopular,” regardless of their consequences to the learning environment, and limits educators’ ability to curb such harassment
http://thinkprogress.org/...
This is the letter Joe Ragan wrote to justify the bill, which would protect bullies of homosexual students if it is passed:
Examining another statistic, it has been well known for a decade that suicide is attempted much more frequently in the homosexual community than in the heterosexual community (Mathy, Cochran, Olsen, & Mays, 2009). This same source pointed out that, on average, suicide is approximately three times more likely among homosexuals than heterosexuals.
As a fitting critical thought question, it could be asked if other identifiable groups that engage in behavior of which “others may disapprove” commit suicide at similar rates? In other words, do prostitutes, pedophiles, polygamists, murders, etc., commit suicide at the same, or similar, rates to homosexual behavior practitioners? If similar rates were hypothetically so (not proven to be the case), do these behavior practitioners commit suicide at a higher rate because someone may have disapproved of their behavior or for other reasons? Should society avoid disapproving of pedophilia, prostitution, murder, etc., because practitioners of those behaviors may commit suicide at higher rates?
If this bill passes this would mean that bullying of homosexuals will be tolerated and furthermore, the suicide that would result from that bullying will be blamed on the victim for being a homosexual. That's just an abomination and digresses from a just society.
To compare homosexuality to pedophilia and murder is ridiculous. If Homosexual acts are committed in the privacy of one’s home between two consenting adults, it is not society’s business to judge what goes on in the bedroom.
Pedophilia on the other hand cannot be committed between two consenting adults because the law stipulates that there is an age of consent. Children are not at an age to consent.
And murder…well you can figure that one out by yourself.
As for prostitution. I have no problem with consensual prostitution and I believe a woman’s body is her own and if she chooses to use that body as a commodity so be it. We don’t seem to have a problem with the commoditization of the body in art and I think the same needs to be translated in our perception of prostitution.
So to answer Ragan’s question: No society should not disapprove of prostitution (as long as it is consensual and no human trafficking is involved) but it should disapprove of pedophilia and murder.
I don’t think he will take my advice though. Just sayin.
Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 10:21 AM PT: I want to reproduce some words from a diarist who goes by the name sfbob. I think he makes a brilliant point that I did not initially see.
"Prostitution, male or female, is undoubtedly a behavior. Sexual orientation is not. It is unwise to link sexual orientation with prostitution even in the service of an otherwise worthwhile endeavor."