Homosexuality a deviant irrelevance

Ezra Mishan says that homosexuality is inherently abnormal and should never be encouraged

It is possible to go along with Michael Plumbe's first six arguments. (RN41) or presumed facts common, that the homosexual lifestyle is no less normal and desirable than the heterosexual. Indoing so, the following reflections should be bornein mind.

What warrant there is for regarding homosexuality as deviant or abnormal does not derive fromstatistical comparisons but from the Darwinian sur-vival mechanism. During the long course of evolution, innumerable mutations have arisen among thespecies of which ever fewer prove to have survival value, the remainder being useless or detrimental invarying degrees. Among the latter we may includecongenital homosexuality, regarding it as deviant in as much as it deviates from the biological normthat is instrumental in the preservation of thespecies. In contrast to a wholly heterosexual tribe or community, a wholly homosexual one would simply not survive.

Viewed as a mutation, it is not surprising that homosexuality is subject to disabilities. Certainly continued indulgence in homosexual activity isfraught with risk. For one thing, the lining of therectum is not nearly so strong and flexible as that of the vagina, the latter being, so to speak, "purpose-built" to withstand sustained and vigorous thrusts.On the other hand, frequent submission to rectal penetration, either by the male organ or by the not uncommon homosexual practice of "fisting", is apt to perforate the rectal lining and open the way for infection, prostate damage and ulcers.

The existence of an innate aversion among heterosexuals of homosexual behaviour, though pertinent in this connection, is not absolutely certain. Some evidence for it may be drawn from the teachings of some of the traditional religions(1), from the occasionaloutrages perpetrated against hapless homosexuals,and from the variety of derisive and malicious appellations in common usage in the pre-PC era.

But when the day came that the permanently disabled woke up to discover that they had been promoted to the status of "other-abled" in effect,equal though different, there was to be no restraining the PC movement's propensity to extend itsbenediction to every distinguishable minoritygroup, whether handicapped or not. Not surprisingly, the original tolerance and sympathy towards homosexuals by "progressives" appeared to be trans-forming themselves into a welcoming acceptance.There is no doubt that they are now favourably dis-posed to the current fashion among homosexuals to declare themselves in public.Apart from the influence exerted on popular sentiment by adoption of the term "sexual orientation", with its implication of an inborn and immutable condition, a pivotal factor that has acted over time to inspire militancy among homosexualsis their brazen abduction from the English language of the once warm and evocative adjective, "gay".Effectively deployed as a kind of political new speak to give a beguiling gloss to their deviant condition,it has been taken up in earnest by the media tobecome today an acceptable synonym.

To the innocent and unguarded mind, however, this flaunting of the word "gay" in this connection imparts a dash of colour, a sense of carefree abandon, a touch perhaps of the exotic to what in plainwords is related to the practice of sodomy. For, to besure, a banner proclaiming "Gay Pride" is decidedly more inviting than, say, one proclaiming "SodomitePride".

SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT
Although the persistent assertion by homosexuals that their condition is innate and unalterable is often challenged in particular by a number of American psychoanalysts who claim in professional journals and books to have successfully treated homosexual patients(2) have no choice whatever in the sexual inclinations,they do indeed have ample choice in their behaviour. They do not have to plan or participate in bois-terous public "celebrations", or to organise marchesor rallies in public squares . activities that are apt to be interpreted as thumbing their noses at the heterosexual establishment. Nor do they have to support campaigns to pressure schools to teach young-sters to accept that the "gay" life is as valid and respectable as the "straight" life. Neither do they have to advertise the venues of their "gay" clubs or use the dating columns of local newspapers to search for new partners. They can always elect to act with discretion in public and to conduct their affairs quietly. As Plumbe rightly says, "What happens in the bedroom generally behind closed doors is the business of the participants alone"

In any event, the more prudent strategy for the homosexual is that of maintaining a low profile,bearing in mind that the postwar liberal enlighten-ment is but a fragile growth. It may not prevail long against the apparent escalation in the West of populist direct action, of fanatic hate cults and general lawlessness.I would not deny that homosexuals can fall deeply in love or that they can form enduring affectiveties. But such a fact is not inconsistent with thewidespread belief that, by and large, they are more promiscuous than heterosexuals(3). Yet unless the state proposes to allow homosexual partners in gener-al to adopt children, the promiscuity issue assumesimportance only in the particular case where it isbelieved that an orphaned infant is irremediably homosexual. In such a case there may be advantages,as Plumbe suggests, in placing the child in the cus-tody of a homosexual couple provided, of course, that it is a stable aand committed relationship.A brief word, finally, on the objections to tax discrimination. Allowing that society as a whole continues to believe that children have a better chance of becoming good citizens if reared in the homes ofthose heterosexual couples who are prepared to pledge their commitment through the formalities of marriage, there is reason enough to encourage heterosexual marriage by the offer of tax inducements - which approved policy necessarily entails "discrimination" against unwed cohabitees, irrespective ofsexual orientation.


- Ezra Mishan is an economist and author

NOTES

1.Not, of course, from secular New Age religions that are updated to keep abreast of the times, nor from DIY or pick'n'mix religions that are gaining in popularity

2.There are no records of patients seeking psycho-analytic treatmentspecifically to overcome their heterosexuality

3.Along the west coast ofthe US, it is common knowledge that homosexual males charter planes and book hotels for all-night orgies in which it is not unusual for guests to claim having sex with 20 or more partners. In viewo f their vulnerability to infection it is hardly surprising that the incidence of AIDS among them is so high