The Conversation

There seems to be a lot in the news lately about who is gay and who is not. It seems to be the great debate our time about what rights should be afforded to the gay men and women of America. To me it seems there is a lot of yelling and screaming, and everyone is drawing lines in the sand. Yet there does not seem to be a lot of conversations happening. Oh sure, we are all talking about the new hot topic, debating the current issues and making our own lines in the sand. I think that this all diverts from the fundamental humanity that is at the heart of it all. This isn’t about the gay community or policy, it is about sons and daughter, brothers and sisters, family and friends.

What I have found is that once the conversation is boiled down to its most basic elements the lines in the sand dissolve and debates become conversations. I have posted a video from The View to demonstrate this. In this clip they are not debating Prop. 8 or any of todays hot button issues. They are discussing if, when, and/or how to ask if your child is gay. What struck me about this clip when I saw it was that Mrs. Hasselback (who seems to be the republican mouthpiece on The View) seems to take a very compassionate approach to the conversation. This is not to say that she is not a compassionate person, but like many people I do feel she sees the issues of gays and lesbians as black and white and to take the human element out of the equation. All of the women on The View seem to take a similar approach in the sense that they want their child to know that they are loved not matter what. Sure they may disagree on when, where, how and/or who sure initiate the conversation with their child on asking if they are gay, but the basic human element of love for one’s own child is the base of the conversation.


The View on Parents asking their child “Are you gay”




To further demonstrate this, the next video I have posted is of Dick Cheney (let me tell you I never thought that I would be saying this). The reason that I have posted this video is not to stir the debate of gay marriage, but to show yet again that this is a conversation about family.

Cheney on Gay Marriage




If you haven’t guessed by now, I am not a huge fan of Dick Cheney. But, what I can see in this brief clip is that this is not whirl-wind of hot button issues on homosexuality for him, but a family issue. This is a man that is now pushing the boundaries of his own mind, and now having re-evaluating his own belief system.

This is what I mean about the human element. It seems that in all of the talk and media coverage that this becomes lost. I do see the conversations around the country beginning to change. It has no longer become an issue of being gay is right or wrong. I mean sure, there are always going to be people and groups out there that will condemn homosexuality, but for the most part the country and further more the world as individuals have grown beyond this issue. People have began to see this for what it is and that it is about son and daughters, brothers and sisters, father and mother, family and friends. We may agree to disagree on some of the other issues, but we need to start the conversation that this is about people. People who dispite everything have taken the american dream to heart and are pursuing happiness. Most of all if we can start the conversations with love, maybe we can stop yell and start talking. If we approach the conversation with the understanding that who we are talking about is someone's family member, we can then speak with some understanding. As long as we keep this in mind, we can change the world.