Rant, baby, rant.
As Friday is National Coming Out Day, I have something to say.
SEXUALITY IS NOT POLITICAL.
My attraction to various members of the human race is related only to those to whom I am attracted. It has nothing to do with what anyone wants me to be. I am not part of any revolution, and I refuse to join any revolution even if it makes the social atmosphere better for the rest of the population that happens to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer-identified, or queer-unidentified, or whatever. My sexuality is merely a small part of who I am, and I did NOT choose it. I am not going to become a political person because I HAPPEN to be bisexual, just as I am not going to join a revolution for being female, white, Catholic, hazel-eyed, or near-sighted. These are all just part of who I am, and being such does not bestow me with any obligation to defend myself when insulted or challenged as a typical member of my group, march in any parades, shout my identity and passerby, wear identifying jewelry, or "come out" to ANYONE as any of the above.
Even if I believed sexuality to be a choice, I wouldn't feel obligated to share my sexuality with everyone. I don't have to tell everyone that I am a religion major, for instance, and I don't need to tell everyone I waitress, sleep naked, write bad poetry, or download music. And I don't WANT to tell everyone. That doesn't mean I am going to lie if someone happens to ask, but I probably won't independently volunteer information about my life choices unless it comes up and I think the person to whom I am talking wants to hear about it.
I am not going to share information about myself with people who either don't want to hear about it, don't need to hear about it, or just really don't care. If you fall into one of these categories, I recommend not reading my journal. Because I don't want to force myself onto anyone.
If someone thinks bisexuality or anything else about my life is wrong, immoral, stupid, or icky, I think they have a right to that belief, just as I have a right to my beliefs. And if someone disagrees with me, that is fine, even if I think her opinion is wrong, immoral, stupid, or icky. It doesn't matter how socially acceptable, widespread, or politically correct an opinion is; it is STILL an opinion. And opinions are inherently unproveable.
But my point is, there is no point in joining a movement to make people realize that they are incorrect, because no matter what we do, they will still get to have their opinion in the end, and we will get ours.
Now, opinions are far removed from cruelty. Opinions are your own business, cruelty is everyone's. Discrimination that leads to cruel treatment of others is not acceptable, I think we will both agree. No matter how much you may hate people who watch Jeopardy, you have no right to go steal their TV's or shoot them in their living rooms. But you don't have to be a Jeopardy-watcher to know that stealing and killing is unacceptable behavior. We can, most of us, agree that discrimination that leads to cruelty needs to be prevented by law, or else everyone would be able to go around killing whomever they desire to kill, and then there wouldn't be any fun arguments anymore.
So. We can work to end discrimination that can be proven through cruel acts, but we don't need a revolution to make people accept those they disapprove of.
We need to remember that if we wish to continue being individuals, creating new thoughts and art and inventions, we cannot persecute anyone for THOUGHTCRIME.
I HATE politics, and I am not going to become political just because someone thinks I ought to do it for the greater good. I tell people about my sexuality because I want them to know about it. I want to be able to be open and honest about the people I love and care about, be they friends or significant others. I want to tell people that religion and queerness don't have to clash. BUT, I don't come out to people who don't want to hear about it, and I don't think anyone should have to come out to anyone if they don't want to. I don't think coming out necessarily follows the discovery of sexuality. It's just who you are. Should I tell everyone I know that I am allergic to Pop-tarts, to spread the knowledge of Pop-tart allergy and prevent people from assuming that everyone can eat them without a problem? I don't think so. It's my business and I will deal with it when it's relevant.
But nobody else really needs to hear about it.
(N.B. This entry has been written in response to a post in bisexual, wherein the poster asserted that everyone should come out to their family members, so that the country/world would become more accepting of the queer populations. He suggested that we all "join the f***ing revolution." I think it was the f-word that upset me enough to write an essay on the matter.)