One conservative’s view: gay rights bill is a good one

  • Larry Simoneaux / Columnist
  • Sunday, February 5, 2006 9:00pm
  • Opinion

Gov. Chris Gregoire has made it official.

It’s now illegal in Washington to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation.

Regarding which, my feelings can be summed up as follows:

Good.

Stay with me for a bit and let me explain.

I’m OK with this law because of what America, as we’ve all been taught since kindergarten, is supposed to be.

Simply put, as Americans, we all have the same rights.

Admittedly, we’ve not always had a clear idea of what those words mean.

I’m from the South. While growing up there, I heard some really interesting ideas regarding the differences in people, races, and even religions. As I got older, I noticed that, if you looked hard enough, those same ideas (for lack of a better term) could be found pretty much anywhere in the country.

Over the course of two-plus centuries, we’ve worked hard to banish such ideas. Hasn’t been quick. Hasn’t been easy. But we’ve kept at it. That speaks well for us as a people.

For those still reading, in matters sexual, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool, 100 percent heterosexual. As an individual, I’m dead certain that if an employer, renter or banker was interested in what my wife and I did after the lights went out, I’d be upset. If that same individual used that interest as a factor in hiring me, renting me an apartment or granting me a loan, my feelings on the matter would quickly rise to a low boil.

The reason is that the last time I checked, she and I had: (a) reached the age of consent; (b) been mutually attracted since day one; (c) never harmed each other or anyone else; and (d) always been upright in our dealings with society at large.

In short, since our sexual orientation has never affected anyone other than ourselves, it’s none of anyone else’s business.

I have a pretty good idea of what goes on when members of the same sex who are attracted to each other close the door and turn out the lights. I tend, however, to stop thinking about it at “turn out the lights” because, if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that I’ll never understand the why of what happens next. Major wiring difference is the best explanation I can offer.

I’m also sure of something else.

If the folks behind that door have: (a) reached the age of consent; (b) found themselves attracted to each other; (c) never harmed each other or anyone else; and (d) are upright in their dealings with society, then it’s none of my business. Just don’t ask me to “celebrate” anything and we’ll be fine.

By my reading of history, gays have been around since the beginning. An educated guess would be that they’re going to be around for a long time to come.

Like the rest of us who fit the definition of “human beings,” they pretty much run the gamut of behavior. Good and bad. Hard working and lazy. Loving and hateful. Helpful and selfish. Outlandish and reserved. They differ from us, mainly, in sexual proclivity.

Do also note that we heterosexuals differ amongst ourselves to a fairly large degree in this same arena. Check out some of the “toys,” “games,” and “entertainment” we’ve invented for our libidinous amusement if you doubt that.

As to the morality of such behavior, my church considers gay sex “sinful.” The thing is, we’re all sinners – some of us (no matter our sexual orientation) more so than others. In the end, each of us will have to explain ourselves to an arms-folded, furrowed-brow, toe-tapping Supreme Being. His opinion of our lives will be the one that really matters. For that reason, I think I’ll just leave that “first stone” on the ground.

What matters most to me in daily life is whether or not an individual obeys the law, pays taxes, doesn’t harm others, volunteers to help, returns borrowed tools, carries a fair share of the load at work, and cuts his or her grass before it gets knee deep. The rest is private.

Judging others on anything other than character, ability, integrity and honesty is dumb. Denying someone with such qualities the means to a living, a place to live, or access to things we take for granted is simply wrong.

So this is one hard-over, gun-owning, Hillary-fearing, heterosexual conservative who’s not troubled by this law.

None of which means I’m ever going to see “Brokeback Mountain” or that my stance on the definition of “marriage” will ever change.

It’s just that passing it was the right thing to do.

Larry Simoneaux lives in Edmonds. Comments can be sent to larrysim@att.net.

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