Homosexuality a categorical good
Paul Ranogajec
senior
What a sterile exercise it has become to trot out the tired, nonsensical arguments against the alleged "intrinsic moral evil" of homosexuality. It is something of a religious ritual for Professor Emeritus Charles Rice in his biweekly column, evidenced again Tuesday with his column entitled, "Homosexual acts are categorically wrong."
I am continually astounded by the zeal with which bigots defend the defenseless argument of the exclusive righteousness of heterosexuality. It is quite easy to spot the transparent attempt to disguise a deep-seated heterosexism when Rice writes, "to choose someone of the same sex for one's sexual activity is to annul the rich symbolism and meaning, not to mention the goals, of the Creator's sexual design." I would posit that homosexuality has at least as rich a trove of symbolism and meaning as heterosexuality and possibly more so, given the many embedded layers of violence, prejudice and derogation in which homosexuality is both experienced by gay persons such as myself and perceived by sanctimonious straight folk. The point is not so important whether an orientation is more or less symbolically significant than another. The important thing is to acknowledge in the open — in society, in the Church, in our personal lives — the deep meaning of minority homo-"sexual design" and to affirm its dignity and equal status with the majority.
Pope John Paul II does a disservice to the legitimacy of the Church to speak out on pressing issues of moral concern when he describes homosexuality and its burgeoning equality movement as a "moral evil, deviation, a kind of slavery." Forget about the sex slave industry, which exploits the bodies and souls of millions of women worldwide. Forget about forced labor (slavery), widespread mistreatment of prisoners, rampant abuse of human rights — all these horrors happening at this very moment in all parts of the world; these instances of real evil that are so destructive of anything approaching peace and justice on God's earth. No, let us cry out instead about the horrors of all those fags out there, "distorting the true meaning of the family" and afflicting "grave harm" on impressionable children. And of course, in the same breath, offer a flippant reminder that even us gay people — we dangerous agents of moral evil — "are called to fulfill God's will."
Rice insists that students at this university are "entitled" to truth "without omission or equivocation." Indeed, we are. So let the truth be stated unequivocally: Homosexuality is a categorical good, and acts resulting from such orientation are as much a part of God's "sexual design" as anything a male and female do in bed.
Paul Ranogajec
senior
Morrissey Manor
Feb. 26, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, February 27, 2002
