"Gay Music For Gay Ears"

I came across this website the other day. A religious website which claims that certain groups or artists are to be treated with suspicion because they promote homosexuality. From the website: - "One of the most dangerous ways homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents should keep careful watch over their children's listening habits." Some of the artists and groups listed include: Ravi Shankar, Bjork, Cole Porter, Marilyn Manson, The Doors, Queen, Metallica, The Village People, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Depeche Mode, Ani DiFranco, George Michael, Madonna, Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, Eminmen, Nirvana and Boy George etc etc. It is quite a long list and many of the individuals and groups listed don't seem to have an obvious connection with homosexuality, so perhaps they are listed "just in case."

How do you promote homosexuality through music? Well, you could sing about your sexuality I suppose. Do many musicians sing about being homosexual? I can't think of one song where someone sings explicitly about their homosexuality. There are probably some out there, but I don't know of any. But then, I have never really understood the freak-out that many religious groups have with homosexual people. Perhaps the origin of this phobia is based on the religious notion that men should sow their seed where it can produce fruit, a theory I have discussed previously, as it is inevitably homosexual men with whom religious groups have a problem. Rarely do they come out with such ferocity concerning homosexual women. Nonetheless, I don't have a dog in this fight as I am neither a homosexual male nor a homosexual woman. But what I do have is a desire that people are accepted on their merits regardless of their homosexuality or heterosexuality.

Everytime a religious person speaks out vehemently against homosexuality, they are in essence, demanding that everyone's sexual life comply with their religious faith. Do people have the right to demand this? Not if they live in a secular society they don't. What they have is the right to live according to their personal religious beliefs, NOT the right to demand that everyone else comply with their religious beliefs. So the right to live and act according to one's personal religious beliefs is protected, and so it should be. But there is NO right to demand societal compliance BECAUSE of one's religious beliefs.

I think that Oliver Holmes best expresses this idea of rights with this quote: - "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." In other words, your right to a religious belief ends before it smacks me in the nose. As soon as my nose gets bloodied, you have overstepped the mark. And the converse is true also. Secular laws which protect homosexuals from harrassment and violence do not require religious groups to approve of homosexuality. What the laws DO require them to do is to desist from terrorising homosexuals because their sexuality does not comply with the antagonist's religious faith. For your right to a religious belief does NOT include the right to demand that everyone else's actions must comply with your religious belief.

So let's get back to these artists and musical groups which supposedly are a "danger" to the morality of religious people and their children. These groups obviously promote the "gay experience" simply by existing and producing music which 9 times out of 10 says absolutely NOTHING about their homosexuality anyway. This "propensity for gayness" must be transferable by auditory means to the helpless ear canals of innocent children in ways in which science is unfamilar.

The reality is somewhat more simple. It isn't the music which offends religious people. It isn't the song which offends these people. What offends them is the fact that these homosexual people exist and that they are successful. Afterall, if you believe that your book tells you that homosexuality is a sin and therefore should be punished, these people have NO right to be successful, wealthy, healthy or happy. Everyday there are homosexual artists who break this tenet of religious belief. How dare they be successful when god says their actions are sinful? Successful homosexuals fly in the face of religious people's expectations and desires for them. Their success sticks in the religious craw and they can't stand it.

Don't we admire successful people in our cultures? Sure we do. But religious people only admire people whom they deem worthy of success according to their religious beliefs. Well, today we are going to celebrate those groups and artists which are successful regardless of their homosexuality or their heterosexuality. I am going to celebrate their right to expression, even if what they express isn't what YOU want to hear. That's right, ALL music doesn't have to comply with your religious tastes. Get used to it. Say hello to some gay musical icons.

• Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
• Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man
• Judy Garland - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
• Madonna - Vogue
• Kylie Minogue - I Believe in You
• Prince - Cream
• Abba - Dancing Queen
• Barbara Streisand - My Man
• Liza Minelli - Life Is A Cabaret
• K.D. lang - Sexuality
• Robbie Williams - My Way
• Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round
• Weather Girls - It's Raining Men

religion , homosexuality , gay icons , secular , secular rights , religious rights , atheist , gay music

Homophobic Christian Rock

I just had to add this video to the post. Thanks to Five Public Opinions for bringing it to my attention. The song is openly anti-gay and openly pro-christianity. The lyrics comprise this little gem: - "Cause being gay is nothing but a choice."

If sexuality is a preference which we choose, that means that not only do people choose to be gay, but that people choose to be heterosexual. Try telling Billy Bob from Alabamy that he is just choosing to be heterosexual and that he might really prefer to be gay, and see how many teeth you have left afterwards. Another lyrical gem is "God hates fags." and "If you're a fag, he hates you too." This is exactly what I was talking about when I said that religious people do not have the right to terrorize other people because their actions do not comply with their religious beliefs. But this is exactly what those words do. Christians should be ashamed of this video.

"Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis"

This seems like a suitable reply.