Ed Brayton has an article entitled Hutcherson: Beating a Child Prevents Homosexuality.
Apparently an ex-football player by the name of Ken Hutcherson advocates a “spare the belt, spoil the child” approach to child rearing. One form of spoiling, in Hutcherson’s estimation, is that the child could be gay. So, just a reminder, aside from not working, trying to smack the gay out of a child can have fatal results.
And, really, this idea of corporal punishment is one of those things I originally took for granted but which makes less and less sense the more I grow up and the more I think about it. Hitting is wrong unless the victim is completely defenseless and trusts you most of all?
“There is no evidence at all that the homosexual was born that way.”
Except for all the evidence that shows differential brain etc formation among many homosexuals. People are born black, or gay, or left-handed, it’s just the roll of the genetic dice.
I really think this whole argument is a waste of time and a diversion from the real issue.
Homosexuality is a perfectly valid and legitimate orientation, regardless of whether it’s a choice or not. Convincing someone who is convinced it’s illegitimate that it’s not a choice, isn’t going to change his mind on the issue. At best, that person is going to go from “those despicable homos, they deserve whatever they get for being queer” to “oh, those poor homosexuals with their awful awful disability–we’ve got to help them correct this.” It’s the kind of thinking that leads to the “pray the gay away” nonsense.
I really think it’d be best to waste as little time and effort on the “it’s a choice” issue, since even in the best case we’ll still have to convince the homophobes on the “it’s perfectly okay” issue to make any real progress.
I for one am wholly against corporal punishment. Parenting with fear, much like governing with fear, rarely works in the long-term. My parents never employed corporal punishment, and I think that my and my 2 siblings turned out to be very well-adjusted, responsible, and caring people. Beating your child for disobeying will not make them do what you say, only hide what they do. I also can’t believe that anyone would honestly think that any amount of physical violence would have an effect on sexual orientation.