Homosexuality

[Rita Winston]

On the main list:

find_sam wrote:

> From my own understanding and observations, very few
> homosexuals come out in highschool.

When I said 'a gay character', I didn't necessarily mean that one of the
students goes through agonies of worry about hisir sexual orientation.
There ARE grown-ups... I once suggested the possibility that Alastor
Moody's paranoia became so extreme after his beloved was killed by a
curse meant for him (perhaps the one that took off his leg) and he
blamed it on himself (survivor guilt) for not being careful enough, and
one of adults who knew him in those days could just mention "he was much
more relaxed before Satyrius was killed" (some clearly male name) and a
kid could say "Who was Satyrius?"

> It'd be like her dropping in references to the Bible
> simply to please the God Squad

I am the opposite of the God Squad, but I find the complete absence of
any reference to religion in HP a bit jarring. Some of the Brits on the
list say that it seems normal to them, being as how there is less
religion in UK than in US, but I really think that in these
life-and-death situations, SOME people would pray.  I have NEVER been a
Christian, but Christian religious faith, of a vaguely Anglican variety,
keeps creeping into my fanfic, for example, after Cedric's death, his
mother is devoutly praying to God "please teach me to accept your will"
and Molly Weasley is surprised to find herself praying "God, if you
exist, please help me comfort poor Annie Diggory"

> didn't Kinsey actually say something more along the lines
> of '10% of people are definitely hetero, 10% are definitely
> homo, and the other 80% are somewhere in between'?

I 'm not sure either, but I think he did, which is why I said 'pretty
much homosexual' and 'pretty much heterosexual'.

on this list,

Neil wrote:

> Since it is the default case, you're right to say that
> heterosexuality will probably stay the default assumption,
> and that is why - coupled with shades of prejudice -
> homosexuality will probably always be an issue.

I am convinced that if/when the prejudice goes away, it will no longer
be an issue. For example, the vast majority of people in the world, and
in USA, especially Los Angeles, have brown eyes and brown or black hair,
but mentioning that someone is a blue-eyed blonde is not an issue.

> My point was to question that assumption, the one that
> decides "everyone is heterosexual unless they tell me
> otherwise".

I've seen the "How dare you assume I'm heterosexual?" bumper sticker,
and I confess I dislike it. "How dare you assume that Katie Bell is
white?" (when she isn't described at all IIRC) stirs my conscience. "How
dare you assume that Katie Bell is heterosexual?" leads me to answer, in
an annoyed tone of voice, "When I see her wearing a pink triangle
button, I'll change my assumption." If you think that's evidence that
I'm a bigot, tell me so.

> Apart from lesbians and gay men, some people define
> themselves as bisexual; some have homosexual experiences,
> but still define themselves as straight; and some prefer not
> to have their sexual orientation labelled in conclusive terms.
> That's quite a spectrum...

"Quite a spectrum"... See my reply to find_sam just above your name.

Michela Ecks wrote:

> The Kinsey number was based on a study done circo
> 1943 if I recall correctly. (snip) There are several other
> examples I could pull out but that given, I think the 10%
> number is seriously flawed and the real answer is probably
> no more then 2 or 3% of the population is homosexual.

If the assumption that J. Random Person is heterosexual is right 98% of
the time rather than 90% of the time, that makes it all the more likely
to remain the default assumption. If it is the default assumption, which
you argued against.

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