Is it natural to drink milk shakes?

A small portion of our population has a propensity to drink milk shakes. Individuals in this minority wake each morning contemplating what milk shake they will consume, perhaps vanilla or maybe chocolate – and for those daredevils – maybe even banana.

Their habits do not harm other members of society. In fact, this minority derives much joy from its activities. Nevertheless, a debate rages in our culture as to whether these individuals were born milk shake drinkers or if they learned their ways from the deleterious and satanic influences of our modern popular culture.

Laws are enacted nationwide to marginalize milk shake drinkers. In the hallways of our high schools, the term “milk shake drinker” is thrown around as a slur. Often, in conversation, someone expresses in utter disappointment: “That is sooo milk shake.”

Opponents of milk shake drinking decry the behavior as the deterioration of a moral society. After all, they claim, “It’s just not natural.”

Surely our community has evolved beyond such an idiotic dialogue. Consider, however, the most common rebuttal of those who seek to discredit and marginalize the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community: “They were not born this way.”

Such a specious claim relies upon little to no evidence and simply collapses under serious scientific analysis. But more importantly, who cares? The hollow logic rests on the mistaken assumption that what is natural must also be good.

It implies that if homosexuals are not born gay and rather choose to practice such a life, they are somehow guilty of an unforgivable crime. Apparently, the crime is doing that which makes them happy at a cost to no one.

If we seek to combat the bigotry that sheepishly hides behind such a preposterous argument, we must be careful with how the discourse is framed. Individuals with good intentions who seek to defend the rights of the GLBT community choose to engage in discussion that seeks to determine whether or not homosexuality is innate or a product of one’s upbringing.

Unfortunately, they also, by participating in the discussion, legitimize the opponents’ underlying assumption that the natural equals the good.

The well-intentioned individual implies that if the weight of empirical evidence was to shift in the direction of the bigot – if this evidence proved that homosexuality is, in fact, learned behavior – then the community would be justified and well-reasoned in its attempts to marginalize the homosexual.

By actively participating in such a discussion, we are giving the bigot conceptual space in which to thrive.

We cannot allow such fallacious logic to frame the discussion over the equal rights of the GLBT community. Instead, we must point out the actions and behavior of the GLBT community do not alter the majority’s ability to live life as it pleases.

Often, how the community chooses to talk about an important issue determines how much the community is able to progress. We must point out that it does not matter whether or not a homosexual chose his or her sexual orientation, it matters that we are all fellow human beings.