=== Positive terms, gay people, and aliens ===
“But my 5 year old son is not gay!” a parent could say. There are two things wrong with this statement.
First, children are asexual. They do not have sexual attractions. The gay gene only expresses itself during hormonal changes. This occurs during puberty.
Second, the parent is imposing his own assumption on the sexual orientation of his son. His son if gay will therefore have to hide his sexuality when he realizes it. He will feel shameful and despised. He will not dare to reveal his sexual orientation. He will marry the opposite sex to satisfy his parents’ wishes. It will be an unhappy marriage as he does not love his wife. He will feel deprived of his same sex satisfaction. He will feel jealous of gay couples. He will become a homophobe. He will use derogatory terms on gay people. If he divorces his wife, his wife may feel cheated. If he has a son, he will continue the legacy of homophobia. The older generation thus passes down homophobia to the younger generation. The young people become old. They too cannot change.
Love is a strange thing. People have different sexual affinities. Some love fat people. Some love thin people. Some love tall people. Some love short people. Even if you ask them to change their sexual affinities, do you think they can change? Similarly, some love the same sex. Some love the different sex. Some love the same race. Some love the different race. Do you think they can change? Why should you force people to love something that they do not love? Why should you force people to hate something that they do not hate?
Stop using the derogatory terms. These terms promote hate, intolerance, and discrimination. Granted, people who are not the minority group do not feel shame and think there is nothing wrong with such terms.
Aliens
I love movies denigrating aliens. Independence Day: Resurgence (2016 literally on this day) is a great movie. It is a break from the movies that denigrate a particular race or minority group. Some say aliens are not biblical so we shouldn’t watch them. But hey, dinosaurs are not biblical too. We still watch movies about dinosaurs. Don’t think that just because it wasn’t mentioned in the bible, it is not true. (Remember the time when Galileo said the Earth went round the sun?) Some people focus their energy on attacking a minority group such as gay people. Did you know that gay people are real? They are real human beings. Yes. They exist. About 10 percent of the world’s population are gay. They are a minority group. Did you know that humans don’t like to be insulted or attacked? That is why I like movies denigrating aliens. They provide a safe imaginary punching bag. Until such time when we discover otherwise. Then Hollywood may have to revise its policy. I believe that all sentient beings deserve to be loved and respected. All sentient beings deserve to be saved by the grace of God.
Positive Terms
Start using positive terms: rainbow people, people with non-standard sexual affinities, gay people, happy people, cheerful people, people like us, people born this way, LGBTQIA people etc.
Pray. Pray for wisdom and understanding. Don’t just read the books of your religion. Religious texts can preach intolerance and discrimination. Pray for accepting, affirming, and welcoming love.
=== Positive terms, gay people, and aliens ===