Do I have a reasonable argument?

Question

So, I've got no problem with homosexuality. What I do have a problem with, is getting it forced down my throat every couple of minutes (no pun intended). Everytime I turn on the TV, a new gay character is introduced. It does nothing to enhance the story other than to say "we're more tolerant than the other network". Why do I, as a viewer, need to be in the middle of such politics. As a tolerant guy, the random insertion of gay characters (again, no pun intended) isn't going to make me more tolerant, just upset at this manufactured diversity.

It's not just tv, either. It's books & movies as well. As far as I know, REAL tolerance comes from knowledge, understand & acceptance...not from constant immersion. Beyond that we live in this media-led police state where a man will be vilified if he doesn't accept homosexuality. Isn't it that the exact same kind of persecution, but in reverse? Outside of a legal context, why should anybody be told who they should or shouldn't accept?

Comfy: That's what I mean. Like a guy is racist cause he doesn't watch Tyler Perry movies. :)

Answer 1

Right on, man!

I know the easy answer is to say that gay folks have to put up with straight characters, but there is no fear of persecution if they choose otherwise.

I'm a movie buff and I can't believe how people made me out to be some kind of homophobe because I didn't want to watch Brokeback Mountain. Its a movie about 20 years in the life of pair of gay cowboys...that sounds about a interesting as watch paint dry.

I have no beef with tolerance towards gay folks but damn, don't FORCE me to be tolerant...give me the information and let me make up my own mind.

Answer 2

For someone who claim to be a tolerant guy, you would post a question such as this. There's no Ifs Ands and But about tolerance. Either you do or you dont. Stop being a hypocrite and hide behind the word tolerant so you can spew your hatred and prejudice against a minority group that you have no knowledge about. So if you are calling our society the media-led police state forcing information onto you , so why are you picking the gay groups as your target to be blame? Knowledge, undertsand and acceptance are characters you are not. What are you being procecuted? Were you being physically assaulted for being a bigot. When you walk on the street were you being catcall and make fun of and being tease? Why dont you stand infront of the mirror and being your bigot self and start intolerate of your own existence? I suspect you already did internalize your self hatred and project into any convenient target that come your way. At least those you think you can get away bashing at.

Answer 3

Clearly you do have a problem with homosexuality, although you are further along the path of tolerance than some.

Look at it from my point of view. I'm constantly immersed in heterosexuality. Every time I turn on the TV, watch a movie, read an ad, hear a song, go out in public, I see heterosexuality being flaunted, displayed, glamorized and promoted. I can't go to work without hearing about my coworkers' spouses, children, engagements, weddings, seeing photos of their families, etc. Even my parents and most of my friends are heterosexual. So, does this constant immersion make me more tolerant or does it make me feel that I'm having heterosexuality forced down my throat? Well, I prefer to view heterosexuality as a natural occurring part of life and it's fine with me. If people are happy being heterosexual, then that's fine with me. Perhaps you should view homosexuality the same way and stop thinking of ways to let it upset you? God bless you.

Answer 4

Ok, so if there is 1 gay character for like every 300 straight characters on tv, you have a problem with this? It's called tokenism- i.e. representing a small portion of the population with a proportionally small cast (so if blacks are 12% of the pop. you have 1 black guy per 8 people or something). It doesn't make the network more tolerant, it just means they're trying to cover their asses so nobody asks "why don't you have more gay characters in your shows?" However, I don't see this as being forced down your throat. Sounds like to me you want to seem tolerant and say it's ok that they exist, just so long as you don't have to see them.

Answer 5

Unfortunately there is a catch in your argument. Your statements reveal that you do indeed have a "problem" with homosexuality. If you were truly tolerant and accepting of homosexuality, you would not be bothered by the presence of gay characters or gay-related topics in the media.

Yes, it is irritating to see media pander to popular social trends and create a "manufactured diversity". But perhaps it is better to have a manufactured diversity than no diversity at all? Perhaps the simple inclusion of underrepresented characters is a start towards representation and eventual acceptance.

Re-read your first paragraph, and replace the word "gay" with "female" or "black". Would you still feel the same way? Do you feel the introduction of characters whose race or gender differes from yours to be somehow manufactured or false? Does it oppress your sensibilities in the same way?

Your second point is about intolerance towards intolerance. Should you be forced to accept anything you don't choose to accept? Ethically speaking, I think acceptance is a reasonable request. You don't have to like it or respect it or support it, but you do have to accept its right to exist. If the media chooses to discuss gay issues and society at large chooses to accept homosexuality, then you are free to turn off the TV or remove yourself from that society. You may not like this choice, but you do have a choice nonetheless.

Answer 6

No you do not have a reasonable argument. "What I do have a problem with, is getting it forced down my throat every couple of minutes (no pun intended). " Ann Coulter is a stupid, stupid woman, do not paraphrase her if you want to be taken seriously. "Everytime I turn on the TV, a new gay character is introduced. " Not true, there are around six or seven gay characters on network tv. There is a simple solution, if you don't want to see it, don't watch it. It's really not that big of an issue, you can't ban everything that offends you. Calm down and stop whining.

Answer 7

Ummmm....

So exactly how do you define tolerance?

Let's look at your argument shall we --

You are tolerant, but you don't want to have to see gays on movies and television, read about them in magazines and books, and presumably hear them on radio. That is ALL ENTIRELY POLITICS because gay people don't really exist in the types of environments in which they are depicted in entertainment...

That is certainly the way your post reads.

I am a tenured member of professional faculty at a major university. I know other people like me in every field of endeavor I can think of. So... exactly why are such characters out of place in entertainment? Reality is that we exist in every strata, every type of employment and every area. I've known gay people (and couples) in the suburbs, the big cities, and the small cities -- and we don' t even focus on gay friends, our friends are selected to match our hobbies and interests.

Let's look at the statistics -- somewhere around 1 in 25 people are out gay in the Western World -- with about 1 in 10 actually preferring same gender relations -- but with some of those being deeply closeted (see Prajat et al; Discordance between Sexual Behavior and Self-Reported Sexual Identity: A Population-Based Survey of New York City Men; Annals of Internal Medicine; 19 September 2006 | Volume 145 Issue 6 | Pages 416-425 for a clear demonstration of this)

Men who have hidden their sexuality for years come out every day. We had a friend 40, whom I had always assumed was completely straight, come out last year. It happens.

I have pictures of Jonathan and I in my office. He has pictures of us in his.

What exactly makes such characters being present in a television show or other entertainment form odd? Other than prejudice? There are straight characters everywhere in the same entertainment venues, aren't there? So....

I strongly suggest rethinking your own position. If I felt about any minority the way you seem to feel about us -- I would not claim to be tolerant, and I would know that I wasn't.

Kind regards,

Reyn
[e-mail]

Answer 8

GLAAD analyzed the 95 announced primetime comedies and dramas on the broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The CW and MyNetworkTV. Out of a total 679 series regular lead or supporting characters, GLAAD counts only nine (9) gay or lesbian characters — 1.3% — appearing on eight (8) different scripted network programs.

That's hardly "a new gay character every time you turn on the TV".

Answer 9

We as a gay community have been forced to watch hetero TV for years. It's about time they started to show a variety of people and situations on tv. If you don not like the subject matter turn the tv off. Problem solved.!!!!

Answer 10

What is being presented to you are mostly fiction based on real life. One fact that we have to face is that there are lots more gay people around than we would notice or we would like to acknowledge. How you would react to these would be solely depend on you. To recognize that their part of the real world is enough. To embrace it and promote it would be overkill. I feel that all these gay character introduction to film, tv, and even literary is just to make it more accepted rather than hated.