There are two topics that I generally don’t delve into: abortion and gays.

It’s not that I don’t have a stand on these matters. It’s just that they ignite such passion, the kind of passion that I can’t handle. My own voice on both topics is so still and quiet that it doesn’t seem worth sharing, especially with all the yammering.

But today I was hovering here and here, and I was moved, deeply. As Paula says, when good people stay silent, we are letting the bad people do horrible things. We’re letting them win.

First, I salute Paula for having such a clear stand and having the courage to speak. She’s got a great voice too. She’d be good on radio, seriously.

While I was still deciding how to frame this post, I saw this, and I was shaken, but for different reasons. I have to admit that Marcus and Caroline are right. The views on the show do represent the views of the average Kenyan. And these shows are all about popularity, so they say what people want to hear.

But then again, when you have such immense influence over people, isn’t it better to use that influence responsibly, positively? Instead of just going with the mobs, wouldn’t it be better to point them in the right direction, however subtly?

I admit that a few weeks ago, I was on the wrong side of this debate. I have never advocated gay-bashing, but I was among the people who thought homosexuality was somehow unnatural, and I brushed off the gay penguins story as fabrication. I got hit on by two gay friends and have avoided them both to date. It simply did not make sense to me that organisms which are created as male and female would want to alter that. I didn’t think that God would outlaw something he had created, and so I didn’t believe that people could be born gay.

But then again, a few weeks ago, I was also sceptical about Islam, Eastern Mysticism, Yoga, meditation, accupuncture, meditation, ayur veda, and hindu gods drinking milk.

Well, actually, that last one, I still have my doubts even though I actually saw it happen.

I’m going through a renewal of sorts, a rebirth if you will, a re-memberance. And the experience is melting away a lot of my prejudices. So now, I can honestly say that gay people are ok. As Paula so eloquently puts it, they’re not bothering anybody. What they do in the privacy of their bedrooms is nobody’s business but theirs. And after all, homosexuality is about so much more than sex.

Charles and Daniel got married. They openly and legally expressed their love for one another. In a world where come-we-stay is the norm and divorce is like pizza or pie, it’s admirable that a couple – any couple, chooses to affirm their commitment, to take the ‘forever’ step, to say ‘till death do us part’. We shouldn’t hate them for that, we should applaud them. If we can accept polygamy, why do we have such a problem with gays?

I used to say if God wanted gays, he would not have created us male and female. But by the same token, if he wanted us to fly, would he not have given us wings? Or gills to swim, or wheels to ride, or blades for fingers to hunt, or flames for breath, or for that matter, cotton and silk to wear?

If we use that argument, we should all be walking nude and eating raw coffee berries. But we don’t. We made choices to use our intellect, to build planes, subs, shoes, microwave ovens, java, the London Fashion week. So the ‘as God intended’ argument falls flat right there.

What argument is left? We have absolutely no reason to bother people, or to interefere with how they live their lives, as long as they don’t hurt anyone. And honestly speaking, they’re not hurting or affecting anyone.

Sanctioning gay-bashing or corrective rape *shudder* is just as bad as pulling a Kunta Kinte. The people with power just should not do it. Neither should we.

Give the gays a break, they’re happy. We should all be so happy.

And yes, I would now attend a gay rights rally, Proudly Kenyan and Proudly CB.

My name is Crystal, and I approve this message.

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