Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: hwt@.bnr.ca (Henry Troup) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: homosexuality Message-ID: Date: 18 Jul 90 08:54:59 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ltd. Lines: 39 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article alan@jts.com (alan sinclair) writes: >homosexuals realize this. Is it not true that in homosexual >couples one assumes the masculine role and the other the >feminine? All the homosexual men who are effeminate - the >"obvious" ones - are they not just those men who assume >the feminine role in the couple? I was going to respond to this: Well, no, it's not true in general. Then I thought I'll just add this to my kill file. Then I thought I'd ask OFM to kill the thread. But finally I decided that I should try to respond to this. Well, no, it's not true in general. Several friends of mine have told me that they are homosexual. This has always been the only way to tell. I've known two long-term homosexual couples, and in neither one was there a masculine or a feminine 'relationship' role. I'm worried that Alan probably thinks he doesn't know any gays, and believes in the 'swish' stereotype as fifty percent of (male?) homosexuals. It's not so, it's an evil stereotype, and it should be stamped out. Honest or reliable figures are really hard to come by, but as a rule of thumb 10% of the population is gay. This may not apply to your congeration, but it almost certainly applies to your workplace. Odds are good that several of your acquaintances are gay - but you don't know. Will you change your behaviour towards them if they 'come out' to you? If so, why? More so or differently than towards a mixed-gender couple living together unmarried? More than to the guy (married) that everyone knows is sleeping with his secretary? -- Henry Troup - BNR owns but does not share my opinions | Not one of 100% of ..uunet!bnrgate!hwt%bwdlh490 HWT@BNR.CA 613-765-2337 | Americans [I think it's more useful to deal with stereotypes openly than to suppress the discussion. --clh]