My Two Penn'orth

In a WhatsApp group, I was involved in gay topic. I and my high school friends, whom I wasn't out to, talked about the trending topic which was gay marriage in Bali. 

I only observed the conversation at first without any intention to be involved in that chit chat. Their opinions were as I expected. One of them referred to Sodom and Gomorrah, common guidelines that is often used to oppose gays.

A friend of mine, Er, the only one who knew I was gay, challenged them:

Er : What we should do towards them (gays)?

B : No tolerance. 

Er : In what way? What would you do to them in real life?

B : Well, I'll let them be. I don't want them to flirt with me. 

I just smiled and continued my observation.

Then B said that it wasn't normal to be gay, psychologically. Being friend with an undergraduate in psychology, I knew that gay wasn't abnormal for in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. 

I was intriqued to bring out this thing, but I was afraid. But hell, I felt like I had to do it, I had to speak up and I did. I told them what I knew that gay had been declassified as abnormal in psychological study. And I got various responses.

F : If someday, bestiality, by consensus is also declassified as mental illness, would it be normal too?

R : If it's normal, what will happen with procreation? What will happen with the population if 70% of the people are gays?

I was stunned. Breathing out, I replied, "Well, I think we are talking in different views, while I look at it on psychological paradigm, you see it in terms of morality, or population. It's like combining Genesis and Darwin's theory."

I stopped there. The debate, for me, it's over. Not that I didn't have the argumentation of both morality and population view, but I felt it was useless for it had extended to God knows where.

Er told me in private chat that they took the easy way out. Their opinion weren't risky. They were "go-with-the-flow" opinions. This matter somehow has no effect in their lives, he continued. 

I guess he was right. 

It's true that many times in my life, I went where the current took me, just to be safe, to be netral. The easy way out. Is it okay? Well, the real question isn't whether it's okay or not. The real question is if your conscience says "Yes" or "No" and you tell otherwise because it's somewhat majority, so you will be safe, no harm whatsoever, won't you regret it in the future, not to say what you believe in? 

This afternoon I read about Bali's Governor's reaction towards the gay marriage in Bali. For me, his reaction was "normal". I didn't know what he believed in, but it was just safe. 

I love to get involved in debates, not to win the debates, but to express what I believe, so my "opponent" know my rationale.

Maybe it is only my two penn'orth, but who knows? It may bring a slight change in this cruel world.