Cynthia Nixon Controversy – A Choice to be Gay or Born that Way? January 25, 2012

Fair Warning – I am likely to get on my soapbox about this issue. I don’t understand why some homosexuals feel the need to dictate what other homosexuals must feel and say. Sex in the City star, Cynthia Nixon has inspired some negative feedback from the GLBT community since she stated publicly that she “chose” to be a lesbian. Married for a long time, Nixon is quoted saying, “I have been straight and I am now a lesbian, and being lesbian is better.” Granted, I am one of those lesbians that truly believes I was born a lesbian. But I have an open mind and guess if a person is truly bisexual, then they do have a choice.

Intellectually, the GLBT community should admit that “one size does not fit all” when defining any group of people. Given that fairly accepted supposition, then why do some members of the GLBT community feel the need to assume that we were all born gay or lesbian. I know. Don’t get mad at me, I know it’s not all of us that push this point. It may be safe to say that lesbians and gays have a strong preference for the same sex, but many of us have been married to the opposite sex at some point early in life. I am not willing to say that I did not love my husband. The truth is, I did love him. I still do, in fact.  I’m sure his current wife will be thrilled to hear that. I also must admit that I strongly prefer women over men as a partner and would never date men again. But I believe Cynthia Nixon when she says she chose to be a lesbian. Why would she feel the need to lie about this fact?

I know it would be a lot more tidy if lesbians and gays all claimed to be born this way, putting to rest right-wing rhetoric that the GLBT community is comprised of deviants who choose to “act out” in this way. For me, the fact that homosexuality exists in nature in other species proves that a certain percentage of any species is probably born this way.

If God made us gay or lesbian, then how can anyone fault us for this behavior? This basic argument in favor of acceptance is probably why the GLBT community cringes when celebrities like Cynthis Nixon use the word “choose” to describe why they are a lesbian. I can’t quite fathom some horse or cow sitting around and making a conscious decision to take a walk on the wild side as a gay horse or bovine. Is it just me, or have other people thought about this point? But then, people are capable of so much more thought than animal counterparts.

Carpe the differences within and outside the community!

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