Love Knows No Gender

...Or sex. Or race. Or number. Or religion. Or so on and so forth!

All right, all right. As a biromantic asexual myself, I think my passion for this topic comes naturally. Love shouldn't care who is involved, as long as all parties involved are consenting to the relationship. Man and woman? Go for it. Man and man? Sure. Woman and woman? Why not? Multiple wives or husbands? More power to ya. Also, what about the ongoing debates over interracial or mixed-religion couples? I don't see any real issues, because it's just various cultures joining together to become one.

We, as the human race, constantly preach tolerance and acceptance, and that we should openly embrace our brothers and sisters, no matter how they identify themselves. But the sad truth is that a lot of us still enjoy going back on our own word and use ancient scripture to back up why we believe something is more correct than something else. I'm not talking exclusively about the Bible; loads of other religious and non-religious passages deem wrong what cannot be helped, and that is sexual and/or romantic attraction.

But let's start at the basics. Girls and guys of any sexuality--how old were you when you first started becoming attracted to others? My first crushes started when I was around five year old, as far as I can recall, or maybe even younger. I fancied several of my friends, lads and lasses alike. Ended up kissing my at-the-time biggest crush when I was seven. Yes, it was a total accident, because he just happened to get in my way when I was making a mad dash for the playground at school, but I still felt really giddy. I think I even tried kissing a female friend once. Nothing big happened, she just kissed me back because we were such good friends. Still, I could have sworn I was kind of in love with her.

Anyway, before I veer too far off this road, I'll present to you a scenario: Young children are at the local park, swinging on the swings, sliding down the slides, and see-sawing on the see-saws. Fluffy, white clouds float merrily in the periwinkle sky, and the songs of many different birds are falling gently upon your ears. The roses are beaming red, tulips are a friendly yellow, and bees are buzzing to and fro between the huge buffet laid out around them. In general, it's a happy day. Then you see two kids sitting under a tree, and one leans over to plant the most innocent kiss upon the other's cheek. What are you thinking? Boy and girl? Girl and girl? Boy and boy?

Normally, due to society still deep in the process of evolving, one would think boy and girl, and nothing more than friends, right? But, shocking as it is, some kids are faintly aware of whom they fancy, even if they are quite young. Why else would children fall in love? They don't always know some people view it as wrong, and they're in no hurry to try being 'different' when they risk being bullied. So it must be natural. It must be instinct. It must be love.

The only problem is that it's been looked down upon so often for so long that it actually scares kids into hiding their differences. When they finally feel comfortable, they go through the process of 'coming out', around which lingers an air of either dread or hope. Some worry about if they'll be accepted for being attracted to the same sex, and others are comfortable enough with themselves to not care what anyone else thinks. The thing is, straight people don't really have to come out. Instead, it's usually taken for granted that someone is straight, unless they claim otherwise. I don't like that. If the world would just be a little more tolerant of its minorities, perhaps there would be a lot less stressing out about whether or not our children are gay, and a lot more actually getting this world on steadier feet. Honestly, if one more person claims homo- and bisexuality are terrible and harmful 'lifestyles', but does not give any solid evidence that I cannot counter...

Then there's the whole spiel about same-sex marriage being completely immoral, since it's a 'religious thing and all'. Well, you know what? I think mixed-sex couples have already brought ruination upon marriage, what with abusing the right to divorce and loveless arranged couples. It's no more holy than married atoms any more. And what about the religious same-sex couples who want God (or whatever deity they believe in) to be witness to their union? I'm sorry, but civil partnerships don't cut it for me. Poor same-sex couples joined together in places supporting only civil partnerships of them, if they slip and say they're married, it's a lie. But saying that 'we're married' is so much simpler than saying that 'we're in a civil partnership'. And it just sounds much more pleasant, too. But hey, nothing like political correctness to ruin it for those who are actually affected by it. And no, mixed-sex couples, same-sex marriage does not make your own marriage any less special. And it's not like we want more rights than you straight people, we just want the same rights and treatment as you. Give us that much and we'll be happy.

Somewhat related to the topic of same-sex marriage is the issue of gay parents. Loads of people, including even a small amount supporters of gay rights, tend to believe two parents who are of the same sex and in love with one another cannot possibly raise a child as properly as a mixed-sex couple can. They claim the child's exposure to two men or two women in love will corrupt the youngster's mind, lead to overly harsh bullying from peers, make the child more likely to fall into some sort of life-ruining habit, and/or influence the child to become gay as well. Approximately thirty or so years of studies on children brought up by gay and lesbian couples have proven to contradict popular belief. In fact, children of lesbian couples are actually better off than children of straight couples, and I'm presuming the results are just as good when there are two dads and no mum. And the problem about bullies targeting kids with gay parents is not nearly as prominent as you would think, for gay parenting truly does open eyes to see less traditional families. The thing is with gay parenting, these couples usually only enter parenthood when they know for sure they are ready to cope with the hardships involved with raising a child, whilst a rather large number of straight or single parents sometimes make mistakes that lead to a child they aren't ready for. Gay couples just don't have the option of making those mistakes, unless there's something else going on outside of the same-sex relationship. But I digress again. Back to the studies and their results, proof that solid is difficult to ignore.

Another thing that is, unfortunately, impossible to ignore is the 'against nature' arguement. Humans are part of the animal kingdom, yes? And also in the animal kingdom are hundreds of creatures that sometimes form same-sex couples, right? Yeah, that's right. Lions, ravens, giraffes, dolphins, swans, dragonflies, salmon, snakes, penguins, frogs, apes, spiders, and butterflies are all some of the many animals that may display homosexual behaviour. Black swans are notorious for the fact about a quarter of their pairings are homosexual. They often either steal nests or have two males pair up together, invite a female into their love life, and then, as soon as the female lays the egg(s), the males chase her out so that they may be alone in raising the chicks. Giraffes, too, are possibly the poster animal for non-human homosexual behaviour, for an upwards of seventy-five or so per cent of recorded mounting incidents occurs between two giraffes of the same sex, although very rarely between two females. As for some dragonflies, a female will sustain very distinct damage caused by a male mating with her, but this same damage has been seen on a very large portion of the males as well, meaning that males mate with males, too. So it is not at all against nature. Okay, yes, the human brain is perhaps very complex. But when it comes down to our animalistic nature, sexual attraction cannot be shoved aside for the sake of so-called morals.

As I stated earlier in this essay of sorts, my community and I don't want rights superior to those of the straight folks. I just want to be seen as bleeding blood as red as that of the beautiful people around me.

Feel free to put some of your deoxyribonucleic acid on the back of this stamp and stick it in your journal if you so desire.

Spread the word, spread the love. Peace.

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EDIT: Holy. Cow. I really actually was not expecting to return from my long hiatus to loads of comments and favourites on this. I'll probably make a version of this stamp so that non-subscribers can use it. Might not happen too soon, but it will happen, don't you worry. Really now, thank you for the support, everyone. I won't respond to comments individually for this unless I feel I absolutely have to, but do know that your comments, positive and negative alike, are being read, understood, and appreciated.