The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition states:
Bigot – A person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.
So when I heard a couple of religious commentators say that homosexuality was unnatural, and that homosexuals were trying to pervert the definition of marriage in order to fill some kind of emptiness in their lives, I asked myself…is this bigotry or just ignorance?
On the question of whether homosexuality is natural, I would have to assume that commentators on a nationally syndicated radio show would have some knowledge of the science that shows that same sex attraction is a natural phenomena. It is possible, I suppose, that the science is simply not understood, or that there is some countering rationale that the commentators find compelling. But to see the utter failure of so-called homosexual recovery therapies, or to suggest that somehow homosexuals have chosen (often in extremely hostile environments) their sexual preference, requires a kind of intellectual blindness that seems to qualify as “obstinate”.
The idea that gay marriage somehow perverts what conservatives call “traditional marriage” requires a fairly narrow view of tradition. Just a couple of decades ago a husband could repeatedly force himself on his unwilling wife, and she had no legal recourse. And not long ago a woman could not own property separate from her husband, nor have any claim to her own income. These advances in the civil rights of women have had a profound, and liberating effect. This shift away from a paternalistic view of marriage has surely perverted traditional marriage more than extending specific legal protections to same-sex couples. In fact, whether same-sex couples have the same type of survivor, property or custody rights as heterosexual couples has no impact on the heterosexual couples at all.
The grounds for objecting to same-sex marriage is not rational, but based on prejudice, fear and ignorance. In my opinion this is obstinate intolerance and therefore clearly bigoted.
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