A confession, for discussion.

Homosexuality makes me uncomfortable.The Wife and I have been watching a television show called Six Feet Under. One of the main characters is a gay man. The show has included several scenes of this man kissing his various boyfriends, as well as other scenes of simulated sexual activity between different men.I don't like those scenes. I tend to close my eyes until they're over. I think two men kissing one another passionately is oookie. And it doesn't make any difference that the actors aren't gay (at least I don't think they are, but of course, I can't know that for sure). Even two straight gays pretending is disturbing.I have been in social situations where I've seen two women kissing passionately. It weirded me out. Well, ok, just for a second, because they were pretty hot looking babes.Intellectually, I don't believe homosexual sex is any more immoral than heterosexual sex. Anyone who has paid any attention to what I've been saying about gay marriage on this site knows that I'm an ardent proponent of the the right to marriage for homosexuals.But it still makes me uncomfortable to see homosexuals kissing.This is not a thread about the rights or wrongs of gay marriage. It's also not about whether gay sex is moral or immoral. It's about whether displays of affection between homosexuals make you uncomfortable at all.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

I certainly agree that heterosexual p.d.a.s can carry on to the point where others might be uncomfortable. However that doesn't really have a bearing on my discomfort. I enjoy watching straight sexual activities on television or in movies.And, it's not just over the top sex between men that bothers me. Just about anything beyond a short kiss will make me turn away.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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How does one change that which makes one feel oookie? That's not necessarily an easy thing to do....

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And I don't even know that I want to change that it makes me feel oookie. Having considered the matter, I can quite confidently say that my personal feelings about homosexual activity won't change in any way my feelings that they're entitled to the same rights as everyone else. To my knowledge, I don't have any friends or even acquaintances who are homosexual (although I do understand that, statistically it's quite likely that some are, I just don't know it), so there's no need to acclimate myself to it to make sure I don't make anyone else feel uncomfortable because of my squeamishness.It bothers me, but I can live with that.

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I share your feeling on this to a pretty good extent. I'm also a bit weirded out by hetero couples swallowing each others' tongues at, say, a public beach. But I agree with you - something that makes me, personally, uncomfortable to watch is not, ipso facto, something that should be illegal.

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Thank you for that. I didn't think that I was the only person who felt that way, but it's still nice to hear someone else say the same thing.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a mental disorder.

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I don't think you know me well enough to rule out that possibility.

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There is nothing wrong with public show of affection. It certainly does not harm anyone. What's more, WE ALL DO THE SAME THING AT SOME POINT IN OUR LIVES!!!

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Absolutely. And, oddly, when I see something like that, there's some part of me that's happy for them that they've found someone they can share that with.I just don't like to see it.

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With all that I said above, I normally just fast forward through any kind of sex scene in movies. Between that lame Show Girl movie and the battle scenes of Saving Private Ryan, I'd rather watch the battle scenes over and over a kazillion times than having to watch Show Girl.

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Well, that's an apples to oranges comparison. Showgirls was a piece of garbage (or so I've heard, never saw the whole thing myself), and Saving Private Ryan was an excellent movie. However, given two movies of equal caliber, the one with more skin in it is the one I'd more likely want a repeat viewing of. Or, to put it another way, just about any film is made better with some nudity. Except, that if it's homosexual men, I probably won't watch that part.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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For the most part, sexually related intimate activity appears naturally to be for privacy in civilized human cultures.

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Beasts and birds which possess inferior intelligence appear to have no inhibitions in this regard.

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Imo, humans, creatures of higher intelligence than the animal and bird kingdoms, were designed with these inhibitions.

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Yes, well, I guess I'm proof against that. I have no inhibitions whatsoever about sharing my intimacy with others, or sharing that of others with them.Please do try to at least make an attempt at addressing the topic before posting to this thread again. Kay?

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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Do you think it might be social conditioning from when you were younger?

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Quite likely.

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I noticed todays youth are much more at ease with the concept from the people of my generation.

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That's encouraging. I get somewhat the same impression from my 17 year old son, although I admit it's little more than a vague impression. It's hard to get much more than that from his largely monosyllabic responses to my questions.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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Straggler, as I've reiterated, what is deviant and what is normal pertains to what nearly all civilized cultures have considered deviant and/or normal relative to this topic throughout recorded human history.

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Do tell, have you done some kind of comprehensive study of "nearly all civilized cultures . . . throughout recorded human history" to support your conclusion? Or are you simply relying on your millenia-old religious text for your definition?By the way, why limit it to "civilized cultures?" Are those nasty heathens not worth your consideration?

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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For the most part, sexually related intimate activity appears naturally to be for privacy in civilized human cultures.

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Any evidence for this? Or are you talking out of your ass, as usual?

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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I've lived all over the US for 7 decades and I've observed people from many cultures on TV since TV was first invented.

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Okay, so now we've gone from "nearly all civilized cultures ... throughout recorded human history" to the parts of U.S. in the last 7 decades where a tight-assed whiteboy is likely to go, plus what a tight-assed whiteboy watches on television. Well, you've certainly narrowed the scope considerable.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat