CYNTHIA NIXON ON BEING GAY: ‘FOR ME IT’S A CHOICE’
Huffington Post“I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line ‘I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better.’ And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand that for many people it’s not, but for me it’s a choice, and you don’t get to define my gayness for me. A certain section of our community is very concerned that it not be seen as a choice, because if it’s a choice, then we could opt out. I say it doesn’t matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters that we are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make a litmus test for who is considered gay and who is not.”
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“Why can’t it be a choice? Why is that any less legitimate? It seems we’re just ceding this point to bigots who are demanding it, and I don’t think that they should define the terms of the debate. I also feel like people think I was walking around in a cloud and didn’t realize I was gay, which I find really offensive. I find it offensive to me, but I also find it offensive to all the men I’ve been out with.”
PREACH
I…kinda love this.
FUCK YES
Hm. I shall think on this.
i think denying the ‘choice’ route towards arriving at your sexual preferences implies that anything other than heteronormativity is still not truly acceptable. coming to conclusions about one’s sexuality is just as much of a life journey as any other realization about oneself, for some there are inherent factors to one’s person that push you towards a decision, for others it’s a series of experiences that lead a person to a conclusion.
i personally feel that lgbtq rights will have come a long way once it’s perfectly acceptable to take up any one of those descriptors by choice alone.
i need to hug this woman
Wow. I’m really glad someone is actually saying this, because right now it seems like the only mainstream narrative...
Bi erasure is my favorite thing! /sarcasm
Bisexuals aren’t real, remember? *rolls eyes*
Hmm, I wonder why being bi never comes into this?