I have seen two Letters to the Editors recently. One admonished homosexuality while the other retorted in support of homosexuality. What both lacked, however, was concrete and unbiased evidence based on their claims.
Mr. Peter, when you argued against homosexuality, the “evidence” that you used was purely anecdotal. If you write an essay about something, please use substantial evidence to support your views.
Mr. Semple, in your essay in support of homosexuality, you not only did not cite Camperio Ciani’s study, but also you also managed to get details of the study wrong. In your essay, you said “When a woman is pregnant with a boy, her body often sees the male fetus as a foreign object, and begins producing antibodies against it, feminizing it”.
So you are telling me, that when women get pregnant, something that their bodies are designed to do, that same body is going to turn around and see (only) the male fetus as a foreign object? Please go back and actually read the study, instead of scanning for the first sign of text that supports your case.
What that study really said was that women who are more fertile are more likely to give birth to a homosexual person, due to a specific gene. If you would like to know more, please read Ciani’s study. However, calling this study empirical is debatable, because the study only involved about 200 Italian families. Furthermore, this study does not rule out that other factors may exist.
In your essay, you also used the evidence of animals: “Let’s take a look at animals. Zebras, sheep, buffalo, elephants, cats, pigs and dolphins have all demonstrated homosexual tendencies in the wild”. However, you conveniently forgot to mention that animals also commit infanticide. So is infanticide okay then as well because animals do it? You cannot cherry pick what suits your fancy. If you are going to argue for homosexuality, you are best off using your last argument instead of using animals as an example.
Finally, I would like to propose a question to everyone: Why are we fighting over this? Why can’t we just respect one another? We are all humans, and the only way humanity is going to move forward is if we work together. Mr. Peter and Mr. Semple, you have voices. In this day and age, the majority of people have a voice thanks to technology and opportunities. Use your voice to argue about the more than 100,000 people who have died and are dying in Syria. Use your voice to argue about the continuing bloodshed in Egypt. Heck, use your voice to argue against the NSA spying on American citizens.
Use your voice for something important, instead of bickering on an issue that neither side is going to change their view on.
_—Andrew “Andrei” Zah, second-year media arts student _