Homosexuality in the political process

Homosexuality is a very touchy subject. It hits close to home with almost everyone. We all know people who come down on one side or another on the issues brought to the public arena by this lifestyle choice. We as a society have an obligation to be accepting of others. Acceptance of another for who they are does not, however, mean we should put aside our beliefs and accept everything that they wish to do or say for the sake of acceptance. Homosexuals are an obviously growing force in our country. They command a large voice that some would say dictate a disproportionate amount of public policy. Has the tone in the country changed as regards to homosexuals and their so called agenda? How has their growing influence changed the course of public policy? Do racial and/or ethnic views on homosexuals affect the way people of diverse ethnic backgrounds vote on those issues? These are the questions that will be discussed in this paper. The questions raised by the issues at hand are important ones to find answers to. We need to be politically aware of what goes on in our country, and the policies of the homosexual movement have the potential to change the course of our countries policies in ways that many consider the wrong direction.
The only way to understand the homosexual movement is to exam its origins. In the late 1980s a book was written by Marshall K. Kirk and Hunter Madsen detailing how the homosexual movement could become mainstream and detailing exactly how this could happen. Before this time homosexuals were “in the closet.” Theirs was a lifestyle not discuss in polite company. This book helped to change the way homosexuals presented themselves to the public. They presented three major ways in which to accomplish their goals: desensitization, jamming, and conversion.
“If gays present themselves-- or allow themselves to be presented--as overwhelmingly different and threatening, they will put straights on a triple-red alert, driving them to overt acts of political oppression or physical violence. If, however, gays can live alongside straights, visibly but as inoffensively as possible, they will arouse a low-grade alert only, which, though annoying to straights, will eventually diminish for purely psychological reasons. Straights will be desensitized.” ( "After the Ball - How America will conquer its fear and hatred of Gays in the 90s." - Penguin Books, 1989 pp. 147-157.by Marshall K. Kirk and Hunter Madsen) The desensitization factor of their agenda has been very successful. There used to be no instances of homosexual activity on television. One of the most popular sitcoms in recent years has been “Will and Grace.” This is a program that would have been, even in the 80s, too crude with a subject matter too taboo for television. It is now acceptable to announce to the world that one has same sex attraction. Something that even ten years ago was very controversial. People are now almost ridiculed if they “stay in the closet.”