Wrong Issues Debated

To the editors:

Stephen E. Sachs '02 claims that "it is understandable that many gays might find questions about the morality of homosexuality upsetting." It is not the prospect of debate which upsets me, but rather Sachs' provision of the following statement as evidence of the reasonable nature of his aversion toward homosexuality: "I'll admit it: homosexual acts do unnerve me." To his credit, he re-assures us that his distaste for "homosexual acts" is insufficient justification for moral condemnation. But the only reason he thinks he can separate the idea of being "unnerved" from a more abstract moral objection is that he is "unnerved" for purely visceral reasons, that he pales at the thought of a "homosexual act."

What is it that "unnerves" Sachs about homosexuality? Is it the mere existence of attraction between persons of the same gender? Is it anal sex between two men? Many straight men find sex between women an appealing prospect, at least to watch. Why does he shy away from telling us precisely what he means if he believes that we should lay our cards on the table and discuss what "acts" we like to perform and why we like to perform them?

I am attracted to (some) men, emotionally and physically. I am a good person, but there is no way for me to demonstrate this in a debate. How can I, as someone who is considered so removed from the institutions embodying the morality of many, even begin to explain how I fit into a moral framework which specifically precludes my presence in it?

I agree that there ought to be a moral debate, but not on the question of whether or not it is right for homosexuality to exist. Rather, perhaps we should be asking whether it is moral that anyone can be fired in 40 states because of his or her sexual orientation; that I can be kicked out of housing in 42 states; that homosexual sex by either gender is forbidden in 5 states; and that non-vaginal intercourse is illegal for all persons in 13 states (including this one). If these are the sorts of moral issues Sachs wishes to debate, bring it on.