Bob Henline: We’re all just people

Last week I had an interesting experience, one that is causing me to divert my normal political rantings and put a more “human” spin on my column.  As many of you know, I am a straight male, so I’ve never been faced with the stigma or discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community. I was raised in a pretty conservative environment, not overtly homophobic, but certainly one that wasn’t accepting.

As with most of Utah’s straight population, I grew up viewing homosexuals as “different.” For me, that wasn’t a big deal because I am one of those people that value diversity and think that embracing “different” people makes us stronger.

This experience, however, has changed my perspective.

I was sitting in a local veterinarian’s office when a gentleman came in with two cats. Apparently one of the cats was very ill and the other was exhibiting strange behavior. While waiting for the doctor, the gentleman’s partner arrived at the clinic – both were visibly distressed and worried about their cats.

I left the clinic to run a few errands and came back a bit later. When I returned, the two men were just leaving after euthanizing one of the cats. Both were fighting a losing battle against tears.

I don’t know the men, I’d never seen either of them before. I don’t know how long they’ve been together; I don’t know if they have any desire to be married or to raise kids or what their plans may be. What I do know, just from the few moments I shared with them as an observer, is that they aren’t different at all.

There are elements of our society that would have us believe that because these men are attracted to each other, and not women, they are somehow deviant, that they pose some sort of risk to society’s delicate moral fabric. I’ve never believed any of that nonsense, but I will admit that I have viewed gays as different, even as I respected and valued that diversity. For that I am sorry.

As I watched these gentlemen with their cats it really struck me that they are not different in any way that really matters. They are no different than people that have a different skin color, gender, or body type. Really no more different than someone that chooses a different hair style or clothing, other than the fact that, like the rest of us, they don’t choose their orientation or preference, it just is what it is.

I’ve thought about this incident a great deal over the past week, especially in relation to my own views and thoughts. What is it about homosexuality that makes elements of our society jump from “different” to “dangerous” so quickly?  I understand that innate human fear of the unknown, but we don’t make that leap with regard to different hair or eye color.

We’re all different people; we have different genetic markers: different fingerprints, different looks, thoughts, attitudes, and mannerisms. But we all have one thing in common: we’re human. Regardless of the differences we may have we are all united by our humanity and our presence on this little rock in space, and it’s long past time we started acting like it.