Homosexuality - My Viewpoint

Hi friends,

(If you are not comfortable with the idea of homosexuality, feel free to ignore this post. To those of you who are referred to my post through your search of 'gays' and 'homosexuals' in Google and Yahoo, will find nothing to arouse you! lol!)

One fine evening, as I enjoying myself at the funfair on Rigga St in Dubai during the Shopping festival, a man approached me and asked me how the scary ride was. I gave him thumbs up. He approached me again with the same question as I got off another scary ride. Again, I gave him thumbs up. I got off the last scary ride, and this man was waiting for me at the gate. This time, as he noticed I was ready to leave the funfair, he asked me if he could treat me out to dinner. Questions ran through my head. He suggested that we could have dinner and then go back to his place for some “fun.”

I had never felt more disgusted in my life before. I pushed him away from me and dashed off quickly away from the complex. I figured out that a homosexual was trying to pick me up. It hit me now that this guy was following me since he first saw me. How could I have not noticed it before? I felt sick in my stomach, so much so, I could not breathe. I was disgusted. I felt horrible. Why did that guy approach me?

Through friends later, I found out that Rigga St. is a popular place for people to pick up prostitutes. It is a street where Russian and Chinese women walk up and down hoping to pick up business. It is also a place where homosexuals hunt for men. While at first I was in denial, my own experience led me to believe my friends. On top of this, after this experience, I went through the same thing twice on the same road. One time, at another location, a taxi driver fondled my leg in the car. I have vowed never to go on Rigga St. again and also I sit at the back of the taxi if I am alone.

My experiences with such men who were aiming to pick me up made me think about them. Are they homosexuals, or as we say more commonly, gays? Are they curious men? Are they men who have been repressed physically that they seek pleasure in other men? Are they men who are away from their families, that they long for physical pleasure? I can assure you, I have also been through places where men try to pick me up in Jeddah, especially at Starbucks.

No doubt that the three monotheistic faiths do not tolerate homosexuality. The Bible and the Quran have the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which was full of homosexuals. God does not approve of homosexuality. God created man and woman as part of His design, for the sole purpose of procreation. Man with another man abrupt the design because they cannot procreate.

So, what makes a man homosexual and why are this way? For one, I don’t buy into the idea that the genes, or the DNA makeup, include a gene for homosexuality as advocated by Time and Newsweek magazines years ago. If it were in the genes, the men can then easily say that homosexuality is from God. I am not a scientist and I don’t believe there exists a gene for homosexuality. There could be several other cases.

Cases where young boys are sexually abused/ raped by older men, can cause the victims to develop feelings for men as they grow up. Since the first sexual encounter is with a man, that is what they are exposed to and think sex with a man is fun and pleasure. An abused child develops mixed and confused feelings, and if left un-discussed, will lead the victim to experiment with homosexuality.

Other cases could be where the young boy grows up in a household absent of any male model figure, like a dad or brother. A young boy could develop tendencies to be sensitive, woman-like and thus feel and act like a woman. Which is where another man would seem more attractive as a sexual partner than a woman would.

I also think living in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, where dating is generally frowned upon, and where men and women cannot easily date like they can in the West, men are more likely to find other men to gratify their sexual desires. Isn’t it strange when we see men walking down streets holding hands? They could very well be best buddies, but who would know for sure. What about the labor force who are often here with families and wives back home? Spending excess amounts of time in an all male environment, where they get to depend on one another emotionally, could lead to experimentation with certain physical acts. In a society where men surround men all the time, is there a chance where men develop feelings for other men? Maybe. This argument may be weak because this type of society doesn’t exist in the West yet there are homosexuals rampant there. I know for sure that while the Middle Eastern will not talk about it openly, the homosexuals are rampant here too. It's just another case of "if its not heard of, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist!"

In Dubai, BBC News reported of a nightclub that was shut down in 1998 because a transvestite and gay night was planned. The flyers were leaked and the government authorities found out. Last year, Jules Bar, commonly frequented by gay men, was raided and arrests were made, with many deported. Jumeirah Open Beach is also frequented by gays, and last year too there was a raid at night, which led to the arrests of several men caught in the act. In Saudi Arabia, there has been news on and off of “gay weddings” and “beheadings of gays.”

No doubt I am sickened by homosexuality, but what should my position be? Should I condemn them and not have anything to associate with them? Or should I accept them for who they are in the name of tolerance? I believe in my heart that my position is to be friends with them and not be attacking them and keeping my distance. A good friend helped me passed my Spanish class in Texas, and he was a gay. Another friend helped me in my civil engineering class in university, and he was a gay. Another friend held intellectual talks with me in the dorms and he was gay. I believe I should be friends with them because I have an opportunity to change their lives and their lifestyle, and I can do this out of love, and not out of hatred and hate talk. This has proved successful because one of the friends has managed to change his lifestyle and come to realize that he was gay because of his selfish needs.

I don't think I am talking about anything new here. Everyone knows homosexuals exists amidst us, even here in the Middle East. There is no denying this. I don’t condone homosexuality, far from it, because God does not condone it. It is a disease, and it needs to be erased.

Mansur