however what i DONT like is when homosexuals make it very visible to others, a great example was at my gr8 ottawa trip when we were walking past a hotel and a man was walking in high heels and a dress, thats just disgusting.
"A man walking in high heels and a dress" could imply many other things beside being gay. That person could have been a
drag queen, who performs as a woman for entertainment purposes. Or the person could have been a
cross-dresser, someone who gets (sexually) excited by wearing women's clothing. OR the person may have been
transgender, identifying as a woman despite being born biologically male, in which case they were expressing the gender that they feel most comfortable/honest as.
It's important to distinguish between the following:
biological sex = based on what genitals you have. 1 in every 2,000 births in America are
intersex, meaning that they have ambiguous genitalia. The voice actress who portrayed Meowth on Pokemon was born intersex, raised as a male, before eventually realizing that she felt female and transitioning into living as a woman.
gender identity = how you feel mentally about your gender. Transgender people identify as a gender that does not align with their biological sex. I have a biologically female friend who identifies as
genderqueer because she feels that she is
mostly female but about 40% male. People whose biological sex aligns with their gender identity are called
cisgender. Most people are cisgender, and don't often recognize the distinction between biological sex and gender identity.
gender expression = a person's mannerisms, clothing, etc. How a person presents themself, basically. People can dress more masculine, feminine, or androgynous, depending on what their culture/environment considers to be more masculine/feminine. For example, the man wearing the dress and heels appears to be presenting a feminine gender expression. Many men have earrings (feminine/androgynous), and many women have short boyish hair (masculine or androgynous).
sexual orientation = What gender a person finds sexually/romantically/physically attractive. This is not synonymous with gender expression. A man can wear a dress and still be straight. I am gay, yet I wear pants nearly every day.
I think same-sex couples should have the right to marry legally. To specifically exclude same-sex couples from the 1,000 or so legal benefits that opposite-sex couples receive from the state not only seems unfair, but also sends the message that LGB people are "less than" or inferior to straight people, and that same-sex relationships are illegitimate or lack the same basic commitment as opposite-sex relationships.