Get Over It by Delphi The Lawsuit Lifestyle I read a little blurb in the paper today about a case the ACLU has taken on behalf of a woman who was fired from her position as a counselor at a Baptist home for abused and neglected children. Nobody seems to be in any doubt that she was fired because she's a lesbian. She is suing because the home gets money from the state (I believe the state in question is Georgia, or Alabama; some southern state), and that violates a state law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion. The idea is that while the home may be Baptist, if it wants to get state funds, it can't require anybody connected with it to be Baptist, or even to believe the same things that Baptists believe (whatever those might be, beyond a good dunking). The home says they fired her because they don't wish to have a counselor who promotes a lifestyle that has "negative physical consequences." How curious. First thought to spring to mind: what does "negative physical consequences" mean? AIDS? Getting the tar beaten out of you by some neanderthal who think lesbians just haven't met the right man yet? In the first place, as of 1995, there were 79 recorded cases of HIV positive lesbians in the US who denied any sexual contact with men. Seventy-four infections were traced to shared needles, and five were traced to tainted blood transfusions. And while it may seem that being gay, especially in a region not normally known for its tolerance of non-het non-WASPs, is a sure ticket to having the snot drubbed out of you on a regular basis, it's not a requirement. Perfectly "normal" people have been known to be on the receiving end of a senseless beating. Second thought: when are people going to get it through their heads that sexual orientation is not a "lifestyle choice"? Calling it a "lifestyle" rather than an integral part of someone's identity makes it sound like you could while away your time in the grocery store lines reading a Better Homes and Gardens special magazine devoted to this season's trends in sexual styles. If being gay or bi is a choice, why isn't heterosexuality also a choice? For those people who are willing to concede that a person can choose to be het, but that since most people choose it, it must be normal, I'd like to remind them of all those people who thought that the world was flat and the sun revolved around it. Popularity doesn't equal truth. I confess that I'm a little tired of all these lawsuits. We've become a culture whose favorite arena of contact is the small claims court, and that seems lamentable, and kind of small minded, to boot. At the same time, I have to support anybody who brings a suit on the basis of sexual orientation, or fat discrimination, or any other kind of human rights issue. At least for now, it seems the only real way to make any progress.