I don’t know how many times I had two-minute noodles while I was growing up. Definitely hundreds of times, if not thousands. I ate a lot of them when I was a struggling student, and later in my thirties, when we were a single income household with a big mortgage, they were a staple item.
Apparently they can turn you into a homosexual. At least that’s the claim made earlier this year by Arief R. Wismansyah, the mayor of the Indonesian town of Tangerang, near Jakarta. According to Wismansyah babies drinking formula milk are also in danger of growing up gay.
One of the more memorable moments from the presidential campaign of Dr Ben Carson was his assertion that people choose their sexuality. Carson said he had observed many people claim to be gay after being in prison.
Last year in Saudi Arabia there was a warning to parents that dancing could lead to immorality and even homosexuality. The warning was issued after a group of men were arrested for dancing at a birthday party.
Outspoken US pastor Kevin Swanson has put his case forward that Disney movies deliberately attempt to convert children into homosexuals. He was particularly concerned about the effect the film ‘Frozen’ might have on America’s youth.
Add to these, a guy on the internet who claims that eating soy products lead to same sex attraction, an African spiritual leader who thinks being gay is a result of having tattoos, and the Dutch neuroscientist who thinks homosexuality is caused by pregnant mothers smoking.
Let’s not forget Bolivia’s president Evo Morales who claimed that people turn gay because there a too many hormones in chickens.
Most recently an aspiring politician in NSW logged on to Twitter and announced his belief that the Safe Schools Coalition, a program designed to stop LGBTIQ+ kids being bullied, was attempting to turn straight kids into gay kids.
If any of this was even remotely true, even a glimmer of reality, then none of us would be single. We’d all be dancing around encouraging people to get cute tattoos of Kristoff while promoting a new range of soy based noodle products.
There seems to be a never ending stream of people lining up to tell gay people that none of us were born this way. If only there was as much discussion into what makes people prejudiced, lacking empathy, and in many cases, just plain old stupid.
The thing that gets us through these ridiculous statements and outrageous assertions is a good sense of humour. Luckily there’s a swag of gay and straight comedians heading our way to lift our spirits.
Graeme Watson
