The argument of nature vs. nurture was brought up in a recent issue of Verge Magazine. According to the article, two identical twin boys who eat the same food, share the same house, and have the same DNA are beginning to show signs of differing sexuality.

Patrick concerned the administrators at his school by claiming that he is a girl, while Thomas likes horseplay and all the other activities of a "normal" boy... that is, if you abide by the "normal" definition of the word "normal."

Their mother explained to Patrick that he can be do whatever he wants at home, but has to pretend to be a boy while out in public, otherwise he will get bullied. The seven-year-old walked away from this encounter (with who knows how much damage done), but now acts like a "normal" boy.

By setting social norms and telling children what is and is not appropriate as far as gender roles go, we've raised our worst nightmares. A boy's room should be painted blue, a girl's room should be painted pink, and all of the other utter nonsense that comes from earlier generations is still being taken way too seriously.

One of the reasons that the nature vs. nurture argument has hung on so long is that gay people are treated like second-class citizens. Everywhere you turn, gay people are being persecuted by people who say they believe in the motto "live and let live," but don’t actually stand by it. Gay marriage rights spend more time on the ballots than things that actually have repercussions for all tax payers, while churches look down on and condemn those who lead a gay lifestyle. The only time it's okay to be gay seems to be in girl-on-girl porn. Then it's not only acceptable, but profitable too.

The American Psychiatric Association considered homosexuality a mental disorder and sought cures for it until 1973. Now, that's crazy.

There was also a law in effect that forbade homosexual activity in Missouri, called the Sodomy Law, until it was repealed in 2006. It was considered a misdemeanor with a penalty of one year in jail and/or a $1000 fine. It was also restricted to same–sex couples.

MCC doesn’t even include the LGBT community in its nondiscrimination policy, and the student body seems okay with that. Semester after semester, students are shown handbooks, catalogs, and pages on the website about how diverse MCC is, and yet if you read the nondiscrimination policy, it states that "The Metropolitan Community College District is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, marital or parental status, national origin, race, religion, or gender in admissions, educational programs or activities, and employment, as specified by federal laws Title IX."

However, nothing protecting non-heterosexual students or employees is mentioned. The occasional protest about this policy has been met with feeble excuses about legal advice.

Has no one learned anything from what happened to Matthew Sheppard? The LGBT community, and individuals who happen to be different in some other way, are people and should be treated as such. Teaching children to be afraid of being themselves and telling them to never stray away from the traditional male/female roles doesn't make the "problem" go away. If anything, it can instill fear and/or hatred in the child.

Instead of encouraging people to accept individuality and allowing everyone to be their own person, the exact opposite is happening. People are telling seven year-olds to hide their identity and to pretend to be someone else; otherwise, bad things will happen to them. The lack of understanding that people seem to have concerning those who choose not to follow the stereotypical gender roles set before them can lead them to either fear or hate those few individuals who stand apart from the crowd.

Until people can realize that persecuting someone for being different is wrong, people are doomed to repeat the mistakes from the past. As long as children are being told to be someone else, things will never improve. Change has to happen, and not only for anyone who identifies as LGBT, but for everyone who marches to the beat of their own drums.

Tell us what you think. Write Spectrum at editor@mcckc.edu.

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