Thursday, January 29, 2009

Annoyed with Frustrated Attachments

I'm watching CNN right now, and Anderson Cooper is discussing Ted Haggard's interview on Larry King.

Larry has so far asked such questions as:
Do you think this would have been different if Mike Jones had been Michelle Jones?
Do you consider yourself gay? Bi?

Haggard has said he's been to a couple counselors, who have defined his condition as Heterosexual with Homosexual Attachments (attachments? Like on a vacuum cleaner?)
He made the point that when a gay man has an affair with a woman, people don't demand that he admit he is heterosexual.

Am I the only one who thinks these are the wrong questions???

Who cares what Haggard calls himself? He has admitted that he doesn't feel like he fits in any of those boxes.
And, I'm sorry, but I can scarcely recall a gay man having an affair with a woman. Is Haggard really the victim here? Poor Ted, being asked to "come out."

To me, the question that needs to be asked is what kind of religion/society creates an environment that forces individuals to repress their sexual identities. Haggard is (was?) an outspoken homophobe, which clearly masked his true struggle. What was it that made it a struggle?

It actually pains me to watch him have to answer these questions and face these accusations, and I can only imagine what it must be to do this all so publicly. But this isn't helping anyone. We're only telling young boys and girls, who are experiencing the same things, that if you act on them, you're bad. Why aren't we telling them that if you REPRESS them, that is dangerous?

Larry King can be a moron sometimes, but Anderson Cooper...I would've expected more.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anderson said the repression seemed unhealthy. He also talked about the religious aspect some in an interview a few days ago with a film maker who did a documentary on Ted. 360 also did some good before on the religious programs that are supposed to turn people into "former gays", and how sad and futile they are.

Haggard is such a schemer, liar and ugly hypocrite I can't say I actually feel sorry for him. Being raised in an anti-gay region doesn't excuse him.

Anonymous said...

That should be "anti-gay RELIGION".

BT said...

Anonymous,

Great point about AC. I forget sometimes that he has to be more journalist than editorial. He did quite a nice job handling the sitch.