Casting the first stone

I recently read an editorial entitled “Drawing the Line” in one of the local dailies here. The editorial criticized a female college student for being intimate with another girl inside a jeepney. It also said that the other passengers were “scandalized” not only because of the blatant and open display of affection, but also because the “spectacle” involved youngsters of the same sex, and that “Personal relationships are a private matter and public displays of affection and intimacy do scandalize people especially if the relationship is clearly of a nature that people do not see as regular and everyday.”

If the other passengers were “scandalized” then perhaps they shouldn’t blame the two girls. They should instead examine themselves if they have the right to question and judge others. To discriminate against same sex relationships is plain bigotry; to be “scandalized” by two girls displaying mutual affection for each other not because of the act but because of their gender is pure prejudice.

If the editorial writer wanted to focus on the couple’s blatant public display of affection or “PDA”, then why mention that the persons in question were of the same sex? If we must direct our attention at criticizing PDA per se, then a more concrete example of deliberate (if not tasteless) public display of affection is the Lovapalooza, where hundreds, even thousands of couples intimately kiss each other in front of the whole world. Instead of questioning a couples’ gender, why not pinpoint the act itself? This is not unlike an instance Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros once pointed out wherein an audience is watching a play, and suddenly out of nowhere someone naked darts out and streaks onstage. What do you think the people will watch, the play or the streaker? That’s what the editorial did when it focused on the two girls’ genders: it ran stark naked while a play was going on. Thus, the argument about PDA was not strengthened; on the contrary, it just put into light our society’s tendency to be intolerant of people who differ from the status quo.

There is a need for us to respect other people’s choices no matter how unpopular they are. As a society, we can indeed draw the line on what people should or should not do. But perhaps we should also draw the line at questioning or criticizing people on the basis of what or who they are.

Homophobia is no different from racism or chauvinism in that a person’s rights are trampled upon. The passengers made fun of the couple after they alighted and even cracked lewd jokes at the expense of the two girls. Should we commend and laud the passengers for their actions? Or should we condemn them for acting superior over other people just because they have the unwarranted advantage of being heterosexual or so-called “normal?”

I’ve always believed that only God can judge other people. Judge not, lest you be judged yourself. Well, unless of course you have the gall to cast the first stone.