A Letter to Straight Pride UK

I have just sent an e-mail, (not a letter!) to Straight Pride UK, which is a project that claims to "campaign for heterosexual rights". I shall not comment further on their aims, but instead show you what I sent them. I will not be publicising their answers, as I saw a troubling case against someone else who did the same thing. These are merely the questions I asked.

If you wish to know what they reply, feel free to ask and I shall tell you in private.

...

Dear Sir/Madam,

There has been a lot of coverage lately on social media of your Straight Pride project, and I have a couple of questions and concerns that I wish to raise with you. Please note, before you continue reading, that I intend the answers to this email to be strictly private between myself and the person who replies. I will not publicise, write or publish your answers in any way shape or form and I hope this feeling will be mutual.

I am a gay man, and I do believe that I was born gay and discovered it rather than it being a lifestyle choice. I can't really get my head around how someone would choose to be a minority with risks of rejection and bullying instead of being straight. I do however feel strongly in freedom of speech, and respect your opinions on the matter of homosexuality, even if strongly disagree with them. Before I raise my concerns and ask my questions, I would like to point out that I do actually agree with one of your points. I have read a couple of articles recently on the notion of "gay-only" hotels, which in my opinion is wrong. If hotel/B&B owners are at risk of being sued by turning away homosexual couples, then others shouldn't be allowed to turn away heterosexual couples. Yes, I am in agreement with you on this point alone. Equality should indeed be a two way street.

However, now we come to my concerns and questions, and I'm afraid there are a few.

1) I have seen a few of your tweets, (At the moment, I am confused as to where your official Twitter feed is), but on Monday at least, I saw a long list of tweets on your account about people's stories of "coming out as straight". To me, this sounds like mocking the very difficult personal process of "coming out" as we know it by its original context. I do hope you appreciate that admitting ones sexual orientation is a difficult process. Regardless of whether you think it is a choice or not, the fact remains that almost all LGBT people risk rejection by their family, peers, friends, colleagues and indeed society for doing so, as there are people we share this planet with who are traditionalists. Rejection is not a nice feeling, and I do hope you realise this.

If we look further afield, we see that LGBT people in Russia are being physically tortured for it. Can you tell me if you condone such acts? Causing physical harm is wrong, regardless of the situation. Surely you can see that? In your opinion, if Russia is so adamant that they do not want LGBT people in their country, what should they do?

2) On your website, it states that homosexuals have "the right to dress ridiculously and parade with danger and contempt". I have two questions in regards to this. The first is: Do you think there is a connection between dress sense and homosexuality? I could show you countless examples of heterosexual people "dressing ridiculously" at a parade if I wanted to. I can't really see the logic behind that statement. Secondly, as we are talking of parades, do you think other parades not associated with the LGBT community should be banned aswell? What about the Notting Hill Carnival? Coming up on the August bank holiday, the Notting Hill carnival will see many, many people dressing inappropriately, banging drums, drinking a bit and generally having fun. Is this wrong aswell?

3) Again on your website, you claim that you need to "raise awareness of the heterosexual part of society and assure that their presence is known and their views are heard." Why do you think this is necessary? Even though things have improved in the last few years, the LGBT community have spent their entire existence battling against prejudice and bullying. This has never been the case for heterosexual people, (apart from a very, very rare couple of examples in regards to "gay only" places - as mentioned earlier). For every one case of heterosexual prejudice, (or heterophobia), there have been literally thousands of homophobic incidents. This is a fact. And this is not equality.

I do hope you find it in your hearts to reply sincerely, and without mockery or contempt. I do get the impression that this project of yours is poking fun at the LGBT community, but if it is indeed a genuine attempt to raise heterosexual rights, then I fear you are fighting a battle that has already been won.

Once again, I reiterate that I will not be publishing your answers on any sort of media platform.

Regards,

Tom Carr