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I suppose that much has already been said about the Liberty League fiasco. By now, in the blogosphere at least, it should be fairly common knowledge that LL founder, Leslie Lung (hmm, a little narcissistic, are we now?) is probably not quite as ‘neutral’ as he purports to be, but is actually another religiously driven individual, pretending to campaign ‘human rights’ in the aims of providing sexually confused individuals (i.e. all who are not practising heterosexuals) with guidance and support so that they can come out of this confusion with an “understand[ing of] their sexual identity”.

Said Leslie Lung, founder and executive director of the Liberty League, “This is very much based on the Alcoholic Anonymous self-help principles. So people come; it’s an environment that is friendly, warm, based on friendship, encouraging people to take small steps to talk about the issues, recognize why they are doing certain things, find resolutions.” (via CNA)

The first thing that jumped out at me from this article was how Leslie Lung has compared Liberty League to Alcoholics Anonymous. Is homosexuality non-heterosexuality an addiction? Are homosexuals, bisexuals, transexuals, and whatever else he chooses to classify under the broad umbrella of the sexually confused addicted to their lifestyle? (For the purpose of being concise I will just refer to homosexuals from now – since this is the main group that has been targeted by Liberty League.) I think not.

Homosexuals – how many times must this be said?!! – are no different from the next person on the street. A homosexual couple is by and large a pair of consenting adults (or teenagers, I suppose) who are involved in an emotional relationship, who go on dates, who see movies, who eat breakfast (unless they wake up late), lunch and dinner, who drag themselves to the gym to exercise, who like sunbathing but may hate sand, who have pets, who go to school or work, who bitch about colleagues or classmates, who hold hands, who kiss.

Did that description sound like a heterosexual couple to you? Definitely. There’s just one difference – the 2 consenting adults just happen to be of the same gender. Does that make them so far removed from normalcy that all manner of bigotry and intolerance must be endured? I don’t see why one small difference makes it such a huge point of contention, when no one makes a fuss when there’s a difference between 2 heterosexual couples – one of which is a sports-loving, outdoorsy couple, and the other are a pair of indoor plants. Sure, some of them may be involved in sexual activities that I may not personally choose to engage in – e.g. S&M, multiple one night stands – but find me a heterosexual society that can honestly flaunt a 0% involvement in such activities.

Also, if they are truly championing human rights in the way they claim, and if they have recognised that “being gay and lesbian is part of it”, then why is there a need to find resolutions for “certain things” that they may be doing?

Leslie Lung explained, “We champion human rights really. It’s about people being able to say, I’m human and sexual orientation is so wide. Being gay and lesbian is part of it; coming out of it is part of it as well.”

By the way, did anyone notice that what Leslie Lung said here was “coming out of it“, and not “coming out” in the above sentence? Perhaps he was trying to disguise his covert ex-gay agenda with his wording.

Also, if we were to take note of Liberty League’s Understanding Sexuality programme’s 4 core modules:

Explorer
Take off on your maiden flight to understand human sexuality. Explores core values with a biological, psychological, sociological and spiritual perspective.

Challenger
Develops grit and tenacity to overcome difficulties when the going gets tough. Gets down to deeper issues of hurt, bitterness, dependency, addiction and abuse.

Achiever
Scaling new heights to achieve goals for both short- and long-term. Becoming secure and moving beyond brokenness to love others, growth and restoration are well in sight.

Liberator
Focuses on the concerns of care-givers, friends and family who wish to reach out to those who struggle with sexual brokenness. Liberation of others begin with your own.

I refuse to believe that I’m the only one who is screaming protest at terms such as sexual brokenness, addiction, abuse, and spiritual perspective which have been used in conjunction with homosexuality. Not every single ‘gay boy’ is gay because his daddy did bad things to him as a kid, you ignoramuses. Nor is every single homosexual man some drug-addict type character who sulks around at night, shedding his daytime heterosexual persona, looking for some ass to bang once he’s out of the glaring, judgemental light of day. Similarly, not every lesbian is a lesbian because of some abusive uncle who would, likewise, do bad things to her when her mommy was out working, who then inculcated some fear of men in general. Sure, it happens, but stop generalising already. And please, not everyone wants to walk the path of light and become recovered gays, thank you very much.

The saddest part of this whole fiasco is that I actually agree with what NVPC CEO, Tan Chee Koon has said,

“Among teenagers, there are some who are confused about sexuality issues, and do need to seek clarification and help to work them through their confusion.”

She added, “They need to go to some non-threatening parties to talk about their concerns.”

There are such individuals, from both sides of the fence. Heterosexuals who may dabble in homosexual experimentation due to (popular reason) continued close proximity with only individuals of the same gender (and absence of the opposite sex), e.g. LUGs in all-girls-schools, as well as homosexuals who may not know what it is that they are going through are 2 such examples of people who might make use of the available non-threatening parties with whom they can discuss their concerns.

The problem then lies with these wolves in sheep’s clothing who are not in actual fact neutral parties. As has earlier been stated, Liberty League is a religiously motivated organisation that is pro Ex-Gay. While I don’t normally spare a second thought for parties that may disagree in ideology from me (agreeing to disagree being the name of the game here), religiously motivated organisations are certainly not parties that should receive preferential treatment and funding from the government of our multi-cultural nation.

Do they realise that this ‘non-judgemental’ step they have taken to benefit the community is actually an action tainted with partiality? I don’t know. Are they hiding behind Liberty League’s non-disclosure of their religious involvement in an effort to ‘inadvertently’ turn subversive gays straight? Maybe. Is this reparative therapy their next step since the outright persecution of homosexuals no longer seems effective? Nobody knows. But I’m sure that these questions are at the tip of many people’s tongues.

From feedback I have received from friends, most are welcoming this movement on the surface – since the surface is all they really see of the group’s clandestine intentions. Likewise, I would like to accord similar benefit of doubt to our government (though I’m not sure so sure that they are deserving in this respect). And anyway, I, alongside many others, could rail on all day long, and chances are, none of this is likely to be heard – nor taken note of – by anyone who has the power to do anything about it.

All this is very tiring and frustrating for any of us struggling to just live life as we know it. While I personally have long resigned myself to living in a country that will never publicly acknowledge groups like PLU, and one that will ban events like Fridae’s Nation party, I think I am not just speaking for myself when I say that we – members of the GLBT community in Singapore – simply wish that the heterosexuals would leave us alone to live our lives as the only way we know how to (note: not the way we have chosen to).

If you really must stare at me while I kiss my girlfriend in the taxi on the way to work out of your rearview mirror, all the while adjusting it so you can get a better view of the ‘action’ (grow up – it’s just a kiss), then so be it. I have as much power to stop you from being infantile as you have over my dislike for bittergourd. Call me gay, bisexual, misguided; call me alien, or even a crazy subversive lesbian who’s completely out of my mind – a rose is still a rose by any other name. But please, save your Ex-Gay talks and your Kill All Gays campaigns. (Heil Hitler to you too.)

We’re not trying to change all of you into homosexuals, transexuals, or bisexuals, so why must you insist on trying to make us heterosexual like you? It’s about as effective as trying to put a dog into reparative therapy in the attempt to convince it that it is actually a cat. Sure, maybe by the time you’re done with it, it’ll have learnt to meow instead of bark, and can even bury its shit in the litter box. But I promise you, wave a bone at him, and – before you know it – that shaggy tail will be itching to start wagging again.

Related:
Popagandhi
Yawning Bread
Sayoni
Fridae.com
Singabloodypore