In the last week, I've received no fewer than a dozen emails asking for comments about the issue of gay marriage or advice about how to deal in a family when someone comes out. This is an issue that affects almost every family in this country on some level, at some point. No matter which side of the debate you're on, it probably feels like an issue of morality to you. Some feel it's morally wrong to "be" gay while others feel it's even more morally wrong to discriminate against or judge people in the LGBTQ community.
The question in the debate that always irritates me the most is this, "Is being gay a choice?"
My answer to that question is simple.
Who cares?
Why does it even matter?
I am in the "love" industry and yes, don't kid yourself, it's an industry. Love is an industry because it's a commodity that everyone wants and few people get enough. The love industry is recession proof. It never goes out of style to want more love. I get the kind of view into hundreds of relationships most people will never see. From that perspective, here's what I've learned.
Love is fragile.
Love can be both painful and a source of immense joy, all at the same time.
Love blooms.
Sometimes it fails.
Real true love is very, very rare.
Great love between two people is a hybrid cocktail of so many variables it's a miracle anytime it takes root. To name only a few those variables include:
Timing
Chemistry
Purpose
Communication
Opportunity
Risk and risk tolerance
Vulnerability
The spark of initiation
Understanding
Stamina
Patience
Allowing
Forgiveness
Tenderness
Persistence
All of these and many more have to be flowing in perfect proportion for the seed of love to grow into the promise of a lifetime. It's statistically impossible when you think about how complicated love really is, and yet, it happens.
I don't care who you are. I don't care which side of this great debate you find yourself; one thing we can all agree on is this, the world needs more real love. The world needs more stable families. The world needs more lovers and loving parents -- and those things are precious.
When love between two people happens, when all of those pieces fall into place, when two people find themselves blessed with the miracle of love, it is a miracle of fate, timing and biology. It is figuratively, and maybe literally an act of God...
...and guess what, it's always a choice, no matter who you are or who you love. To love another is always the highest choice.
Do people choose to be gay?
Who cares?
It doesn't matter. Both the question and the answer are irrelevant because, in the light of love, nothing but the love itself matters at all.