If you could change it, would you?
Reading this article by Rev. Desmond Tutu called “All Are God’s Children: On Including Gays and Lesbians in the Church and Society”, I was struck by this quote:
We struggled against apartheid in South Africa, supported by people the world over, because black people were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could do nothing about—our very skin. It is the same with sexual orientation.
“something we could do nothing about”—this was a theme throughout the article. The second to last sentence brings it up again:
Equally, I cannot keep quiet while people are being penalized for something about which they can do nothing—their sexuality.
I do not want to start a debate about whether sexual orientation is a choice or not.
My point is, that could be interpreted as implying that if people of color could change their skin color or GLBT people could change their sexual orientation, they possibly would or should.
In fact, the entire debate about whether or not sexual orientation is a choice somehow sort of implies that if people could change it, perhaps they would or should.
So I’m asking, if you (whoever you are, however you see yourself) could change your skin color or sexual orientation, would you? Why or why not?