The recent heat on homosexuality in Malaysia has got most everyone reeling and mind you, some of them don’t take to it kindly.

The government - with the help of mainstream media - has been on a spree to shed a negative light on homosexuality with baseless, degrading news and comments.

It would be good if the powers-that-be could at least perform simple research before mindlessly jumping to conclusions based on fear and hate. In fact, if they take a little trouble, they would find that research and studies have already been conducted - they just need to look it up.

I firmly believe that their non-acceptance is due to the lack of understanding of the subject matter. It’s human nature to reject, fear and hate what we do not understand. Just like it’s in the nature of a person if they are homosexual/heterosexual/bisexual - it is neither a choice nor a trend.

Being homosexual myself, I know the trials and tribulations we face in society and it isn’t easy. Do you really think I would choose something so difficult? Sexuality is a complex issue and asking someone to change their sexuality is not like changing your clothes. Homosexual one day, heterosexual the next.

Sexuality - be it hetero, homo or bi - is fixed. It’s as fixed as the colour of our eyes. It is not a trend. We do not become left-handed because it is a trend, we just are born that way.

The above statement is based on scientific tests. We could go into great detail but so doing would require a completely separate letter. To cut a long story short, we already know that it is our chromosomes - XX or XY - that make out our physical gender to be either female or male.

What most of us don’t know is that it is the hormonal (androstendione and testosterone) make-up in the hypothalamus of a person that makes us either hetero or homosexual. The bottom line is hat it is in the genes.

If it is perfectly normal to be heterosexual, then it is perfectly normal to be homosexual.

It is not a mental illness. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) officially declassified homosexuality as being a mental illness. The American Psychological Association followed suit in 1975.

The APA is opposed to any therapy designed to change a person’s sexual orientation. In 1998, the APA president stated: ‘There is no scientific evidence that reparative or conversion therapy is effective in changing a person's sexual orientation. There is, however, evidence that this type of therapy can be destructive’.

The APA has also ceased to characterise homosexuality as a disease as there is no clinical evidence that homosexual activity results in any more destructive behavior than persons engaging in heterosexual activity.

Narrowing homosexuality down to merely a sexual act is perverse. A homosexual’s life includes more than just sex. We are whole persons with lives that include more than just sexual activity.

We deserve as much rights as the next person to be able to love and live without fear. Yes, we maybe in love with the same gender but it is love nevertheless.

I am totally opposed to the idea that homosexuality is morally demeaning to society. Homosexuals are capable of as much love and care as heterosexuals. Besides, it is not a homosexual that rapes women or kidnaps young girls, which is the real problem in society.

It would be great if we could focus on the real problems the country is facing rather than what consenting adults do with their lives.