Directly Comparing Zoosexuality with being Gay
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Possibly the worst argument against zoosexuality is the idea that "It's illegal, and therefore it's bad" There are a ton of really awful zero thought takes out there, but I really think that one takes the top spot. There's a million ways you can refute that comment in very complex and nuanced ways that explain how the social standards of society, especially when it comes to its specific laws, are not indicitave of morals in any way. And in fact, the legal status of ideas tends to lag behind the general social perception. But, if someone is using that point as an argument that's probably way too many words for them. So instead, the easiest way to get the point across is thus.
"Well, homosexuality wasn't legalized in the United States until 2003. Does that mean that before then, homosexuality was immoral?"
However, this point usually leads to a flood of people stating that "You can't compare homosexuality to zoophilia!" "Being gay isn't the same thing as wanting to fuck dogs!! (skull emoji)"
But what if I told you it was? In fact, I would argue that not only is it an apt comparison, I would say that the similarities between the LGBTQ rights movement and the zoosexuality rights movement are so clear that you could practically call someone homophobic for being against zoos. Lets start at the beginning.
Why do people hate the gays? Well, there's a lot of reasons nowadays, but back in the good old years, it was a lot simpler. The argument mostly came down to one simple idea. It's not natural. It's different. Obviously, different cultures had different ideas on the idea of homosexuality, and there were plenty of amazing societies out there that were more progressive on LGBTQ issues 2000 years ago than we are today. But, unfortunately, those societies weren't the ones interested in taking over the world (I wonder if that's related?). Instead, we got a movement that viewed the idea of women as lesser, of pleasure as bad, and of homosexuality as unholy. If you've read any of my articles before, you may have heard me harp on this point already but it's something I think can't be understated. The world was told for a long time by its most important people that any kind of sexual liberty was going to cause your soul to burn in hell for all of eternity. Imagine if Elon Musk, Bernie Sanders, Obama and Rihanna all came out and said that masturbating would literally cause you to die. It's impossible to quantify the effect that had on the world.
Anyway, tangent aside, people hate the gays because a long time ago everyone was told to hate the gays. If you ask a homophobe nowadays, it's pretty unlikely that's what they're going to tell you though. This is exactly true to why people dislike zoosexuality as well. There are lines and excuses built in as to why they think they dislike it, but the root is the same.
Speaking of lines and excuses, there sure is a lot of crossover between the dumb shit gays have to listen to, and the dumb shit that we have to listen to! Just to crack off a few easy examples from the top of my head:
-Oh, you're gay? I guess you must want to diddle kids too!
-You're gay because something in your brain is broken.
-If you're gay you need to get therapy, because it's not normal.
-You're so scared to talk to (the other gender) that you'd rather just fuck (your gender).
-You're gay because you're a sex addict and can't stop yourself.
-I'm sure your family is disappointed in the fact that you're gay.
-Homosexuality is an addiction that you need to cure yourself of.
-You're gay? What trauma happened to you growing up?
If you're someone who grew up in a homophobic area, or if you've ever spent time around homophobic people, I'm sure that all these lines are very familiar to you. But, if you're a zoo, chances are you've also heard these lines verbatum used against you, just with the focus of the attractions mixed around.
Whether you're same sex attracted, or different species attracted, the flavor of bigotry is exactly the same. And that's because the words that they use don't actually really matter. Very few people, if any, are honestly going to try and logically argue someone out of their homosexuality, the same way that people aren't really hoping zoos are going to change their ways when they use the same rhetoric against us. All of these lines are shorthand for "You're bad and that's that" They're the end of a conversation. Even lines that are absolutely provably false still are used all the time specifically because it's more about saying something than it is about actually putting forward a rational opinion. People are homophobic because they were told to be, and they didn't bother asking questions. People are zoophobic because they were told to be, and they didn't bother asking questions.
However, it's not all doom and gloom. There's another really awesome way that we're similar to the gay community, and that's our culture. The LGBTQ grew from very modest places. It wasn't always the huge social movement that we see today. There were gay people all over the world, but most of the time they would exist in small local communities, or hole in the wall bars. It was a very underground scene. That's very similar to the way that the zoo community is too. However, the way that we exist in the world has changed. While you may have a group of zoo friends that you hang out with in real life, or have a zoo room party at a furry convention, it's pretty unlikely that there's a secret zoosexual bar everyone's meeting up at. Our secret spaces tend to be online. It's safer, easier and cheaper. While there's always been some people talking about their zoosexuality online, much more commonly there were IRCs, which became forums, which became Telegram channels and Discord servers. And most of those places functioned similarly to those old school gay bars. They were built to be semi private, hard to find. You could get in, but usually it was by having someone already there invite you. It wasn't that long ago that fully advertised public zoo spaces didn't really exist at all.
And once the gay rights movement did start picking up momentum, it's not like it went from nothing to today all at once. The movement started small and slow. A big hurdle for us zoos is trying to get science and media to legitimize us enough that people feel like it's even worth taking a critical look at us. Right now, we tend to be so assumed negative that even the idea of trying to understand zoos is met with apprehension. This was the same with the LGBTQ movement too. Much of the social shift in perception came from the media attention, but that could only exist when there was enough pressure that the story was worth the potential bad publicity. Before that point, it wasn't about trying to organize marches or stage protests. Instead, it was small media being passed between individuals, solidifying the concept of what the "homosexual community" even was. Things like zines, publications, music. Queer media in all its forms, whether romanticized stories about the boy next door, art of same sex couples, or punchy non fiction articles talking about the importance of understanding queer history. Similar to the way that we now have Podcasts like Zooier Than Thou and Zoo & Me, artists like Milk and Kodaac, musicians like Shiv and Zipwok, and punchy non fiction articles talking about the importance of understanding queer history like those found in Zooey Dot Pub! While the LGBTQ movement is decades ahead of us, it's easy to see that we have our cultural roots in the same place, and we're headed in the same direction. While I can't claim to have been around in the spaces where people were first trying to launch the idea of "gay pride" I can easily imagine that it felt a lot like the places where we try and plan out our very own zoo pride.
In summary, the bigotry against both the zoo community and the LGBTQ community come from the same place, and share a ton of the same tired tropes. We face the same stereotypes and the same struggle to even claim our own identity. the pride and dedication that its members have to trying to make the world a better place for those that come after them. And while I certainly can't see the future, I think there's a very good chance that we're following the same general trajectory, and are going to end up in a place where we're also able to be a lot more open about our fight for acceptance. People can say all they want that "you can't compare the Zoosexuality with Homosexuality" but I just did, and I have to say the comparison is looking pretty apt.
Article written by Tarro (July 2023)
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