And now a ruling on human sexuality from those who don't live in the real world.

The internet (or at least the pink, sequined, Liza-worshipping portions of the internet) has been atwitter over the last few days about Cynthia Nixon, and comments she has made about her decision to become gay.

Cynthia doesn't understand why her "choosing" to be gay is an issue. Which suggests that she is living in a rather privileged bubble.

There are at least four problems with her position:

1. If one can choose to be gay, then logically one must also be able to choose NOT to be gay. If this were true, with so many people desperately wanting not to be gay - to the point of suicide - you'd think that at least some of them might have noticed.

2. She doesn't seem to realise that she is trivialising a factor in some people's lives that has made them the brunt of hatred and rejection.

3. In making this statement, she is siding with the Marcus Bachmanns of this world. If sexuality is a choice, it stands to reason that "praying the gay away" is a valid course of action, if one wishes to do it.

4. She's also playing right into the mindset that homosexuality is something that people DO, not something that people just ARE.

Her counter-argument, and that of her enablers, is that we should be "allowed" to "have" whatever sexuality we want. The idea that we are biological victims of our sexuality allows us to function, to an extent, within existing moral frameworks, whereas she argues that those moral frameworks should be dismantled entirely. But let's face it, outside of her elite NYC and LA enclaves, that ain't gonna happen. Besides which, traditional moral frameworks exist for a reason, and dismantling them on a society-wide scale will have unwelcome and harmful outcomes that I guarantee Cynthia and her supporters haven't considered.

But beyond all of that, the simple truth, of course, is that she is wrong. She can no more become gay than she can become black. If she started listening to gangsta rap, got hair extensions and talon-like acrylic nails, subscribed to the Black Entertainment Television Network and started speaking Ebonics... that wouldn't make her black. She'd simply be living a (rather offensively stereotyped) black lifestyle. Similarly if she has sex with women, goes to Pride marches, buys a motorbike and starts baking her own organic bread, that won't make her a lesbian. It'll just make her more annoying.