In the land where it is outlawed to say or do anything that makes Gay look good or attractive, Russia, a guy is suing Apple, claiming its iPhone made him Gay, according to a shoddy news flash. After you stopped laughing, let me tell you how, nevertheless, he could win this case.
But first, almost all people in the West by now, know that this is such nonsense. Sexual orientation is a given, especially in men. (For many women, statistically, sexuality seems more fluid. Still, as my teacher of sexology told me: Someone may live with a person not their preferred sex but when that relationship ends, they’ll return to their preferred sex.)
Our prime sexual ideals, hang-ups, fetishes and aversions (eye color, body type, etc.), therapy would reveal, come from our history, especially but not only, from subtle and not so subtle childhood molestations most grownups have suppressed very early in life. This catalog of likes and dislikes is supplemented throughout life when we are sexually aroused. We may also suddenly ‘fall in love’ because something about someone (subconsciously) reminds us of our favorite aunt, etc.
But the biological sex we prefer our spouses to have is hardwired into almost all men’s brains before we could walk or talk — just like our sense of gender (cis/trans). No assault can create it, no therapy can ‘cure’ it.
What psychotherapy may do is to make us less uptight about closeness, intimacy, and sex in general and less abhorred or fascinated with certain biological attributes in others. But therapy cannot take away our inborn need for a sexual deep union with at least one person in our lifetime.
And, fortunately or unfortunately, for over 99% of us, the biological sex of the person we can sexually become one flesh with is non-negotiable.
Many people (mostly women) can easily have sexual encounters and relationships with people of either sex. Such connections can be mutually nurturing, loving, thoughtful, and loyal and exemplary for all to see. Yet, deep sexual attachment can only be with one sex for most of us.
That is what I call sexual orientation. However, that is me.
Most therapists and researchers regard people for what they do. So for them, you have Gay sex, you are Gay. They may politely and politically correctly let everyone define themselves for themselves but honestly, for them, ‘you are what you do’ (or don’t, or feel or dream).
Of course, they are confused. (Try to explain to a therapist that s/he’s confused. If what you do is what you are, and therapy can change what you do (it can), then it could change your sexual orientation. Bonafide therapists know it can’t.) Anyway, most people know that no amount of Straight sex can turn a man off of being Gay. And especially he knows it.
However, Sages in the Talmud teach that Gay sex may make a Straight man leave wife and family and become (kind-of) Gay. How can that be?
Most men have high testosterone levels. It makes them lusting and not so picky. Many men can easily have sex without intimacy or commitment. Most of them are not hindered by periods, mood swings, headaches, childcare, or any lack of romance or love. Man meets man, bang bang, I scratch your back you scratch mine, mission accomplished.
That’s easy but … not really satisfying. Most Gay guys dream of more, of meeting the love of their life. It’s better than nothing but not really it. But most Straight guys may easily feel as if they had sex as with an object. Sex is meant to unite against existential unbearable loneliness. If he just connected to nothing, he enlarged his isolation and … drive for sex.
In other words, same-sex sex for a Straight man may easily lead to a sex addiction for men. (If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger addicted.) And because he easily can get his sexual needs met by having sex with men all the time, his need for (cumbersome) sex with a woman, kind of disappears. Only when he tries to live a monogamous life with a man, he may start feeling again that he lacks sexual union with a woman.
So here you have it. A Straight man can have sex with men all the time, be considered by specialists as ‘obviously Gay’ and even not get away from it anymore because he is now addicted. Just like the Rabbis warned and the Hebrew Bible condemns: [Men,] do not have intercourse with a man as you would have with a woman because that would be to’eyvah. The Sages explain, you to’ey bah – you will be led astray by doing so.
(Fifty years ago, most Rabbis understandably mistook Gay men for wayward Straight men. That was honorable. Their subsequent ongoing refusal to admit their error is Judaism’s greatest scandal in 2000 years.)
So, surely, a Straight man, by having sex with men, can turn into what psychologists consider Gay.
Yet, if, as the article mentions, he now lives with a steady boyfriend, and doesn’t miss sex with a woman, he was Gay all along. And maybe he didn’t know. If Gay is bad, Apple should pay him. He could have lived happily without being subjected to heavy oppression if Apple had not led him to his natural sexuality. It’s like suing a doctor for spoiling your life by telling you that you have an incurable untreatable disease.
Twist alert! Maybe he’s not really trying to get money from Apple. Rather, this may be a clever ploy, under the eyes of the repressive Russian regime, to bring being Gay into the public eye and discussion. Losing his case would really be winning it, for all to see: a judge ruling that no one can make you Gay and it’s not regrettable, damage to begin with.
For decades already, Apple is a Gay-friendly company. I hope they’ll seize this court case to spread throughout Putin’s empire the messages that:
* Nothing can turn you Gay.
* It’s great to be Gay.
* They’re happy if they have helped him find his natural love.
The report in the Moscow Times of only the filing of the lawsuit already quickly became its most-read article. May it be a lengthy trial (with many appeals!) with lots of publicity. (There is no such thing as bad publicity.) And may the best lose!
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1