A few years ago, long before I stopped the entire “dating girls” thing, I kissed a girl, and I liked it.

It was with my then-girlfriend, who, well … the less said about that, the better. However, long before I had completely processed the idea of being gay, I had in fact kissed a girl, and, at the time, I did in fact like it. But that all has changed for me now, thank God.

But it hasn’t for Katy Perry. Instead, she is apparently kissing them and liking it left and right. Her hot, semi-new single (top selling on iTunes — still) titled “I Kissed a Girl,” has stirred up controversy during a sensitive time involving talking about sexual orientation and — dare I say — being gay.

In her song, Perry sings about kissing a girl and liking it, following that she hopes her boyfriend doesn’t mind. As of late, the song has gained a great deal of grievance from gay organizations and conservative Christian organizations alike. When those two have something they both call ‘evil’ I would stand back because that may be a sign of the apocalypse.

Some gay organization, some of which I belong to, are angry about Perry’s use of demeaning descriptions of homosexuality in the lyrics, such as “it’s not what good girls do, not how they should behave.” For lesbians, it is exactly how they behave.

When a girl loves (and by “love,” I mean a replica of Savage Garden’s “Truly, Madly, Deeply,” just less homoerotic or, on second thought, maybe not) another girl, they eventually exchange something that’s similar to a kiss.

Well, as the case may be, Perry is using the idea of kissing someone of the same sex and making it even more taboo than it was before, which upsets gay activists.

Perry has been asked, several times now, if she herself has ever kissed a girl, and her answer is a big fat “no,” making these gay organizations even angrier.

Meanwhile, some conservative Christians are unhappy with Perry’s confession that playing around with people of the same sex is just “an experimental game.” It goes against what they believe.

But I simply cannot say someone’s beliefs are wrong, even if I disagree with them. To further outrage these Christians, Perry used to be a Christian artist who has recently been accused of selling out and turning her back on them and God in general.

In reality, both groups have pretty valid points, and both are free to shout from the rooftops what they think and how they feel.

And while I usually like to side with the people I usually support, this time around, I simply can’t.

I like the song. It’s catchy. I think it’s funny, and I love to sing it because, for me, it is so true — I have kissed a girl, and I did enjoy it.

And while I understand why the song offends both groups, I really wish both groups would just get the hell over it.

Perry is not the first musician to offend people, and she certainly will not be the last of them. Perry is pushing the envelope to make money and possibly a point. If so, she is succeeding at both.

We, and I mean society as a whole, are often too easily offended by various things when we really shouldn’t be.

Perry is an artist, and art is meant to cause controversy and cause social change, and while I may not like the way Perry is going about it, I certainly think her song tackles a topic that many are scared of taking head-on.

Looking back on it, I certainly would have never kissed that girl in high school, but she was one heck of an experimental game. I wonder if Perry will be looking back on it in the same light.

Ray Ceo Jr. is kissing girls and boys. E-mail him at raymond.ceo@asu.edu.