RW - Late to the party I see.  I am like you in many ways.  My brother is gay, and I have had friends "come out" to me before doing so with their parents (asking advice - I always tell them to trust their parents to love them).  So it really is a non-issue with me. 

But I also do not do generalizations.  Some of the Gay crowd are very hate-filled.  Some are the most respectful and nicest you would ever meet!  I guess you could say they are just like everyone else in that respect.  They are individuals and each has their own approach to life.

So do not look on the haters as representative of the group over all.  My brother is a "who cares!" type.  But then he was like that even before he came out.  It is not he that sends us the Christmas cards each year (he never was very responsible), it is his spouse.

I doubt there are many gays on this thread.  But as you have noted, the responses are all over the board.  It does not take being something to be bitter or happy.  It only takes your outlook on life.  Let the haters spew their venom.  You always have the satisfaction of knowing they are miserable.

EXACTLY! Yes. Nicely put.

What about them? The Civil War freed the slaves, the Civil Rights Act passed; women have the vote, and work outside the home all the time. Welcome to 1980.

To all those on here who seem to credit gays with enlightened, tolerant, all-accepting world views, while those of us who question their "lifestyle choice" are ignorant, mouth-breathing cave dwellers, I found this:

http://rainbowallianceopenfaith.homestead.com/GayAgendaSwiftText.html

Sweet, huh? 

Thanks, Doc; well put. this thread kind of got out of hand a few days ago. LOL

Nice to see you, again, Doc. Maybe I'll hang around for a while, this time.

Why don't you ask yourself? The correlation between those movements and the current topic should be obvious....for those willing to think for themselves.

I missed this earlier; you're exactly right, and they need to increase their ranks, in order to achieve their political goals. Group politics. 
I read an article some years back, about how some less-than-scrupulous gay groups will infiltrate high schools and middle schools to find "troubled kids"; kids with psychological/emotional issues, physical deficiencies, behavioral issues, parental problems, etc. They subtly convince these impressionable kids that their problems all stem from the fact that they're gay, and if only they would embrace that fact...etc.
This way, they articfially beef up their numbers.
Of course, this does nothing to actually help the kids with their problems, only making them worse by adding further emotional,  moral and social stress onto already over-burdened minds/souls which are too young and/or damaged to handle it. This, in turn often results in deeper depression, even suicides.

As an aside, when Christian groups do this sort of thing, attempting to save souls rather than achieve political goals, it's evil and intolerant.

Just saying.

Does your sister believe she has the same legal rights and protections others are afforded? Dick Cheney's daughter, Newt Gingrich's sister, and Ronald Regan's son don't think they do. Why is that?

I will ask one more time then: Lula, “What do you suggest the gay community do to appease your dislike of them?” … or are you just here to bitch about them?

What about the natural laws of lets say biochemistry? I certainly know that my feelings and desires are very much controlled by biochemistry.
I also suspect that others are very much influenced in the same way by their own particular biochemistry which may have very distinct effects resulting from very subtle differences.

They can't get married; other than that, there's relatively little that I have, which they do not.

You do know that there are rights and protections that are afforded to people through civil marriage don't you? If you do then saying that they have the same rights is blatantly false. If you don't than you should research the laws of civil marriage to get your facts straight.

Rightwinger #51: For someone who had "has no valid opinion on the subject", you seem to found a few. So you read an article and learned of the covert GAY conspiracy to undermine our public (of course) school children to increase their gay numbers … huh. That must have been a very convincing religious article indeed. Knock on reality here … strange that’s just how religion works in public schools, behind the scenes.  And stranger still, these believers go after the same sorts of people you mentioned, get real. I don’t think many care what you or your Churches do … just stay out of politics. Has nothing been learned from the first fifteen centuries of our Christian heritage when they became as one with the government … and actually believed they were the hand of God? Why if that happened today … we might end up with a country, say the US(G), who might try and  take over the worlds resources, God forbid, with His blessings of course. And yes, it is evil and intolerant particularly when God is used as an excuse … there are no excuses for peddling your/their wares in school … unfortunately; this is inescapable in a free society where people are encouraged to be what they are and not forced to act differently … as the Church would have of all of us.

The sexual revolution launched the Homosexual Movement which agitates for societal affirmation of homosexuality, a changeable sexual behavior. 

Exactly, people with unchangeable characteristics who have suffered provable harm as a result of unjust discrimination have been given minority status as a civil right.

There is no correlation between Homosexual movement pushing for "gay rights" and the Civil and women's rights movement which protects women, racial and ethnic minorities from unjust discrimination and rightly so.  No correlation whatsoever.

But, the homosexual activists very cleverly devised a strategy to make what seems a correlation which evidently you bought hook, line and sinker.

They said portray homosexuals as victims of discrimination so that they need protection in civil rights law. Homosexuals want to include themselves alongside bona fide protected groups based upon race, gender, handicap, etc.

However, it turns out homosexuals have no right to claim this special status. None whatsoever.

The Supreme Court has used a strict test for determining which special classes may be singled out for the increased protection of these laws. Basing its scrutiny on the plight of Black Americans under Southern Jim Crow laws, the SC have used 3 basic criteria to determine if a group deserves protection. It requires that the protected class must demonstrate a history of political powerlessness, economic deprivation, and share an immutable characteristic. Well, homosexuals fail on all 3 of these. Unlike race, or being a woman, homo-sex is not a manifest characteristic, but a changeable sexual behavior. In addition, homosexuals as a group have a higher than average level of professional achievment and income. And with the full backing of the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, and bills galore in various state legislatures, homosexuals certainly don't lack political clout. No siree.   

So what was done to people like Matthew Shepard is "just" discrimination? How do you explain that one away or similar cases which may or may not be as widely known?

My statement stands.

Homosexual people, as citizens, already have, use, and enjoy the same rights as all other Americans.

What homosexual people get under existing laws are the same rights as all  other Americans and they deserve no more and no less.

The laws already in place work very effectively when a crime or civil question arises. There isn't a citizen that the state and federal Constituions don't protect.

We have the 14th Amendment which says we are all equal under the law. So when a homosexual person gets unfairly evicted or fired, he can go to a lawyer and get justice under the 14th Amendment. Same as me or any other citizen. 

The homosexuals and their advocates know it's not about unjust discrimination. The reason they want special rights is becasue these laws normalize and affirm homosexuality in society. They send a clear message that society no longer (as did those times  before the sexual revolution) believes that there is anything wrong with homosexuality and that those who still think there is should be punished. This is where fines and lawsuits come in.