Casey, you're pretty much the biggest moron around. You're just angry that a lot of homosexuals are better than you are, and it just cuts you up inside. Instead of wrongly taking your anger out on them, how about you use all that pent up anger to make yourself a nice noose, and hang yourself.

Looking forward to hearing we have one less idiot in the world.

And it would be just so easy if people who were raised Republican grew up into Republicans all the time, wouldn't it? Alas, once a kid gets old enough to think for themselves, most of them start to question their parents' views – and that means a lot of them leave your happy little world of illogical moral absolutes and come over here to the dark side

Listen, you can talk all you want about how homosexuality is something you don’t agree with, you don’t want your kids exposed to it, blah blah blah. That’s fine.

Where you are wrong is in the statement, “yes our beliefs should not hinder other non believers but does that mean we are forced to sit by and watch it happen right in front of us? And see our children exposed to it? Where is the consideration for us?”

You claim that because the majority is not in favor of the homosexual lifestyle, the entirety should not be exposed to it.
What is even more proposterous is that you go on to state that the government has a responsibility to protect your rights, but not ours. (By “ours” I mean straight people who are supporters of same-sex marriage as well as gay folks.) Today, I have to send my kids to a school where gay bashing and Fred Phelps is “happening right in front of us.” (Literally, we live 2 blocks from Phelps.) What about the consideration for US? What about the fact that my religion states that God loves us all, made us each in His image, and above all desires for us to find happiness in loving and being loved in return? What about the fact that my political beliefs state that me, my children, my neighbors, and future generations have the right to live as we please, act as we wish, and have no fear of the consequences, even if it makes you uncomfortable?

Instead of trying to push your religious views on others- and to continue to deny that this is exactly what you’re doing is ignorant to the nines- or being so concerned about what your son might learn about through encounters with others, why don’t you consider one or more of the following:
1) open up your mind for crying out loud and recognize that religion has NO PLACE whatsoever in government. Don’t like the idea? Fine, don’t go to a church that would support it. Church and State are seperate for a reason.
2) do some actual parenting and talk to your kids about what they see. If you raise your children to be strong in their values, they won’t be “in danger” or “threatened” when they see someone kiss a person of their same sex. (Actually you know what, no one is ever in danger when that happens.) Do I think you should raise your children to be bigoted? No. Do I support your right to do so? Absolutely. Maybe you should consider returning that respect to those of us who totally disagree with you.
3) if you don’t like what your children are being exposed to, and you don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss such matters with them, there’s always religious private schools, homeschooling, and other alternatives including moving to the mountains. But I can assure you that doing this will not benefit your children in the long run because eventually they are going to have to come to terms with the fact that diversity exists in this world and it is a beautiful thing. And you know, the more I come in contact with parents like you, I have to hope like heck that your kids don’t identify as GLBTQ because chances are high they wouldn’t be comfortable telling you and would probably live their lives closeted or estranged from you and miserable.

You may be offended by some of what I have said, but perhaps I need say no more and simply suggest you read the entirety of one of the most well-known Bible versus of all time: First Corinthians, verse 13. Truly the greatest of all is love, and as long as we deny all of God’s children the right to fully enjoy and express it, that’s the biggest sin of all.

Sorry for my late-night rant, especially on such an old article, but I am just downright tired of people bashing Lena for having the courage to speak the truth, and even more tired of folks who just can’t look past their own biases and see that by denying equal rights to all sexualities, we’re no better than slave owners, geneocide participants, sexists, or anyone else who still thinks that a persons rights should be dictated by something they have absolutely no choice over.

For one, don’t assume I know nothing about religion; my stepdad’s a minister, has a Ph.D. in Christian theology, and fully supports gay equality. There’s a religious basis for homosexuality if you want to read that into stuff like Sodom & Gomorrah, but you don’t have to. In fact, many people have read the Bible as supporting slavery, so they could, in fact, come up with a “moral” or “religious” reason to keep separate but equal in that sense. But I’d like to address some of your claims one by one:

//And just because someone is religious and believes in something that has been around for thousands and thousands of years (and has yet to be proven wrong) does not make them a bigot.//
So something being around for thousands and thousands of years makes it right? Racism and sexism have been around since the dawn of time. So has homelessness. So has slavery. Are those things okay – simply because they’ve been around for a long time?
Likewise, so simply the fact that a religious person supports something makes it okay? What about the religious people who hijacked planes and slammed them into the Twin Towers? (Or does it only count if it’s *your* religion we’re talking about, hmmm?)

//I am allowed to think something is wrong.//
You are. That doesn’t mean you are allowed to enforce those beliefs on others, though.

//If you were a murderer and I told you murdering was wrong would you think I was a bigot? It’s the same concept.
Murdering is wrong by law. many laws.//
Murder and gay marriage are very, VERY different things. Someone who is restricting murder is doing so because the murderer is infringing upon the other person’s right to live. Whereas, by keeping gay marriage illegal, YOU’RE the one infringing on others’ rights to the pursuit of their own happiness. They are not, however, infringing on your own rights in any way. You are still free to believe what you want, to marry someone of the opposite sex, and to teach your children your own beliefs. Just like how integration doesn’t force people to stop being racists; it just keeps them from impacting others’ lives with their views.

//(gods law, common law, etc.) Homosexuality is wrong by God’s law and a lot of people choose to follow god’s law and why not, it gives people a moral plum line. //
Your God’s law. Not mine. Not my friend’s, either. I’m an agnostic, my friend might be a Muslim, my neighbor might be a Hindu, their neighbor might be Wiccan. Who gives you the right to decide that YOUR God is the one who gets to make the laws? Even within Christianity, there’s disagreement; my stepdad would disagree with you, say you need to read the Bible less literally and that you have bad theology.
You might think it’s good to follow *your* God’s law, but religion is a very personal decision and you need to let others make their own decisions about it. In fact, that’s why we have the First Amendment – which, oh by the way, makes it clear that God’s law is not the one that our country will follow, in order to respect people’s right to choose their own religion that fits their conscience. So actually, the argument of whether the Bible does or doesn’t sanction gay unions is irrelevant because THE BIBLE IS IRRELEVANT WHEN IT COMES TO THE LAW IN A COUNTRY WITH A SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
Also, why do you assume that you need to be religious to be moral – when there is abundant evidence to the contrary? (All the horrible things religious people done, all the good things that nonreligious people have done.)

//I can just as easily call you a bigot for trying to demean my beliefs.//
I’m not being a bigot; I respect your right to have your own beliefs. I’m simply asking that you let me follow mine. I’m asking that you let others choose their own moral path and accept that yours is not the only way.
But even if I were not respectful of your beliefs, you can’t really call someone a bigot because they won’t let you walk all over them. I know you fundamentalist Christians like to think you’re persecuted, but look around: Your religion is the majority religion, your holidays are federal holidays. Every president so far has been a Christian or at least pretended to be one. Whereas, as an agnostic I could never run for president and expect to be nominated by a major party; over half the country wouldn’t vote for me because of my religious beliefs (or, rather, lack thereof). I have to deal with accusations by people like you that I’m immoral simply because I don’t get my morality in the form of a Bible or a Qu’ran. Speaking of the Qu’ran, think about how many Muslims have had to deal with the bigotry of people who think that praying to Allah five times a day are automatically in league with Al Qaeda. (I don’t know if you’ve met many Muslims, but I have: they’re not.) Think about Jewish people who are financially successful who have to deal with the stereotype of “Jewish bankers.” Even more liberal, open-minded Christians – who still get so many of the benefits of being a majority religion in the U.S. – are still worse off than you because they have to deal with the stigma of people who assume they share your close-minded beliefs.
Believe me, you are not an oppressed religious group in this country. You are THE privileged group. For more information, go here: http://web.archive.org/web/20071211063858/http://pirate.shu.edu/~schlosle/cpexamples.htm

A. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.

B. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.

C. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.

D. In three generations, there will be no Democrats.

Damn – I love it when a plan comes together.