@Jazzhead If you believe that the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin, then don't practice it. Or, if God made you gay (as He most certainly has for a small percentage of us), deny who you are for the rest of your life, and hope He rewards you for your self-flagellating piety. If the foregoing describes you, then you're not a self-righteous Bible thumper. You're a self-righteous Bible thumper when you insist that the State enforce a fundamentalist view of "Biblical morality" even when it causes real harm to good folks who seek to be faithful and true to one another.
I don't disagree with much of this, and am fine with the concept of "live and let live" when it comes to people being gay. But I think you're sidestepping a core component of the "gay agenda" that goes beyond just wanting to be left alone.
The truth is that a lot of gays want to use the power of the government to force other people to openly acknowledge that their relationships are no difference than heterosexual relationships. They believe they have the right to compel not just
tolerance, but
acceptance. It popped up a lot in the gay marriage debate, where some states offered "civil unions", and many gays opposed that. Why? Those unions offered the
exact same legal rights. The issue was they wanted everyone else to agree with them regarding morality/normalcy (or whatever you want to call it), and for me, that goes too far.
I opposed gay marriage, and it had absolutely
zero to do with religious belief. I'm no more "accepting" or "understanding" of gay relationships/behavior than I am of someone who fornicates with chickens -- I just think it is gross as hell. Now, I think people have the right to be gross. Just because I think something is rather disgusting does not mean I think nobody should be permitted to do it if that's what floats their boat. And honestly, I don't even judge them
morally at all. But that doesn't mean I'm not entitled to think it is weird/deviant/gross.
And unfortunately, that's what this has morphed into. Many gays apparently believing that they have the right to force other people to change their moral views and behaviors to recognize them as they wished to be recognized. No longer arguing "just leave us alone" but "you have acknowledge that what we do is no different from what you do." And that's just a bridge too far for me.