Rick wrote:
I'm not sure Don meant retardation as much as birth defect. There are a lot of people that think it IS a birth defect, in that they're a man born in a woman's body and vice-versa.
I don't like to consider it that way, but I guess if you want to say that homosexuals are 'born that way', in a sense it could be considered a birth defect. If our natural instinct is to have sexual relations in order to procreate and homosexuals are not physically capable of doing that, then I suppose that is a valid argument. If I'm not mistaken, there is a subset of the homosexual population (transgender) that thinks they're one gender born inside the body of the other, but that's not exclusive to all gay/lesbian people. However, there are some homosexuals who have admitted to "turning" that way. In most of the experiences I've known about, it was usually women who were sexually abused as young girls.
Bobby, you said "this isn't Mayberry" or something of that nature. However, there are STILL a lot of Mayberry's out there. I live in a somewhat rural, conservative area. We have very few openly homosexuals in this area. You can deny these folks their feelings/morals/values, but don't think they don't exist. People are much more accepting of 'alternative' lifestyles now than they were 20 years ago, but the reality of it is that our society isn't "there" yet. It may or may not happen in our lifetime. I'm not trying to discount your feelings, but when I see you repeatedly call others' comments "hyperbole" it makes me wonder if you're discounting theirs...

I can understand how passionate you must feel about this issue even though I have no clue what you've gone through as a gay man. A question for you Bobby... other than express your views here, what have you done to make your wishes known and fight for the right to marry?