Originally Posted by PR_Tom

Look, I realise what you are saying. I'm talking to the larger issue of people simply being who they are in society and how it's wrong to say because of the way you are, you are not entitled to the same rights because we're pretending it's a choice. It's literally about good old familiar civil rights and nothing short of that.

The only reason the anti-gay organizations, whether private or public, can get away with it is because sexual orientation (not preference) is not visible and inarguable like skin color. Thats why they say it's a choice, because it makes ALL the difference in law and allows them to completely disciminate based on it. If gays were born purple, this would have been over with in the 60's at the latest.

So my example is valid. Nobody would have said "just stop being black" because there is no way to pretend someone has chosen to be whatever color they are. I hope I made my point more clearly this time. I'm a straight white male and it's easy for me to see what the whole argument hinges on. It hinges on one side saying it's a choice. Like smoking. You can ban smoking and not have it be a civil rights issue why? Because you can choose not to smoke, therefore no rights are violated.