One of the problems that I have with the gay rights movement is that they have, with great success, built a campaign that rests on intellectual blackmail. Anyone who opposes them is by definition labeled a homophobe, a bigot and as being no different than a Nazi. This worries me on a number of levels. As someone who believes that the salvation of the human race lies in our ability to conduct a free, honest and open rational dialogue with each other and ourselves, the fact that we have a generation that is being taught that you can win arguments simply by calling your opponent a bigot. I have no idea what will happen to the issue of gay rights, but one way or another life is going to go on and there will be new movements, with new issues, and new debates. Does anyone really want this to be the legacy of the gay rights movement? The other cause for concern is that there are real bigots, racists, and Nazis out there and these labels need to be saved for them.
So where should one draw the line between opposition and bigotry? I would link it to discrimination. As I see it discrimination is an opposition to being; it goes beyond actions.
Imagine this. Mr. Fabulous walks into a government office to get a marriage license so he can be married to Ms. Straight All American Gal. The official opens up a file and says: "Mr. Fabulous, we see here that you are a fan of Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand. Our psychologists, therefore, believe that you are in fact gay. As such we refuse to give you this marriage license. Now, this would be discrimination and evidence of bigotry. Stopping Mr. Fabulous from marrying Ms. Straight All American Gal would be no different than stopping a black man or a Jew from marrying her. The government would be excluding someone from something given to society at large on the basis, not of an action, but on a perceived state of being.
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