That slant doesn’t sound new to me at all. This is code for “The Gays are trying to recruit your children!”. They have always said that, its just that most of their other arguments come off as hate speech (so does this, just not quite as obviously).
At the core of their argument is that there is something so insidiously attractive about the “homosexual lifestyle” that if it is put on an equal level with the “heterosexual lifestyle” our children will flock to it in droves. Me, I don’t see it.
Certainly it would be wrong to assume that all Christians are anti-gay.
But if you assume that all anti-gay people* are motivated by a religious agenda (usually a religious agenda that self-identifies as Christian), you’ll be right most of the time.
(*In the USA, UK, etc)
Exactly what is this “lifestyle” you are talking about?
My SO and I go shopping on Saturdays at Walmart (on a budget), go see a movie about once a week, watch TV, putter around the house and in the garden (woefully behind so far this Spring) and pay taxes and otherwise do weird things like cook, nap, do laundry, work…
Let me know which of those activities is a threat to that heterosexual “lifestyle”…
The homosexual lifestyle includes but is not limited to any number of the following:
Well, some people think shopping at Walmart is going to destroy America by destroying the (naturally heterosexual) Middle Class and transferring its ownership to the Chinese. I won’t say whether the Chinese are heterosexual, but they’re Godless Communists, so I’ll let the OP’s coworkers draw their own conclusions.
My next door neighbors are gay. All the time they’re doing stuff like cutting the grass, fixing up their house*, engaging in friendly neighbor conversations, walking their dogs, raking the leaves…until they knock this gay shit off, they will never be accepted as normal in society!
*The interior is fabulous!
What the hell is “normal,” anyway? The idea is rather simple: people should not be subject to persecution or discrimination based on something that is hardwired into them–sexual orientation, skin color, gender, and so forth–or so we say. It’s actually a dastardly plot by us straight people to make gay people just as miserable as we are. We don’t want them to miss out on any of that good old wedded “bliss.” Do you want the ball and chain on your right ankle or your left? 
I’ve found that a magenta scarf goes really well with my silver thong and rippling muscles.
My homosexual lifestyle left me with really sore muscles for three days after my homosexual day last Saturday of getting my yard in shape for Spring. Then again, I’m shameless and don’t care who knows.
I keep hearing about their preference for boys.
It’s weird to me that you couldn’t predict the Dope’s general response (yes, gay people want to be treated as normal. No secret, and a legitimate request of society).
As I wonder if red staters really believe what they’re saying, or it’s a pose, so you must wonder if dopers really don’t believe what we’ve said by the hundreds to you in pit threads.
It’s not just a pose. We (I’m willing to bet > 95% on this board) really think being gay is a flavor of normal.
Was your idea previous to this that we wanted to allow gay marriage, but still condemn their lifestyle?
I am going to need to give some of my friends a really good talking-to. They are not upholding their responsibilities to their orientation.
It may be a stealth thing - first we get used to them buying groceries and driving on normal roads, then they will start being outrageously fabulous.
(I’ve watched ‘Pricilla, Queen of the Desert’ - I know what I’m talking about.)
Why can’t someone choose to be gay? Why should it matter?
..
To anyone who accepts it would be a valid choice, if a choice, it doesn’t matter.
To the (majority of) the folks claiming it is a choice, their point is that it’s a wicked choice, and people should choose not to choose it.
The thrust of any campaign to try to stop people being gay would have to admit impotence if it was not based on the notion that they’re being gay by choice.
The OP’s friends envision a grand scheme where thousands of gay people marry one another just so us straight folks will start thinking their normal? They don’t have much respect for the reasoning abilities of straight people.
A goal, I believe, of gay people is to be accepted as normal in society just like everyone wishes to be accepted. Part of being accepted as normal is getting the same rights as everyone else, one of which is marriage.
An awesome mental image. You drink with a fancy crowd.
When the clones take over, our cultures’ distain for homosexuality is going to seem so quaint…
It is irrelevant whether it is a choice or not. I don’t think that pedophiles “choose” that attraction and I pity them, but they cannot be allowed to practice their sexual predilections because they harm others (kids to be precise).
I once read about a convicted pedophile who asked not to be paroled because he said he could not stop himself from preying on kids if he were let out. Sad, but apparently true.
I am of two minds about S&M, but so long as it involves only consenting adults, it is none of my business.
And I completely agree with those say that marriage is only a trailing indicator. Geys are increasingly accepted and want the same rights (and are willing to accept the same obligations) as straights. And I say, “More power to you.” Another reason is that it might slow down the spread of AIDS. My wife had a gay colleague who told her, 20 years ago, when marriage was not on the table, “If it weren’t for G I would be dead by now.”
“All of that furor about mixed-race marriage and rights was nothing more than a smokescreen. The underlying goal was to get Blacks accepted as normal in our society.” Does that sound in any way coherent or admirable?
This is one reason to think that the most strident homophobes are closeted, self-loathing homosexuals. Who else is going to think normalizing homosexuality will cause people to chose it? We straight people* don’t need to constantly guard against sinful urges toward our own gender - we just don’t have those urges. Anyone who thinks it’s a problem must have the urges, right?
I for one support this lifestyle choice, particularly the first bit. In fact, if any of you Dopers in the Grand Homo Conspiracy could tell John Barrowman** to fulfill that obligation regularly, I’d appreciate it.
*(my hots for Jenna-Louise Coleman notwithstanding)
**(hmm, perhaps I’m not heterosexual so much as Whoviosexual?)
elbows did no such thing, so it’s kind of curious why you felt the need to post this.
Then I simply misunderstood the post.