Firstly, this thread is geared mainly towards Christians, Jewish Orthodox, and Muslim posts, since to the best of my knowledge the answer for most everybody else would be ‘no’.
In my opinion, which is bolstered by some religious knowledge, the judgement of this issue in relation to Gay Rights does not apply. A citizens of the U.S. (Those that are. . .) homosexuals are protected by the constitution and would be afforded all rights under the law which would apply to anyone else, including the right to marry.
Secondly, as a Christian I find the tendency to try and enforce a law(or laws) that is based on a belief that I hold is repellant, given that without a clear committment to Jesus it would not matter how good a life you had lived.
The concern that a proliferation and acceptance of homosexuality might possibly influence young children and cause them to also become homosexuals falls into the same category as the arguments against the increase in vulgarity and sex on television, and it’s wide acceptance among much of the American population. In terms of social stigma, homosexuality may hold a greater penalty, but if it is sin, then it certainly will do no more harm than consentual premarital sex between members of the opposite sex.
On the nature of sin(Finally), I have found that there is a great deal of evidence to support the theory that sexual preference has a genetic link. On this, given the primal needs for attraction I find a great deal of possibility. On the subject of transgender children(hermaphrodites), I clearly see a possibility that lacking any physical definition of sexual tendency(Having genitalia for each.) would create a problem in determining just what would be homosexual(And heterosexual). As I tend to reject the fallacy of God’s creation, or the idea that an individual does not somehow fit into the universe which God has created, I cannot accept the possibility that this was unplanned.
If such a genetic link were to be found, it would place homosexuals squarely into the area of God’s grace as created beings, and remove them from a category of the sexually misguided.
In the context of the Bible, I have found that the OT refers to the Hebrews as Gods chosen people, his creation. Biblical law applied to the Hebrews alone, as no other nation of people was required by God to obey, presumably because they were not included in the group of the chosen. Under this context, homosexuality might well have been considered a sin for the Hebrews.
It can be well ascertained that the Hebrews were not the only race of men upon the Earth, as evidenced by the selection of the line of Abraham as Gods Chosen people.
As the death of Jesus Christ opened the door to salvation for all mankind, all those in addition to the Hebrews, one could possibly draw the conclusion that this would include a homosexual, if they are genetically inclined, as a race of man.
Not being a homosexual myself, I have not placed much thought in this, as it falls outside the realm of my concerns as a Christian(Read: I have enough issues to research that impact my own behavior, without including everything else). Any thoughts would be appreciated greatly.