TexasSpur: First off, as has already been pointed out, a bigot is not necessarily a racist, although all racists are by definition bigots. Hating someone because of their religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, mental or physical compentance, or political philosophy are all forms of bigotry.
Are YOU a bigot? That’s hard to say. Societal perceptions of homosexuality are in serious flux right now. Only a few years ago, your views would have been thought to be dangerously liberal. Now, you’re being equated with the KKK. However, I don’t buy this “poor me” act you’re putting on for Hastur and Polycarp. In your OP, you call homosexuals “wrong and unnatural,” and then pretend to be the underdog when they reply in kind. Considering the rhetoric of true homophobes, you should hardly be surprised when “I think homosexuality is wrong and unnatural,” is recevied as “I hate homosexuals.”
You claim you’re not a bigot because, even though you don’t like homosexuality, you don’t think homosexuals should be discriminated against. However, you also say, “I do not hate homosexualality, but I still think it is unnatural and should not be taught to children or anyone else that it is normal.” Sorry, but I don’t see anyway to read this except as a very bigoted statement. You say that the idea that homosexuality is normal should not be taught to “children OR ANYONE ELSE.” So you’re saying that if someone feels that homosexuality IS normal, they should not be allowed to try to convince others of their beliefs. By your own definition of the word, this is bigotry.
You claim you are against discrimination against gays, yet you are also against teaching children that homosexuality is “normal.” I think it is self-evident that if children are not taught that homosexuality is OK, or worse, if they ae taught that it is “unnatural and wrong,” then you are simply going to have more violence and discrimination towards gays. On top of that, how is a teacher supposed to react if some kid whose just figuring out about his sexuality comes to him for guidance? “Well, Kyle, homosexuality is unnatural and wrong. But don’t worry, I don’t hold it against you.”
As for gay parents, last I’d heard on the subject, there were no studies on the effects of same-sex households on children, partly due to a lack of subjects. Until very recently, most gays had been unable to try parenting due to biology, prejudice in the courts and adoption agencies, and the comparetivly primitive nature of artificial insemination procedures. There has been a study showing that children from two parent households fare better than parents from single parent households, but as far as I know, gender of the parents didn’t play a roll in the study at all. All this study showed was that raising a kid is too time-consuming for one person to do it effectivly.
Finally, and this may be a bit off topic, but I can’t let your definition of “The meaning of life” go by withou comment. I don’t like children. They’re messy, noisy, and ignorant. You have to put up with the damn things for close to twenty years before they become really interesting. The last thing I want is to spend two decades of my life beholden to a bunch of unwashed yard-apes without enough sense not to stick a fork in a wall socket. Despite this, I lead a rich and meaningful life. How? Because I don’t think, contrary to popular opinion here in the states, that children are the be-all and end-all of human exsistence. Frankly, with global population tipping the scales at more than six billion, the last thing we need on this planet is more people. Texas, you’re confusing what’s most important in YOUR life (ie, your kids) with what’s most important in EVERYBODIES’ life, which is going to vary dramatically. Just 'cause we have different goals doesn’t make one of us wrong. Or unnatural.
The problem I have with your opinion on this, Tex, is that however much you might think your views are fair, if everybody felt the way you do, intolerance, discrimination, and violence towards gays would inevitably increase. I don’t think that you are a bigot, Texas. But I think you have some bigoted views. That’s okay. Like I was always taught, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.”