Eckern drew criticism from some prominent stage artists…

You mean some "singing prancing fruits?"

The end times are near.

Its sad when people have to cater to pole smokers and carpet munchers and other deviates who make up at most 5% of the population. The inmates are running the asylum.

I'm glad these leftoids were so "tolerant" of the former director's viewpoint.

You people should not be throwing stones. This is a hate site. Britain is a close friend and ally who went to war with you. And yet you have posted some of the most disgusting things I have ever heard about my nation and its citizenry, who by the way, LOVE America!!! I am posting this all over in the hopes your prominant member will offer me a response:

V to the K,
You state that any European who receives health care or college is a leech. Therefore, every European is by default a leech.

You state that our standard of living is definiceient because Europeans are much more urbanized than Americans. We live in cities. Cities have less room. Therefore we live in smaller dwellings and own less possessions. We COULD move to the country and have more stuff, we just CHOOSE not to.

My country (England) so loves yours that our own Prince risked his life to fight alongside the Americans. When the pound went up in value, the first thing we started to do was pour into America in un-before-seen numbers, to see your delightful country and load it up with our tourism dollars.

And in response, you call us ALL leeches, and say we live in a "socialist hellhole"

Have you no sense of decency, sir?

As a homosexual, I find any sort of discrimination abhorent, including discrimination by homosexuals against straight people, as in this story. It is a shameful thing what they did firing this person.

But you are making it look as if it is all homosexuals beating up straight people! As if straight people are the ones being persecuted! The reason it's not on the news every time a gay person gets assaulted by some straight thugs is that would be all that was on the news! And in many states, you can still be fired for being gay.

Gerty please don't insult our intelligence. If I actually thought all homosexuals acted this way, I wouldn't have befriended several and I certainly wouldn't work alongside some of my coworkers.

As for the rest of your complaints: proof or it never happened. I mean, I would think you would welcome the opportunity to be fired for your sexuality. You'd be able to sue for so much in damages that you'd likely never have to work again.

Cowlove,
That's good. I am glad you guys know that we are not all militant wackos!

Now, as for proof of assaults by straights on gays, sorry hun, you asked for it...here are some of the most prominant cases...

The arson of the The Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 24, 1973 killing 32 people.

The stabbing death of Robert Hillsborough in San Francisco, California June 21, 1977 by a man shouting "faggot."

On November 27, 1978, openly gay San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk was assassinated by political rival Dan White at San Francisco City Hall, along with Mayor George Moscone. Outrage over Milk's and Moscone's assassinations and the short sentence given to White (7 years) prompted the White Night Riots.[14]

Tennessee Williams was the victim of an assault in January 1979 in Key West, being beaten by five teenage boys. He escaped serious injury. The episode was part of a spate of anti-gay violence inspired by an anti-gay newspaper ad run by a local Baptist minister.[15]

The beating death of Terry Knudsen by three men in Loring Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 5th, 1979.

The beating death of Les Benscoter on June 15, 1979 in his St. Paul, Minnesota apartment with the words, "fags will die" written in toothpaste on his furniture.

The beating of Rick Hunter and John Hanson by Minneapolis police outside the Y'all Come Back Saloon on January 1, 1982. Hennepin County Hospital emergency room staff employees testified in court that the police called the two men queers and sissies while the men were being treated for their injuries.

The beating to death of Declan Flynn in Fairview Park, Dublin in 1983. The murder and subsequent suspended sentences of the perpetrators who pleaded guilty to murder saw the emergence of a more vocal gay community in the aftermath.[16]

The beating death of Charlie Howard in Bangor, Maine in 1984.

On May 13, 1988, Rebecca Wight was killed when she and her partner, Claudia Brenner, were shot by Stephen Roy Carr while hiking and camping along the Appalachian Trail. Carr later claimed that he became enraged by the couple's lesbianism when he saw them having sex. Carr claimed the woman taunted him by having sex in front of him.

The fatal stabbing of James Zappalorti, a gay Vietnam veteran (1945 – 1990)

The death of Julio Rivera in New York City on July 2, 1990 by two men who beat him with a hammer and stabbed him with a knife because he was gay.

The killing of Paul Broussard, a Houston-area banker (1968-1991)

The killing of an unknown homosexual man in Lillehammer, 21st of August, 1992. The police investigations took about a year before Bård Faust, the drummer of the band Emperor, was arrested and convicted of the killing. Apparently the man had suggested gay sex to Faust and after they arrived at a nearby forest, Faust stabbed the man 14 times.

The rape and later murder of Brandon Teena, a transsexual man (1972 – 1993). The events leading to Mr. Teena's death were depicted in the movie Boys Don't Cry.

On March 9, 1995, Scott Amedure was murdered after revealing his homosexual attraction to his friend Jonathan Schmitz on The Jenny Jones Show.

The murders of Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill, a lesbian couple in Medford, Oregon in 1995, by a man who said he thought their "lifestyle" was "sick."

The bombing of the Otherside Lounge, a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, by Eric Robert Rudolph, the "Olympic Park Bomber," on February 21, 1997; five bar patrons were injured.

The death by beating and exposure of Matthew Shepard, a gay student (1976 – 1998)

The fatal beating of supposedly gay teenager Jeff Whittington in Wellington, New Zealand on May 8, 1999.

In May 1999, Admiral Duncan pub, a gay bar in Soho was bombed by David Copeland, killing at least 2 people and wounding 73 people.[17]

The murder of Pfc Barry Winchell on July 6, 1999. He was dating Calpernia Addams, a transgendered author.

John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, was hanged for sodomy under a law that he had helped to institute. His lover was John Childe, his steward and tithe proctor, also hanged.

.The July 1, 1999, murders of gay couple Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder by white supremacist brothers Matthew and Tyler Williams. Matthew Williams claimed that by killing the couple he was following "obeying the law of God," because he believed homosexuality violated God's laws. Williams said he hoped his actions would inspire further violence against homosexuals and ethnic minorities.

The murder of Steen Fenrich by his stepfather, in September 1999. His dismembered remains were found in March 2001, with the phrase "gay nigger number one" scrawled on his skull along with his social security number.

In November 1999, Blah Bar, a gay bar in Cape Town, South Africa, was bombed injuring 2 people.[18]

The murder of Arthur "J.R." Warren by three teenage boys on July 3, 2000, who believed Warren spread a rumor that he and one of the boys had a sexual relationship. Warren's killers ran over his body to disguise the murder as a hit-and-run.

One notorious incident of gay-bashing occurred on September 22, 2000. Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, Virginia and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet and injuring six others. Ronald said he was angry over what his name now meant, and deeply upset that three of his sons had changed their surname. He claimed that he had been told by God to find and kill lesbians and gay men, describing himself as a "Christian Soldier working for my Lord".[19]
Aaron Webster, a gay man in Vancouver, British Columbia, was beaten to death in Stanley Park in 2001.

On June 16, 2001, Fred Martinez, a transgender student was attacked and beaten to death by 18-year old Shaun Murphy.

On June 30, 2001, hundreds of soccer hooligans attacked participants of the first Serbian Pride Parade in Belgrade.

The 2002 homicide of Nizah Morris, a transgender in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the mishandling of the case by the Philadelphia Police Department.

The non-fatal stabbing of Bertrand Delanoë, a gay politician, Mayor of Paris, France, in 2002
The killing of Gwen Araujo, a transsexual woman (1985 – 2002). Michael Magidson, Jaron Nabors, and José Merél were charged with the murder as a hate crime, with Jason Cazares charged as an accomplice. Nabors made a deal with prosecution, receiving a manslaughter conviction in exchange for testimony, but his testimony was largely considered unreliable. The jury hung on Cazares, who then pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter to avoid a retrial. Magidson and Merél were convicted of second-degree murder, but the hate crime enhancement was not accepted by the jury.

Sakia Gunn (May 26, 1987-May 11, 2003) was a 15-year old African American lesbian who was murdered in a hate crime in Newark, New Jersey. On the night of May 11, Gunn was returning from a night out in Greenwich Village, Manhattan with her friends. While waiting for the #1 New Jersey Transit bus at the corner of Broad and Market Streets in downtown Newark, Gunn and her friends were propositioned by two men. When the girls rejected their advances, by declaring themselves to be lesbians, the men attacked them. Gunn fought back, and one of the men, Richard McCullough, stabbed her in the chest. Both men immediately fled the scene in their vehicle. After one of Gunn's friends flagged down a passing driver, she was taken to nearby University Hospital, where she died.

On June 17, 2003, Richie Phillips was murdered by Joseph Cottrell. His body was later found in a suitcase, in Rough River Lake. During his trial, Cottrell's relatives testified that he lured Phillips to his death, and killed him because he was gay.

On July 23, 2003, Nireah Johnson and Brandie Coleman were murdered by Paul Moore, when Moore learned after a sexual encounter that Johnson was transgender.

On July 31, 2003, 37-year-old Glenn Kopitske was killed by 17-year-old Gary Hirte. Hirte pleaded insanity, claiming he killed Kopitske in a murderous rage after a consensual sexual encounter with the victim, because he felt a homosexual act was "worse than murder."

On June 5, 2004, Jamaican Gay rights activist Brian Williamson was murdered with a machete, suffering several stab wounds to neck and face.
On September 28, 2004, Sierra Leonean gay and lesbian rights activist FannyAnn Eddy was murdered while she was working late in her office. Her attackers have escaped from prison and have never been recaptured and prosecuted.

On October 2, 2004 two men in Waverly, Ohio beat Daniel Fetty to death with bricks and boards. Prosecuters believe it was because Fetty was gay.

On January 28, 2005, Ronnie Paris, a three-year-old African American child died due to brain injuries resulting from abuse by his father. According to his mother and other relatives, Ronnie Paris, Jr., would slam his son into walls and force him to "slap-box" because he was concerned the child was gay and feared his son would grow up a sissy.

On March 11, 2005, Jason Gage -- an openly gay man -- was murdered in his Waterloo, Iowa apartment by an assailant who claimed Gage had made advances and was killed when he fought with the victim. The district attorney in the case noted neither the victim or the perpetrator, or the apartment bore any signs of struggle. Gage was bludgeoned to death with a bottle, and stabbed in the neck with a shard of glass.

On June 30, 2005, Yishai Shlisel, a Haredi Jew stabbed three marchers in a gay pride parade in Jerusalem, Israel, claiming he acted on behalf of God.[20]
Jody Dobrowski, murdered in 2005 in London, the two murderers were later sentenced to life in prison.

In September 2005, Lauren Harries, a former child antiques expert who had gender realignment surgery to become a woman, her father and brother were attacked by 8 young men in their home in Cardiff. According to court, the youths were shouting and swearing and were heard to shout out the word "tranny" - a term of abuse associated with hate crime.[21]

In December 2005, a Jamaican mob chased an alleged gay man who, fearful of the crowd, jumped into the water and drowned.[22]
In February 2006, Gisberta Salce Júnior, a homeless Brazilian transsexual living in extreme social exclusion in the Portuguese city of Oporto, was tortured and anally raped with sticks over a period of three days and then thrown into a pit and left to die in an abandoned construction site. A group of twelve to fourteen adolescent boys between the age of 12 and 16 admitted to committing this crime.[23]

On February 2, 2006, 18 year-old Jacob D. Robida entered a bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, confirmed that it was a gay bar, and then attacked patrons with a gun and a hatchet, wounding at least three.[24]

In April 2006, students rioted at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and attacked an alleged gay student.[22]

On April 6, 2006, two American television producers, CBS Evening News senior producer Richard Jefferson and 48 Hours producer-researcher Ryan Smith, were beaten with a tire iron outside the Sunset Beach Bar on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten by a group of four men and two women. The attack left Smith unable to speak properly, having suffered a skull fracture and brain damage.[25]

On June 10, 2006, Kevin Aviance was robbed and beaten by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him

On July 30, 2006, six men were brutally beaten after leaving the San Diego, California Gay Pride festival. One of the gay men was beaten so badly that he had to undergo extensive facial reconstructive surgery. All but one of the attackers were adults the exception being a 15-year-old. The attackers were charged with hate crimes.[26]

On October 8, 2006, Michael Sandy was attacked by four heterosexual young men who lured him into meeting after chatting with him online, while they were looking for gay men to rob. Sandy was hit by a car while trying to escape his attackers. He died five days later, never having regained consciousness.

On February 14, 2007, three gay men and the gay activist Gareth Williams were stoned by a huge mob in a homophobic attack in Kingston, Jamaica. International human rights organisations have described Jamaica as one of the most homophobic places in the world[27][28]

On April 8, 2007, approximately 100 men gathered outside a church where 150 people were attending the funeral of a gay man in Mandeville, Jamaica. According to mourners, the crowd broke the windows with bottles and shouted, “We want no battyman [gay] funeral here. Leave or else we’re going to kill you. We don’t want no battyman buried here in Mandeville.” [22]

On May 12, 2007, Roberto Duncanson was murdered in Brooklyn, New York. He was stabbed to death by Omar Willock, who claimed Duncanson had flirted with him.

May 16, 2007, Sean William Kennedy, 20, was walking to his car from Brew's Bar in Greenville, SC when Andrew Moller, 18, got out of another car and approached Kennedy. Investigators said that Moller made a comment about Kennedy's sexual orientation, and threw a fatal punch because he didn't like another man's sexual preference.[29]

On May 29, 2007, Michael Marcil, better known as drag queen Dixie Landers was beaten outside of an Ottawa, Ontario gay pub. Andrew Lefebvre and Sheri-Lee Rand have been charged for the attack.[30]

On July 7, 2007, 30 participants at a gay pride event in Croatia were attacked by multiple assailants. The attackers had also prepared Molotov cocktails but were stopped by the police before using them. Many people taking part in Gay Pride marches in Eastern Europe (e.g: Romania, Russia, Serbia) have been beaten after leaving the marches.[31][32]

In September 2007, Osvan Inacio dos Santos, 19, was attacked and murdered in a street near a bar where he had just won the local "Miss Gay" competition in the town of Batingas in northeast Brazil. dos Santos' naked body was found on Sunday morning and forensic examination found his skull had been fractured and indicated sexual assault.[33]

On December 3, 2007, Craig Gee was attacked by four men whilst holding his boyfriend's hand walking down Crown Street in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia. Part of his skull was reduced to powder and his leg was broken during the attack. [34] This incident prompted a vigil against the rising level of homophobia in the city and alleged apathy from police [35], and despite the attack, Gee and his boyfriend joined the Chief of Parade Margaret Cho to lead the 2008 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. [36]

In January, 2008, three gay men were attacked in the privacy of their dwelling by an angry mob who had days before threatened them if they did not leave the community in Mandeville, Jamaica. According to reports, two men were hospitalised, one with serious injuries, while another man is still missing and feared dead.[28][22]

In February 2008, Brazilian gay rights activist Alexandre Peixe dos Santos was attacked and beaten at the Sao Paulo's Gay Pride Association offices in Brazil. Activists estimate that more than 2,680 gay people were murdered in Brazil between 1980 and 2006[37]

On February 12, 2008, Lawrence "Larry" King, a 15 year old junior highschool student was shot by a classmate at E.O. Green School in Oxnard, California. He was taken off life support after doctors declared him brain dead on February 15. According to Associated Press
reports, "prosecutors have charged a 14-year-old classmate with premeditated murder with hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements".[38][39][40]

In Rochester, New York on March 16, 2008 police say Lance Neve was beaten unconscious because Neve was gay. A man attacked Neve at a bar leaving him with a fractured skull, and a broken nose.[41]

In Baltimore County, Maryland on May 29, 2008 eighteen year old Steven Parrish—a member of the Young Swans subgroup of the Bloods—was murdered by Steven T. Hollis III and Juan L. Flythe after they found "gay messages" on his cell phone. They felt having a gay member would make their gang appear weak and that by killing Parrish they could prevent that perception.[42]

September 7, 2008 - Tony Randolph Hunter, 27, and his partner were attacked and beaten near a gay bar in Washington DC. Hunter later died from his injuries on September 18th. Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.[1][2]

In February 2008, transsexual Duanna Johnson was beaten by a police officer while she was held in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center. Johnson said the officers reportedly called her a “faggot” and “he-she,” before and during the incident.[43][44]. In November 2008, she was found dead in the street, reportedly gunned down by three unknown individuals

Cowlove,
Actually you cannot sue. That is what I meant when I said "you can be fired for being gay." In 31 states you can fire an employee for being gay and by law they cannot sue you for wrongful termination.

Boycott that theater show the liberal praciers of intolerence what you think of their arrogence

Oh c'mon Gerty, if you're going to copy and paste you're better off just giving me the link so I can examine the citations for myself.

And I'm not sure if you've been keeping up with current events, but sexual orientation is protected from discrimination by law now. Tell your friends. You could be rich, if you're getting fired for being gay that is.

Spurwing Plover,
Were I living in the area, I would GLADLY boycott this theater for their arrogant, intolerant actions!

Can I depend on you to boycott an employer that fires a gay employee based on their sexual orientation?

Cowlove,
I don't apreciate the condecending tone. I think the gay community would be aware if suddenly the law we have been fighting for for decades to protect our jobs had passed.

Unfortunately, it has not. The Human Rights Campaign has been working for years to try and get a federal law to protect gays from being fired for no reason other than sexual orientation, but one has yet to be passed. As of today 31 states allow employers to fire employees for being gay.

Now you can TRY and sue them, this is true. Many employers will pay out because it is cheaper than fighting it in court and they want to avoid the publicity. But from a legal standpoint, they are well within their rights to fire someone like me, and if they choose to fight the person they fire, they will win.

I apologize if the tone was condescending; it was not my intention.

I did my own searching and confirmed what you're saying about discrimination in the workplace. My apologies. It seems I had confused workplace discrimination with the inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crime law.

CowLove,
It is okay, because in my opinion it is mostly the fault of the gay rights movement itself that you did not know this.

The one thing that disappoints me so much is that many gay rights activists focus on gay marriage and nothing else. It is all they talk about. To me, being fired is infinitely worse than not being able to be married, especially when civil unions or common law marriages are available to most gay couples.

I hate the way the gay movement talks about nothing but gay marriage the same way I hate that the feminist issue cares about NOTHING except continuing abortions, as if the rights to terminate a pregnancy should be a priority for women's rights!!

65 examples of violence were cited by Gerty. (I'm relying on MS to count the paragraphs, so that number may be off but it is pretty close) Only 45 of these occurred in the last 10 years. Only 26 of those occurred in the United States. And since it is American tolerance that is at question here, lets focus on those.

Wikipedia is a bit biased, but in 6 of the 26 incidents in the USA in the last ten years,, drugs or prostitution were contributing factors. If you associate with low-lifes... and you pretty much have to in order to be involved in drugs and prostitution, you are at a higher risk for vioelnce. 20-22 incidents of violence over ten years is still too many, but still, it means a gay man in America has a relatively remote chance of being assaulted under normal circumstances.

Finally, Matthew Shepard was not a hate-crime. His assailants were after his money. And he left the bar with them to do drugs and have three-way sex. Properly understood, the example of Matthew Shepard is not a hate crime, but a cautionary example: Don't leave a bar with strangers to do drugs.

Fair analysis VK.

V to the K,
Oh you are absolutely right! I don't want to make it seem like i'm not giving the straight community any credit. It is a very different world than it was 30 years ago. Though my partner and I have been subject to name calling, I have never in any way feared for my safety.

The Matthew Shephard thing was about his sexuality, though. The perpetrators admitted, under oath, at trial that they wanted to "teach Matthew a lesson" for being gay in addition to robbing him.

Still, you are right. It is just plain dumb to leave a bar with two male strangers to go party. It's like that girl in Aruba who just left with three men from a bar at 1 am. Of course no one DESERVES what that girl and Matthew got...but on the other hand these situations could have been easily avoided by the victims.

I am not nearly so concerned about assaults on gays, which is relatively rare, as I am about gays being fired for being gay, which is relatively common.

My feeling on that is, if an employer is willing to lose a productive, talented employee over bigotry, then the employee is free to seek employment where he will be appreciated, and the employer can suffer the loss of the employee's skills and talents.

My bias is always against government intrusion where it can be avoided. I am willing to tolerate the occasional injustices to individuals to avoid a smothering intrusive nanny state. The other side can argue that they want no injustice anywhere, but I don't think that is a realistic goal. So, we're left with the least worst alternative.

Also, in the case of Larry King, he did make persistent unwanted advances toward the boy who killed him. And he was encouraged by teacher's at the school to wear make up and female clothing in violation of the school's dress code, resulting in a lawsuit by his parents. (Granted, his homelife was a trainwreck, and that no doubt was a contributing factor.)

He most definitely did not deserve to die for his inappropriate behavior. But I can't help but think he would be alive if he had exercised some decorum. And not just him, all society, IMHO, needs to re-assert boundaries between public and private behavior. We would all get along better if we weren't flooded with too much information about too many people's private proclivities.

V to the K,
I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on that matter. Yes it is easy to say "well you can just work somewhere else"...but depending on where you live, and considering the economy, it is not always so easy to just pick up and find another job. What if the one you were at was the best paying, or if you just really enjoyed it? There are certain cases where the goernment MUST step in or discrimination will never end - of course the prime example of this being the government enforcing black people be allowed to go to school and vote in the deep south. There is legal protection for women, ethnic minorities, and religious minorities from being fired, and I feel it's only fair that we be afforded this same protection.

I applaud your efforts to seek out discrimination and publishing events like what happened with this theater company. I just hope that your vigilance will extend to gays who experience the same intolerance.

It has been nice chatting with you folks, and I'll leave you with this favorite quote of mine:

"A truly free society is one in which it is safe to be different"

The government itself should not be allowed to discriminate. That I agree with. But I am very uncomfortable with what happens when the government is empowered to coerce private citizens to act in ways demanded by other citizens. I believe the Boy Scouts have the right to set their own membership guidelines. I also believe that people who want young boys sent into the woods with atheists and gay men should be allowed to form their own organizations. I am strongly opposed to private citizens using the government to force their will upon others.

You can say, 'what about school prayer?' And I can say, if no one is required to pray that's fine. But forbidding it entirely does force one point of view on a number of people under circumstances where it is unnecessary. There is no Constitutional right not to be offended.

Ironically, it's the party and ideology that attracts the "different" under the guise of making things "equal" which is making it less and less safe to differ from the party line (PC) as demonstrated by this very article. There's your free society.

"The reason it's not on the news every time a gay person gets assaulted by some straight thugs is that would be all that was on the news!"

"I am not nearly so concerned about assaults on gays, which is relatively rare..."

Which is it, Gerty?

Can I depend on you to boycott an employer that fires a gay employee based on their sexual orientation?

No. That example concerns PROPERTY RIGHTS. I don't have to associate with ANYONE I don't wish to and neither do you.

But GERT, even though I KNOW you didn't mean to, you seem to be trying to justify the firing by citing crimes against gays. There is no justification for moral equivilency.

I'm not doing the special effects right.

Kharn, whenever you use a tag to start italics or bold text, you have to have a corresponding closing tag.

[i]Here is an example of italics[/i]

and

Here is how it looks.

Same with bold text.

"A truly free society is one in which it is safe to be different"

Posted by: Gerty at November 13, 2008 1:46 PM

Yes, and in this instance the theatre director felt that being different to the prevailing political climate in his field posed a danger to his theatre, and left it despite having given 20 years service to that institution and to the community.

And this situation was brought about by the actions of homosexual people who were upset about having been out-voted in their attempts to get a simple legal definition changed when in reality it would not change anything at all to do with the way they form unions with one another save for calling it something else.

IOW homosexuals just destroyed a man's livelihood for disagreeing with their political beliefs, in addition to the countless incidents where similar things have happened over the years and others have had their lives destroyed on meaningless grounds of "discrimination" because you people choose to take out your own negative feelings on people who are not like you.

And you have the gall to bring up a miniscule handful of "hate crimes" that have occurred over the last three decades as some sort of manifesto of the rest of the world's evil treatment of you; and to use that as justification for your oppression of a political opponent when none of those instances of violence have the remotest link to anything he has ever done and he would condemn such actions in a heartbeat.

In other words you are not the victims here. There are only a very, very small amount of instances in which homosexuals have ever been the victims. If you'd like to compile a list of every single instance in which a straight person has been unjustly or needlessly harangued, hassled, sued, fired, or generally had their name smeared through the mud and their life destroyed by homosexual legal activism under the pretext of "fairness and tolerance" your list of scattered incidents of senseless violence would not even mark a drop in the ocean in comparison.

Oh, sorry. I must denounce myself and my fellow conservatives for the blatant hate and bigotry we display by refusing to be bullied by identity politics and victim mantles into forgoing logic and reason and simply arguing from the side of strongest emotion on any particular issue. Particularly one in which gay people are involved. Since they are able to cite a list of approximately one incident per year in the last 30 years in which a gay person has ostensibly been a target of violence due to their sexual preference, it would be hateful bigotry to refuse to allow homosexuals to entirely redraft the norms of civilized society to pander to the meaningless legal distinctions they are seeking on unions they are going to form anyway.

MY BAD!

When all is said and done, homosexuality is still an abomination before God.

Hate the sin, love the sinner, but never fall into the trap of accepting that it is an acceptable lifestyle choice.

Note that the above statement does not call for violence, but acceptance of the lifestyle is the slippery slope. If you can't help the tendencies, practice celibacy instead.