Here's what I don't understand about the whole religious argument against allowing gays and lesbians to live their lives the same way heterosexuals do. Scientific evidence shows that human sexual preference is a matter of physiology--not something you just wake up and decide to do one day. But the gay-sex-is-sin line of thought would deny gays and lesbians the basic right to live in accordance with the way they were born.

What this argument says is that a fairly substantial percentage of people should squelch their natural sexual desires FOR THEIR ENTIRE LIVES. We've seen how well that works for priests. And at least priests have a choice in the matter.

When religious texts are not viewed in the context of when they were written, they can be used to justify all manner of evil. The Bible has been waved in support of the Inquisition, the Salem witch hunts, slavery, and the Holocaust. Most so-called literalists pick and choose among what Biblical rules they'll follow and which ones they'll disregard.

We each have the right to follow our own religious beliefs in this country--or to follow no religion at all--thank Goddess. But all rights have their limits. The right to follow a belief that condemns gays and lesbians for living their lives should not be allowed to reach so far as to deny gays and lesbians the same legal right to form families that the rest of us enjoy. Unfortunately, that religous-based deprivation of rights is just what has happened in most of this country.