I was attracted to girls from a very early age. I remember playing a game behind the garage with a neighbor girl where I would drop a twig down her dress and then go fishing for it from the bottom up! I guess she must have been a little attracted to me to tolerate that foolishness, eh?
I think this is the same experience gay people have. From a very early age they are attracted to their same sex. Most deny their feelings for quite awhile. The bravest eventually decide they need to live their lives as the people they are and I respect them for their courage.
Being gay is not "unnatural". The incidence of being born gay is about the same as being left handed. In fact, a gay person is acting perverted when they try to date the opposite sex, because that isn't what attracts them naturally. It will be great when we all accept that gayness is not a selected "lifestyle" but a born trait and no more appropriate for discrimination than skin color. Promiscuity can be a serious problem for all people, but it's hypocritical to condemn gays for sleeping around when we heteros did the same, usually, before finding someone special.
The forces that are massing against gays, as if they have to fight the battle of the Alamo to save "family values", are missing a powerful statistic aligned against them. About 16 million Americans are gay. They each have two parents so add another 32 million to that, and they probably average one sibling for another 16 million. So without going beyond gays, theirs moms, dads, brothers, and sisters, we are already at 64 million Americans who know that gays aren't "weirdos". Add a couple more people each for extended family members and we're at 96 million. And every gay person must have one non-gay friend for a very conservative count of 112 million Americans who are related or very close to a gay person.
I count myself in that number - I work with gay men and count them among my close friends, my first "girlfriend" realized later she was gay, and most importantly I have a son who happens to be gay. He is a hard-working, loving, considerate person and I'm proud to be his dad. He is not a pervert or child molester, and he just wants to meet and settle down with someone who loves him just like we all want.
If you are conflicted about the issue of accepting gays as full citizens, you may want to get to know one or two. And there are very good books available that put into words what you may be feeling. One that helped me was "Straight Parents, Gay Children" at the New Baltimore library.
I hope the time is right for this country to confront and get past its next big prejudice - I think it is. God bless America.