A negative impact on the family and society.
``[anti-discrimination intiatives] may in fact have a negative impact on
the family and society. Such things as the adoption of children, the
hiring and firing of teachers, the housing needs of genuine families,
landlords' legitimate concerns in screening potential tenants, for
example, are often implicated.''
Landlord's rights.
For a landlord to want to "screen" out potential tenants who are gay
is baseless, bizarre and unnecessary. There is no evidence to suggest
that a gay tenant is likely to be more trouble than a straight
one. Indeed, gay men are notably less likely to be involved in cases
of domestic violence than straight men. If landlords really want to
protect their property, they should be encouraging gay people to move
in! Furthermore, if surveys by the Wall Street Journal and others are
to be believed, many gay people have more expendable income than their
straight counterparts. Surely landlords should be looking for such
tenants?
Housing
There is no reason why the housing needs of so called "genuine
families" should come above those of gay couples. A man and a woman
have no more right to decent housing than two men or two women. There
is certainly an argument for giving priority to those with young
children, and this I'm sure would be supported by the church. But
where is the support for a lesbian mother with her young child? There
are no grounds for discriminating against her, and yet such
discrimination is advocated, putting the child needlessly at risk. (Of
course, this can subsequently be used against the lesbian mother in an
attempt to take her child from her.)
Teachers
Many fine teachers are gay men and lesbians. Many, however, are forced
to keep their sexuality secret because of discriminatory legislation.
Such secrecy is the root of many problems. If these men and women
could be open about their sexualities in the classroom, fewer
youngsters would grow up torturing themselves over feelings which are
good and natural. Fewer teenagers would commit suicide. Fewer children
would grow up hating gay people if they had a positive role-model, and
we would have fewer hate crimes committed against innocent people.
Adoption
Finally, a gay couple is as much able to look after, nurture and care
for a child as a straight couple. To say that it enforces the idea of
homosexuality on the child is to say that heterosexual parents enforce
heterosexual ideas on their homosexual offspring. Does this change the
sexuality of their offspring? So why should you think it will work the
other way around?