Bigotry against the LGBTQ community has recently made local headlines. And, frankly, I don’t understand the shade being thrown at the gays. 

Anti-LGBTQ advocates do have a point. It is true the LBGTQ agenda has permeated society and culture. Even country music—a traditionally conservative genre of music—is getting on board, as evidenced by Tim McGraw’s hit song “A Cowboy in Me.” 

And I’m ok with that. 

Because this is America. Homosexuality may be repugnant to you. Admittedly, it doesn’t appeal to me either. It makes as much sense to me as Brigham Young’s namesake university not allowing beards. 

But I also don’t understand why somebody would want to be a dentist. You suffer through 8 years of school so you can spend a career rummaging through people’s filthy mouths, listening to them lie about how often they floss and carrying on one-sided conversations where the other party can only muster a mumble.

Visiting the dentist is considered so bad it’s often used as a reference point for the worst experiences in life. For example, I’d rather visit the dentist for “14 hours a day” than listen to Mike Lee give a lecture on the constitution.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to spend my life crusading against dentists. To each their own. 

Anti-LGBTQ advocates will often obfuscate their prejudice against the LGBTQ community, using  children and religion as their cloak. 

The truth is nobody is “grooming” your kids. Even if they were, I can’t even convince my kids to eat broccoli. I doubt Mickey Mouse is going to convince them to bat for the other team.  

If you do believe there’s a grand conspiracy to convince your kids to be gay, I get why you’d think kids could be so easily persuaded. After all, somebody talked you into believing Jesus approves of bigotry. 

I do understand many religions consider homosexuality a sin. If that’s the case with you, I’ll forever defend your right *not* to be gay. If you want, I’ll even turn you in to your ecclesiastical leader if your outfit is even remotely too fabulous or if you gaze too long at a rainbow. That’s how much I care about your right to exercise your religion. 

In exchange, all I ask is you extend the same courtesy to those in the LGBTQ community. It shouldn’t be too hard. Just treat them like you probably do a heterosexual couple cohabitating and raising kids outside the bonds of marriage, despite that also being against your religion. And consider the real reason for the disparate treatment. 

The truth is vitriol won’t change anything anyway. Hate won’t chase the gay away any more than it would change your sexual orientation. Advocating for or enacting prejudicial laws only serves to further marginalize an already marginalized community. 

Even telling them your religious beliefs on the matter is superfluous; they probably already know. What they may not know is whether your religious beliefs extend to the higher law of loving your neighbor as yourself. And they’re probably much more interested in that.  

Just like Jesus.  

Please don’t hide behind the tired trope: Hate the sin, but love the sinner. It’s a distinction without a difference. Sexual preference is  so intertwined with one’s identity that successfully separating one from the other only happens inside the vacuum of a Sunday school classroom. Just love the sinner. Period. Because all our lives run afoul of some religion, most notably our own. 

By doing so you aren’t condoning anyone’s behavior or lifestyle. You’re just supplanting your concern for one collection of consonants (LGBTQ) with another (WWJD). 

Besides, if you’re right they’re destined to an eternity in hell. There’s no need to pile on. Have faith they’ll have what’s coming. Let that be enough. 

But love them or hate them, the gays are here to stay. The solidarity of refracted light and flamboyant parades is impregnable. 

Another’s sexual preference isn’t your choice. It’s not even theirs. What is subject to choice is how we treat them. 

Choose kindly.