by Kelly Boggs
Homosexual activism in America may have started as a movement for toleration. In recent years, however, it seems to have developed into an intolerant campaign to force complete acceptance of a lifestyle many regard as immoral behavior.
Most historians trace the homosexual rights movement's beginnings to what is known as the Stonewall Riots that began June 28, 1969, in New York City.
According to the History Channel website, "Just after 3 a.m., a police raid of the Stonewall Inn -- a gay club located on New York City's Christopher Street -- turns violent as patrons and local sympathizers begin rioting against the police.
"Although the police were legally justified in raiding the club, which was serving liquor without a license among other violations, New York's gay community had grown weary of the police department targeting gay clubs, a majority of which had already been closed.
"The crowd on the street watched quietly as Stonewall's employees were arrested," the History Channel report continued, "but when three drag queens and a lesbian were forced into the paddy wagon, the crowd began throwing bottles at the police....
"The so-called Stonewall Riot was followed by several days of demonstrations in New York and was the impetus for the formation of the Gay Liberation Front as well as other gay, lesbian, and bisexual civil rights organizations. It is also regarded by many as history's first major protest on behalf of equal rights for homosexuals."
The early stages of the homosexual rights movement seemed content with securing a live-and-let-live attitude, if you will, toward those who pursued a homosexual lifestyle.
With success comes the desire for more success, and eventually homosexual activists sought and gained anti-discrimination employment policies on a variety of government and corporate levels the decriminalization of homosexual acts and hate crimes legislation that included the designation of homosexuality as a specially protected group.
No longer content just to be tolerated, homosexual activists sought to have their lifestyle regarded as equal to heterosexual relationships by pushing for homosexual marriage. The movement that began out of a desire to be tolerated morphed into a crusade to be celebrated as natural, normal and healthy.
One segment of society that stands in the way of the homosexual activists' ultimate goal is conservative Christians. In order to have complete cultural confirmation, conservative churches will have to be dealt with.
With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act this summer, expect homosexual activists to take the issue of homosexual matrimony directly to conservative churches.
SOURCE: Baptist Press
Kelly Boggs is a weekly columnist for Baptist Press, director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention's office of public affairs, and editor of the Baptist Message (www.baptistmessage.com), newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
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