Lark, I hope this makes the whole thing a bit clearer for you...Try going to an Orange neighbourhood in Derry and declaring that the Prods are a minority of disgusting and Godless perverts.
Try going to a Catholic neighbourhood wearing the Orange sash and denouncing the Papists as scum out to vilify the Queen and Union.
Try telling each side that their faith was a lifestyle choice and that they were wrong...
I don't need to tell you what would happen, do I?
Tolerance cuts both ways, Lark; homosexuality isn't a 'lifestyle choice' - if you talk to gays, they will tell you that they've been that way ever since they've been conscious of sexual attraction.
Your sexual identity is no more a 'choice' than your faith; and to declare one 'right' and one 'wrong' is a) an ignorance of the facts and b) somewhat inflammatory.
What would you say if someone declared Northern Ireland to be officially Prod?
What do you think the Prods would do if someone declared that, since the majority of Northern Ireland was Catholic, the Prods weren't allowed to hold Protestant beliefs in public?
It's not about arguing 'for the promotion of homosexuality'; it's about not teaching any number of deeply insecure teenagers that they're fundamentally sick and twisted because of their sexual orientation.
Equality and tolerance. That's all.
Consider the change in Northern Ireland if people accepted that Protestants and Catholics could co-exist peacefully without suppressing each other over their religious orientation.
Farinata.
