Dan, your response to L.R. is one of the best things I have ever read. You have been doing wonderful work for years, but your It Gets Better campaign is truly a monumental thing to have begun. It's just a shame that all the L.R.s will most likely be tsk.. tsking all the way to church on Sunday, where they, if they are really feeling it, may pray for you, and your terrible wrongness. But, thanks for helping these children. And even L.R.'s children will hopefully be better off because you have at least planted a seed in one Christian field. Keep up the good work.

Bravo Dan! So like the bygone days where "Equal but different" was in effect and interacial couples were arrested for being married. It reminds me about the time I attended a Potter's House meeting for the first time, it sounded great at first, till the pastor said how the Salvation Army was evil for not making the people they help to convert, women were evil for not 'submitting' to their men, and how the gay and jews were ruining everything. I left in the middle of service. Hate is alive and well and being shoved in our faces faster than Mc Donald Big Macs. My Husband and I found an MCC church and we have never looked back.

---L.R.--- God created everything and everyone right? AND He dosen't make mistakes right? SO in that theory, you are practicing hate on what He created. I don't think he's gonna be down with that. Don't be a hypercrite and say you are sorry for those kids while you still think they are some kind subhuman that deserve less than equal treatment.

I disagree- "fuck your feelings" doesn't lead to changing any minds. You had a wonderful opportunity to encourage more discussion on their part, and just flew into the offensive. I fully support human rights & the It Gets Better Project, so I hope that you have not just given ammo to those who are denying people rights.

Thanks Dan, for your response to L.R. I'm Gay, and a Christian, and think it's two sided, rediculous, whatever insanity you want to call it, to say "I can't agree with gays getting married, but I wish them no harm." I'm not sorry for L.R.'s feelings either.

@ Ophelia

You have to realize that christians are animals who cannot be possibly reasoned with. This is pretty-much the only goddamn way to engage these people.

"I'm Gay, and a Christian..."

Explain THAT one to me.

Thanks, Dan. I loved every word of it. It's refreshing to hear the truth spoken honestly, succinctly, and passionately. And as for the above comment -- "I hope that you have not just given ammo to those who are denying people rights" -- people who are looking for ammo will find always ammo anywhere. Thanks again, Dan.

"Christian and/or traditional ideas about marriage"

Here's where you lose, well, everything in your argument. Those aren't "Christian" ideas. They are interpretations of what some early Jews and Christians wrote down in a book that has been widely translated and altered.

Christian ideas are to love your neighbor, be kind, serve others and to be humble in your beliefs.

"You have to realize that christians are animals who cannot be possibly reasoned with. This is pretty-much the only goddamn way to engage these people."

Okay, then explain this:

http://www.integrityusa.org/
http://www.welcomingcongregations.org/
http://www.ucccoalition.org/programs/ona/

I hope you get in touch with those groups, Dan. You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and every one of those Christians is heartbroken for these kids just like you and I are.

I think Dan should save the honey for the DECENT humans who deserve it. Christians dish out nothing but vinegar, so that's all they deserve in return!

I consider myself Christian but I support Gay rights. For the longest time I refused to go to Church for the EXACT reason Dan mentioned. I couldn't understand how being Gay is a sin that you must rally politicians to fight against yet it's ok to Divorce, cheat on your wife (Hello Newt) and send people off to war to kill people. Isn't killing based on fake evidence a sin?

Either way, I was able to become "Christian" after listening to a Christian Cambridge Physics Professor who was explaining that the science of the universe and the Bible could coincide with each other. He believed the Universe was millions of years old and dinosaurs existed. Some university aged yahoos started yelling saying "no way man, the earth is only a few thousand years old, the bible proves it" and no matter how tried to use logic to explain his theories, they wouldn't have it.

I'm not saying he's right nor am I saying anyone should take the Bible literally or it shouldn't, but that man taught me that you can have faith but still believe in common sense, science and not be a total douche to other people.

Dan's response was fine. If LR took offense to what Dan wrote, it's unlikely any logic would have changed her mind which still bugs me about most people of faith, that they can't admit the possibility they might be wrong like they know exactly how to interpret God's thoughts.

I struggle with faith daily and I'd say most of that struggle is because of these nut job "Christians". I hope I'm not the only "Christian" out there that believes in common sense and that hatred towards anyone, direct or indirect is not Christian.

Go Dan. I hope you save a lot of lives cause that's more than most Christians or anyone else including me will ever accomplish.

FWIW, you can't really asphyxiate an able-bodied person with a pillow, cliche movie and TV scenes notwithstanding. Seriously, try it sometime. Maybe with a really dense foam rubber pillow, but any normal one you can breathe right through well enough to at the very least hold out for several minutes, if not indefinitely.

Whoo Hoo! L.R. is an Asshole who needs to learn a thing or two about civil rights and how she holds hatred for her fellow man. She wants it halfway - deny human rights, but not have the violence that follows as a natural consequence. Once you start denying someone equal rights, you open the door to all sorts of injustice, including violence. Fuck her feelings, indeed!

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but this column was a breath of fresh air.

Of all the "abominations" in the bible, why the fixation on homosexuality? Why does the idea of two adults who love and want to spend their lives with one another make christian's and republican's heads explode?

Other abominations on the same level as homosexuality as described in the bible : Adultery (Lev 18:20), Remarrying one's wife after she's had another husband in between (Deut 24:4), Approaching any woman and humming during the time of her "uncleanness" (Lev 18:19), Rare steaks off the grill (Lev 17:10). Other abominations include tarot readings, glancing at your horoscope, trimming one's beard, and getting a tattoo (Lev 19:26-28).

I guarantee the majority of christians would not consider these sins - let alone abominations - even though they are in the same exact sin category in the bible as two dudes in love. Which brings me to the only obvious conclusion: They are all a bunch of fucking hypocrites.

Your an interesting character Dan. Very passionate with all your ideas and seem to have a broad understanding of the complex gyres that homosexuals and heterosexuals revolve in. You are however stirring the pot with a rusty spoon, you infer that the central component of Christianity is a fallacy with the statement "Magic sky friend Jesus". Biologically speaking I could say homosexuality is a fallacy as well. With no evolutionary benefits or fitness enhancements of the individuals involved. Your bullying of Christians sure is not going to have the potentially fatal consequences as with the homosexual variety, though you come across as ignorant and without the support from the homosexuals of this town you would have been silenced long ago. Respect your megaphone privileges and understand the great potential changes in respect you could bring to homosexuals everywhere. Show respect, Receive Respect.

The best reply I've read. A homegrown Portland girl raised by two fathers and so this topic is close to my heart. Thanks Dan.

Oh, so self-righteous.