Do you think vitriolic anti-gay statements from some of the religious right help feed violence against gays?

I think religion is wrong to condemn a person for their sexual orientation. Personally, I think that preachers and priests stir up trouble when the discuss gay rights in a negative light. Yess, this does cause violence and it does anger people.

My son is gay and we live in a University town so it is more tolerant, but there still is a lot of hatred directed toward the gay kids.

I am also glad we attend a church where he can be open about being gay and still be accepted and be an alter server. He someday will be an Episcopal Priest. That is the kind of tolerance and love Jesus wanted us to have. He did not want Christians to be intolerant and hateful and spread lies.

jean...Gay kids as a rule do not follow the boys to the showers, they all shower together and two boys who were not gay tried to beat my son up in the locker room. They got hold of the wrong kid and he beat them up. They were suspended. He was not. At least our High school is trying to do the right thing.

Yes and no. I think the people who do violence against gays would do violence against gays no matter what was being said. I also think there are a lot of religious right groups who are against homosexual behavior who also emphasize no violence and condemn violence as harshly as homosexuality, and it hasn't stopped any violence. You can argue that since the violence hasn't decreased or stopped it's obviously more connected to their talking against homosexuality, but it can also be argued that since they don't listen to the 'no-violence' message then saying they listen to the 'anti-gay' message and not it is sort of a dead end.

Basically, if so many people are listening to the religious right and attacking gays, why aren't so many listening to the religious right and not attacking gays? There's just not that many groups that say any violence against gays is acceptable.

I'm gay and the most intolerant and hateful comments gay people get at school are from the so called "Christian" kids who wear the Jesus shirts etc, but say terrible things to those who are gay, bi or that they think are gay or bi.

Violence isn't just physical. Fortunately my school suspends or expels kids who direct any hate speech toward anyone and that has helped lower the problems.

My grandson says that he cannot go to the gym and work out, then go to the showers without a gay dude following him to the showers.

I believe the gays can stir up enough violence by their own actions.

I set on a trial as a juror where three men killed and robbed a gay man.

The four were at a bar and the gay man invited the three men home with him, thinking all three men were gay. Only one was gay and he went to the bedroom first with the man and the other two robbed his house and one of them killed the man. The other two were just in on it and went to California with the killer. The family did not ask for the death penalty, but all three men got life in prison.

Did the lifestyle of this gay man have anything to do with his death? He was so caught up in having sex with these men that he lost his life.

This is a careless lifestyle and an addiction to sex and he lost his life because his mind was not thinking about his well being, but about his pleasure.

This was one of the worst criminal cases for me as a juror. I have begged off being a juror ever since that case.

What we permit increases and I do not want this lifestyle increasing.

If you were brought up to believe gays were the devil, or evil, you would have no remorse when violently attacking them. People use religion ignorantly to fuel their own prejudices.