when people believe that gays shouldn't be equal it's not bigotry only when it has to do with racial traits?

I think that many people are simply close-minded, and don't look beyond outer appearance. Once upon a time, the same people who object to gay marriage today, used to object to interracial marriage too, however as society progressed, so did their values. I think the same is true for gay marriage. In 40 years time, conservatives will probably be in favour of it, but by that point, they'll probably be against something else.

Bigotry applies to factors such as gender and sexual orientation. They just don't know the definition of the word. Alot them actually do not even know the definition of homophobia. They think it simply means fear or homosexuals.

It doesn't matter if it is a chosen trait or not. It matters as in society as some feel that if someone chooses something they dislike they are more justified in their punishing of that person.

Religion is chosen. We have equal respect for them though, we do not limit the rights of religious people and we have freedom to religion.

It is bigotry plain and simple. They realise that word calls them out for what it is and they try to deny it. That feeling that they get is the same feeling gay people have to suffer all their lives because of their intolerance.

it's bigotry and ignorance, a bad combination.

Discrimination against race is more obvious, and even though the bible was used for centuries to justify slavery, it's easy to see what color someone is. I think orientation makes some folks nervous because we look like everyone else. (And in all important respects, we ARE...)

You're preaching to the choir. Most of the people here realize that discrimination on the basis of orientation is just as wrong as race - that it's wrong for any reason. But bad ideas are hard to rub out because there are always so many people who want to feel superior without having to do anything but sneer at someone else.

The ones who have the intelligence capacity to believe us when we say we didn't choose to be homosexual, generally, expect us to live our lives celibate: alone, no relationships, etc.

The Judaic Christian concept of sin perverts, for a lack of a better word, morality, thus much of the religious have come to believe gay is the same as murder. This true for both Catholics and Protestants. They will always think of us as being just as evil, and many times more evil, than murderers. Thus they will relate accepting gays to accepting murderers.

In the end it is all sophistry. I have often found that most people who really don't like gays, when their failed logic is exposed, get emotional, and, in doing so, re-evaluate the argument to misconstrue what was said to them, misinterpret the reasoning, and even add falsely implanted memories to what is known to them to give their final last words or what can be considered their disgust.

Here's my theory. We are all born bisexual. The reasons because people are gay or straight are, in my opinion, genetics, environment, and a little bit of choosing.We are raised to be straight that's why we lose our bisexual tendencies. For some, they don't react to it as much as other people. They choose that they must not be straight, therefore they aren't. When and if people believe this we could be happy with each other.

"being gay is NOT chosen and this is a fact since i'm an unchosen gay person."

well i actually CHOSE to be a lesbian. therefore this is a fact since im a chosen gay person.