My dad said it was "the good old days" when gays had to stay in the closet or face persecution?

No, he just is of an older, less-enlightened generation.

Throwing gays into jail just for being gay or for being caught in bed together is insane. But now we've got the opposite situation, where people will give you a dirty look if you're not supportive of gays adopting children. I'm one of those "idiots" who does something called "thinking" and based on that i realized that tiny children need to be brought up by a man & woman because that is where little children come from. It's that simple. I don't care if people are gay, i don't care if they're lovers, and i don't give a *&%$#@! if they get married. But that's where i draw the line. Why? Because once you start talking about adopting children, you've moved past the "two-consenting-adults" area and have involved a third person who isn't able to make a choice regarding whether to be the child of a man & woman or the "child" of two gay people. The couple makes that choice for the child and that is not right, and it is not fair to the child. That child is going to have trouble in school later when it is discovered that he/she has gay "parents." Too many "knee-jerk" liberals support gays adopting children because they're of an "anything-goes" mentality, but what is clear is that they've not thought out this issue and frankly, knee-jerk liberals don't think at all. Your dad's view is too extreme, of course. But the opposite isn't any good, either ...

He said that because he was in the closet and didn't want them to be shared with anyone else

I would actually say no, what he probably means is he liked the days when these matters of sex were not talked about in public and they were kept silent.

Yes, and most likely a christian aswell.

yes

He regrets that his offspring is gay and blames society and is probably correct.

meaning back in the day they didn't "rock the boat" so to speak..

no he is right

Ask him WHY