I think that what the conservatives are worried about (in terms of the people that I respect) are the other causes that have, in a way, used the gay community. For instance, as I've said before, many of the organizations that help gay people also support things like giving parents less say in what their children are exposed to at school, getting rid of any kind of religious expression in the public sphere, etc. In responding to that, the conservative approach has been to take what they've observed and assume that the gay community agrees with other causes that they definitely (and, I feel, legitimately) don't want-ever. So, basically, what I think people are afraid of is that gay rights will become a pawn for individuals who want to force what some call a "secular progressive" way of life on America. I think that one of the major ways for the gay community to combat this is to make it clear that many hold conservative principles and don't want to see our culture go that way, either. I think that once more conservatives see people in the gay community as allies in preserving notions of basic right and wrong, the better off everyone will be. That's one of the reasons that I wish that, for instance, James Dobson had sat down with the people who went to Focus on the Family this year. That could have sparked some serious and helpful discussion between the two, but Dobson chose to forgo that opportunity and have the two people arrested, which is too bad.
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