Do people have a right to be offended by Gays?

Anyone has a right to be offended by their own perceptions of anyone or anything.

Now, make sure you get this: ANYONE has a RIGHT to be OFFENDED by whatever he CHOOSES to be offended about.

But NO ONE has the RIGHT to an OFFENSE-FREE existence.

If Jerry finds homosexuals to be "offensive," that's fine, but he has no right whatsoever to demand anything in that regard. He has no right to demand that they have fewer rights, he has no right to take any action against them. His right to choose to be offended ends at getting offended.

I find the ritual of holy communion/eucharist to be very offensive. What does that entitle me to? It entitles me to not participating. It does not entitle me to demanding that no one else do it.

Non-homosexuals have the same right to be offended by homosexuals as homosexuals have to be offended by non-homosexuals. Fair's fair. If you don't like the fact that people have a different set of values or a different way of life to yours, that's tough. We're all stuck on this planet so we might as well at least try to get along, but that doesn't always happen and you can guarantee that you're going to offend some people whatever you do, whether its because of who you're attracted to, the colour of your skin, who you pray to, the music you listen to or which team you support to name but a few.

So beautifully said, DC.

I am perfectly happy for someone to be offended by me. If they suggest that I am, in fact, an evil devil-ridden sack of poop, I will then offend said person by suggesting that they are the result of a mating between their mother and a bull elephant. And that the elephant came off worse.

Basically - you are allowed to have whatever opinions you wish, and that's good. But should such opinions be suggested to those who do not share your point of view, then be prepared to have your view challenged. I guess what you're trying to say is '"I think all these gays going on about their lifestyle is awful, and since i don't like the man-man bumsex, I'll suggest that my own rights are beign infringed by the fact gays exist".

Don't worry about it - it's all in your head. Just don't think about the poofs. I can assure you, they'll think nothing of you ;)

I find dill pickles disgusting. They offend me. That green brine, the horrible smell, and that awful half-soft texture. I'll take my cucumbers straight, thank you, like all normal, right-thinking people.

OK, I don't care if people eat pickles in the privacy of their own home. What they get up to behind closed doors is none of my business.

But I don't want pickle eaters to ram their filthy. disgusting habit down my throat. I don't want them to talk about it, much less do it in public. I went to a picnic the other day, and someone had put a WHOLE JAR of pickles on the table. Outrageous! Do we want our children to see that? They might get the idea that pickles are a perfectly normal and acceptable way to eat a cucumber.

You can imagine my shock when I discovered that McDonalds puts pickles on a Big Mac! There they go, pandering to the pickle-eater lifestyle.

And don't get me started on pretzels...

But how do we know someone is gay? Is there a uniform? A secret handshake?

Why is it even an issue? You are people first, right?

I also believe that if I want to rent my house, sell my car etc, then I have the right to sell it to whomever I want -- it's my house, it's my job. If I don't like people with red hair, then it is my choice not to sell it to people with red hair or to fundamental christians.

It's my choice. I don't need legislation to tell me what to do! We are all discriminated against at some point in our lives.

>Do people have a right to be seriously offended by the homosexual lifestyle?

The question doesn't seem well formed to me because it doesn't make sense to be offended by the homosexual lifestyle - provided you really can define this lifestyle since the stereotypes are wrong: I'm gay and I don't like the historically glamorous aspect of gay pride such as transvestites, feathers transexuals, etc, if you called it "transvestite pride" if would be fine for me, but you can't call it gay pride, I don't share anything with that.

so I wonder what you meant with your question

to get offended by two guys kissing in public?

I'm still trying to understand this thing in London (if it ever could be understood) it seems that the answer is

"YES, YOU CAN GET OFFENDED, GET OVER IT"

it seems that everyone living in a multiethnic and multicultural society will be offended and will offend someone else, so just get over it and go on with what you were doing, unless someone did something against the law of course (sexual harassment, indecent exposure, etc)

it's not that bad

here in England sex in public places is discipline by law, in several circumstances is legal, gay or straight whatever

"if gay guys pester straight guys then that's annoying"

Agreed and don't worry, some gay guys pester gay guys too and that's very annoying!

This is a think in the gay """culture""" (theoretically speaking because.....) that still have to be fixed, along with other stuff.

The dick in their mouth could be your first clue. But I digress...

That's true. Do what you want with your own goods and services that you pay for. But since many other companies and services in America are paid for through federal funding (which includes taxes that are paid by gay & lesbian men & women), they should be representing their views as well. It's taxation without representation... with a twist.

That's true. But without any legislation for Women's Equal Rights you'd be in the same position of a gay man. Forced to pay for taxes and not given all of the rights and benefits a free, heterosexual male is entitled to. How would you feel if you were denied the right to marry by federal law because you love someone THEY don't approve of? How worthless would you feel if the government decided to ignore the last will & testament of your loved one all because THEY didn't approve of who you lived with, forcing all of his or her assets to go to complete strangers and leaving you with nothing? It's hard for a heterosexual male or woman to sympathize with this for just about everything on this planet is geared towards the straight community. But imagine if the shoes were on the other foot and homosexuality was the way of life, and those who loved the opposite sex were the condemned by the Religious Right?

DC_DEEP worded it best. ANYONE has a RIGHT to be OFFENDED by whatever he CHOOSES to be offended about. But NO ONE has the RIGHT to an OFFENSE-FREE existence. That is, unless you want to stay in your own world, away from the rest, so you can have that freedom to make your own rules... as in the case of your home that you won't sell to redheads.

Yes.

I think Swordfish's question is simply a smoke screen for "do people have a right to be offended AND consider homosexuals as less valuable to society"? This then goes on to reason that if it is okay, then it is okay to use one's votes, money, political power, etc, to treat gays differently than straight people.
The fact that Swordfish posed the question to begin with does, in my opinion, reflect his inner feelings and attempts to have them validated by the "majority" on this site.

I LOVE dill pickles.

You obviously are a bigot if you hate dill pickles. You know having a craving for a dill pickle is NOT a choice. It just happens. I've been like this since grade school. It is just a part of me.

I am sick to death of people like you taking away my freedoms. I happen to like dill pickles on Big Macs. Who are you to judge what should and shouldn't be on hamburgers? You obviously don't know many pickle eaters. Did you CHOOSE not to like pickles, of course not.

Now sweet pickles....that's another story. Yuck.

People have a right to be offended by whatever they please.

Its called freedom of thought.


However... where they make a mistake is in feeling they have some right to NOT be offended.

You can take things anyway you please....
but when you start making demands that OTHERS must stop doing what you don't like...
That is the end of freedom.
That is the genesis of fascism, of holocaust, or book burning, inquisitions...

and the patriot act.

Look, Earl. You seem like a perfectly nice guy. I wouldn't have picked you as a pickle-eater on the street. I mean, you're not obvious or flamboyant about it. I got nothing against that.

But don't go telling me that your un-natural way of eating a cucumber deserves the same respect and legal protection as mine. Pickles protected by the same hygiene laws and sales-tax breaks as real food? Never!

That's why I wrote to my congressman to support the Defense of Salads Act. The way I see it, my cucumber is a temple, and I don't think it should be put in places where...well, un-natural places. Like between buns.

You said it yourself. Dill pickles are the thin end of the lettuce wedge. Pretty soon we'll be condoning sweet pickles, chutneys and onion jam. Where will it end? Worcestershire sauce? None of us want to see that!