Well, good for you, goofyjim. I, too, dislike the labels. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with labels - homosexual, gay, queer, etc. (Why else would you or I be responding to this poll question. Indeed, the question would not be posed without the identifying label.)
Well, I’ll leave with a quote from the Bishops 2003 Statement, “Promote, Preserve, and Protect Marriage”:
"To promote, preserve, and protect marriage today requires, among other things, that we advocate for legislative and public policy initiatives that define and support marriage as a unique, essential relationship and institution. At a time when family life is under significant stress, the principled defense of marriage is an urgent necessity to ensure the flourishing of persons, the well being of children, and the common good of society.
Our defense of marriage must focus primarily on the importance of marriage, not on homosexuality or other matters.
The Church’s teaching about the dignity of homosexual persons is clear. They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Our respect for them means we condemn all forms of unjust discrimination, harassment or abuse. Equally clear is the Church’s teaching about the meaning of sexual relations and their place only within married life.
What are called “homosexual unions,” because they do not express full human complementarity and because they are inherently non-procreative, cannot be given the status of marriage.
Recently, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement emphatically opposing the legalization of homosexual unions. Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, welcomed this statement and further articulated our own conviction that such “equivalence not only weakens the unique meaning of marriage; it also weakens the role of law itself by forcing the law to violate the truth of marriage and family life as the natural foundation of society and culture.”
usccb.org/comm/archives/2003/03-179.shtml
