Gay Rights and General Thoughts

I stumbled across the upcoming proposal to the North Carolina constitution today, which prompted an extended chain of videos and blogs, ending in some of my favorite anti-atheist videos and a search as to why the Christians are against gay marriage (from a legal and secular standpoint).

Peanut Butter depends on the lack of evolution!

I found a story of a man named David Parker who's son was exposed to the "gay agenda" in Kindergarten, where teachers were talking about families with two dads, same-sex couples, and so on.  David decided he didn't want his son exposed to this "radical" thinking, marched into the school to get some change happening, didn't get it, and was subsequently arrested for trespassing when he refused to leave.

Well then I'll just live in this tree school until I get what I want!

At first, the school's actions surprised me.  Normally we try to appease parents, and it's not unheard of to have parents request and grant requests for their children to "opt out" of evolution, much like David wanted to opt his child out of the gay curriculum (no pun).  The reason why David's request wasn't granted was because this is a basic civil rights issue.  The Catholic Church (at least in my experience) seeks to dehumanize those with different sexual identities.  I can't count the number of sermons I sat through with the priest professing the sins of being gay, the eternal hellfire which awaited them, and how gay people embodied the spirit of Lucifer himself, only to take everything back by saying, "If you are gay, we can save you!"

It got me to wondering what schools were like around the time of Brown v. Board of Education (desegregation of schools).  Were there 1950s versions of David who marched into their children's schools, demanding that interracial marriage (GASP) not be exposed to their poor innocent children?  Were there similar lawsuits and appeals filed to try to get children "opted out" of social change?

I just have one more thing to get off my chest, and I know it's a desperate plea and that it won't change anybody's mind, but here it goes...

The United States is a secular government.  Which is to say, it's not religious in nature.  Therefore, when you say things like "God said so" in support of a legal document, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.  Religious laws should be used to govern your personal life, not to govern the people of this country.  I have absolutely no problem with the Catholics saying that they don't want to marry gay couples.  Fine.  But when you use your religion as reasoning behind a legal action, it is against the spirit of the constitution of these United States.