Friday is National Coming-Out Day, a day in which homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, and transvestites celebrate their lifestyles.

However, if you happen to disagree with how these people live their lives, Friday is a day where you have to stay in the closet.

These groups will go to any lengths to stifle constructive debate. If you oppose homosexuality on any grounds, then you are a homophobe.

Is this a really fair accusation? Absolutely not. Most sensible straight Americans (including this writer) believe that discrimination and violence against gays is wrong. However, those same people oppose homosexuality at base value. The gay lobby calls this homophobia.

What exactly is homophobia? Simply put, it is fear of homosexuals and their behavior. Questioning gay behavior does not mean that a person is fearful of it.

Those who oppose these lifestyles do so based on religious beliefs, scientific knowledge, or personal feelings. No matter how strong and factually correct a person’s opposition is, he/she is still considered a hateful, spiteful homophobe.

Those of us who feel this way have every right to. Many use legitimate studies and findings to support their claims. For instance, there are recent scientific studies that have shown homosexuals are born with those feelings.

People may be born gay, but does that necessarily mean that they have to act on their urges? For every story of a “woman inside a man’s body,” there are stories of people who remained straight despite strong doubts of their own sexuality. They say they are happier for staying straight.

The argument, “Gays were born this way and can’t control it,” sets a dangerous precedent. I was born with a short fuse, and often get angry over little things. Does that make it right to get pissed off all the time? If I was arrested for assault, and told the judge that I was born with an aggressive streak and couldn’t help it, he would laugh me into a jail cell.

I won’t even begin to discuss the can of worms it opens for pedophiles and other sexual predators.

Homosexuals also want to be recognized as legal married couples. Though the church and government are separate, the marriage that the government recognizes has deep roots in religion, no matter the sect. There is no religion to my knowledge that endorses marriage of homosexuals.

Those who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act last month (both Republicans and Democrats) realized this and didn’t truly believe that gay marriages are equal to straight marriages.

Those who think this way simply are not allowed a voice. They are afraid to express their opinions for fear of personal character assassinations. Who wants to be called a bigot or homophobe? No one, of course. People shouldn’t be afraid to speak their minds.

It’s not right to expect those who oppose a certain behavior to support it completely. Though we should work to eradicate discrimination, that doesn’t mean we have to endorse homosexuality.

I just don’t understand why gays expect the public to approve of their behavior. These “gay pride” festivals express the collective shout of “I’m gay.” So what? I’m straight, and that fact doesn’t dominate my life.

I’ve known gay people before. Though I might have been a little uncomfortable being around them at first, I got over it. They acted just like any other straight person in a similar situation. Though I may not support their views, I still treated them with decency and humanity expected of anyone else.

I don’t think I’m different than anyone else. If homosexuals would act normally instead of beating the public over the head with their sexuality, they would most likely get farther with people who don’t believe as they do. The problem homosexuals run into is these openly aggressive and extremist displays of sexuality like the ones this week. All over the country, gays will take part in these events. If they would take the time to calmly and rationally discuss their views instead of shouting it out and belittling other viewpoints, they would be heard a lot more clearly.

It’s true that there are some in America who are extremely hateful and fearful of homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, and transvestites. They will most likely not have a very good argument and will advocate discrimination.

Fortunately, those people are in the minority. Most Americans, while realizing that every citizen has equal rights, don’t necessarily support homosexuality.

This fact doesn’t make them bigoted or homophobic. If they have an informed, viable opinion, then the gay community is obligated to listen to it as we are constantly reminded to listen to theirs.

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Robert Zeis is a senior in finance from Des Moines.