THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT seeks to extend basic civil rights protection to gay men and lesbians. Gays want the same opportunities other Americans seek or enjoy. They want the right to love whom they wish and the chance to live as homosexuals without fear of arrest, fines, job loss, physical harm, and rejection by a non-homosexual majority. They want a life free from discrimination.

Gay activism comes at a time when Americans have mixed feelings about homosexuals and their push for civil rights. A 1994 Time/CNN poll, for example, found that almost 50 percent of those questioned said they supported giving gays the same civil rights protections as those provided other minorities. The poll also found that 52 percent of Americans considered homosexual relationships OK for others, even if they would not want such a relationship themselves.

About 65 percent of those polled, however, said too much attention was being paid...