by Richard L. Worsnop

About the author: Richard L. Worsnop is an associate editor for the CQ Researcher, a weekly report on public policy issues.

Homosexuals, once hesitant about declaring their sexual orientation and fighting discrimination, are now demanding equal treatment....They seek passage of a federal civil rights law giving them the same sort of protection enjoyed by racial and ethnic minorities. Homosexuality deserves such protection, they say, because it is biologically determined and immutable. Conservatives, on the other hand, insist that homosexuality is a freely chosen behavior that can be modified. Thus, they say, gays and lesbians are demanding “special rights.” The special-rights argument helped win approval of an anti-gay-rights law in Colorado in 1992....

Is Homosexuality Innate or Acquired"

Much of the conflict between homosexual activists and their foes springs...