Thanks for having the courage to post your thoughts.
Here are a few thoughts from someone much older:
When I was a teen and first found out what homosexuality was, my initial reaction was “Ewww”. Then “why?”. Followed by assorted ideas and emotions including disgust, confusion, pity, etc., etc. as I tried to sort out my attitude toward this. We didn’t get lectures about it in school in my day.
Eventually I read a column by Ann Landers or Dear Abby (the 2 major newspaper advice columnists at the time) who addressed the issue by saying that a homosexual would find the idea of heterosexual sex just as unappealing as a heterosexual finds homosexual sex. For a while, I bought that argument (partly because it seemed sensible, partly because I was young and respected nearly anything in print, partly because it wasn’t a topic that was discussed anywhere, so I knew of no other opinions on the topic).
As a college student, in a liberal environment, little changed. If anything, I was exposed to some very pro-homosexual literature that was emotionally manipulative and glamorized the homosexual lifestyle. (Side note: I considered myself middle of the road or slightly right of center as a young adult. It took me a few more years before I considered myself a libertarian, so you’re ahead of my timeline in that regard. It wasn’t until much later that I realized I was really a conservative.)
As an adult, having known a fair number of homosexuals, plus having read a considerable amount of actual data (not just emotional manipulative narratives), my attitudes have changed. I regard homosexuals the same way I regard alcoholics. I think they are people with unhealthy compulsions. There are homosexuals and alcoholics who I love. But I would not encourage either to pursue their unhealthy compulsions.
As for transgenders, that is, to me, an extreme form of mental illness. Imagine for a moment that you had a friend who was convinced that he was born in the wrong body and that his real body had only one arm. Imagine that he went to a doctor and convinced him that he was really in the wrong body and that in order to make his body conform to what he believed he was meant to be, the doctor needed to amputate his arm. Would you think the doctor was helping him or hurting him? Would you think your friend needed therapy? Or would you think that your friend needed an arm amputated?
You’re young and you’re a thinker. I don’t expect you will agree with everything that I say, but I do think you are open-minded enough to consider differing opinions and to weigh the evidence when you are presented with facts.
In the facts department, I would encourage you to do an internet search of health effects of homosexuality.
At any rate, hang in there, and thanks for posting.
Thank you...