A tough initiative

MORE AND MORE people are opposing the agenda of the "gay rights" movement. One of the flashpoints is Oregon, where a measure on the ballot would ban special legal privileges for homosexuals. In Portland, for instance, a landlord cannot refuse to rent to homosexuals, even if he is raising kids on the premises and doesn't welcome the role-model provided by same-sex partners.

Oregon's ballot amendment would repeal such special advantages for homosexuals. That is welcome, and easily defensible. It wouldn't stop there unfortunately. Its most controversial plank would require state government to inveigh against homosexuality, pedophilia, sadism, and masochism. Those are subjects better addressed by churches and other traditional ethical instructors.

Still it's hard to feel for homosexual activists who decry this proposed government sermonizing. They are themselves trying to use state muscle for their own far more aggressive goal: to criminalize any skepticism about their lifestyle as "homophobia."

If the Oregon measure goes too far, the motives invite sympathy. The sponsors are outraged by the drive to turn the legal code against those who resist abandoning the traditional moral code. The most that the "gay rights" movement can legitimately seek is tolerance; if-they continue to demand social approval, they risk getting condemnation.

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