Today, gays and lesbians do not suffer the discrimination they did decades ago. President Obama recently appointed an openly gay man to head the Office of Personnel Management, the same institution that fired Kameny for being gay 52 years ago.

Despite that, there is still a strong movement against gay rights, and in some cases, against homosexuality.

The Family Research Council in Washington is among the concerned groups. The council's policy analyst, Peter Sprigg, says he believes homosexual conduct is harmful to society.

Sprigg says people should not be afforded special rights for what he considers to be their chosen way of life.

It's one thing to argue that the government should not be recognizing the validity of gays and their relationships or granting them equality - that's offensive as it is - but it is even more offensive to claim that the government should be actively "discouraging" homosexuality and I'd really love to know just what exactly Sprigg has in mind.