Trembling

There's a thread on protocols about a former YU student who's in the Trembling Before G-d DVD. And a comments section that is pretty offensive. I don't usually post--in fact next to never--but I did feel obliged this time. I don't usually rip comments off other sites, but I thought this was a great topic, done a disservice through the other comments posted there.

My comments are below for those of you that don't want to deal with going through the others.

Aside for the horrible language here-- [and by horrible, I mean stomach-churning, offensive, and not-just-because-I-had-yet-to-read-those-terms-being-used-in-ANY-conversation (and yes, in spite of not watching MTV, I do know what they mean, simply by being a semi-cognitive human being)]--There are some points that have to be made:

1) Many people, orthodox and non-orthodox, are tremendously homophobic--we should realize that we can't judge people ourselves--true the Torah says that it's a to'evah, and I'm not one to argue with that. But, your job is not to pass G-dly judgement on people. yours is to be able to relate to them as human, and treat them as such. Not to treat them as garbage or worse because they have done something that is against the Torah. You would never dream of treating someone who was not Shomer Shabbat, or who was (even) Over Lashon Hara, like that, and you are not G-d to say which is worse. We don't know. And it's not our job to judge.

2) True, there is an issue with people wearing their gay-ness with pride. Separate issue. But perhaps if they wouldn't be hounded by the 'mainstream' they wouldn't feel the need to react in *any* manner. There would never have been any need for gay pride parades, (and yes, there definitely used to be a need, and not just to check out the shoes), there never would have been a need to make Trembling Before G-d, and perhaps, this guy wouldn't have felt the need to switch out of YU.

"Dude" had a response later on that I thought was worth posting here too, and pointed out something that I hadn't taken into consideration...
"There is a significant difference between someone who succumbs to Tayvo but recognizes the problem and someone who publicizes his sins, advocates 'tolerance' of the sins (as opposed to the people), or even a change in Halacha (See Chofetz Chayim Klal Daled). This is the real problem with this whole movement. Most Orthodox 'Homophobia' has less to do with a lack of ability to tolerate a person with a Tayvo, but rather with a wholesome disgust at a movement which tries to publicly mainstream what the Torah calls 'Toeyvah'. Not everyone in the movement is trying to do that, but so many are that it minimizes the ability of the moderates to take a moderate stand on the matter.

As someone who is good friends with an Orthodox gay person, I recognize that he has a Tayvo and I dont know how well he does at controlling it, but the moment he advocates altering Torah or flagrantly publicizes his intent to ignore the halacha (mumar) is when our relationship ends. (See Chofetz Chayim Clal Daled for a halachic basis for 'intolerance') "

Any opinions out there?