Musings on a sensitive issue

My internet's been dodgy of late so I've not posted for a while. Life has been somewhat bizarre and I'm concerned that my depression's returning, but hopefully once I get back into the swing of uni life my mood will improve. In the next few weeks I have to decide the topic of my dissertation, find a member of staff in the relevent field, decide whether I want to work abroad next academic year and if I want to, where I want to go. I also have at least one rather large piece of coursework, my sister's hen party and wedding, and a sea of reading to wade through, so there's certainly plenty to keep me busy.

One of my housemate's friends went with them to church yesterday. He's a sweet guy who seems to be really searching for truth of some kind, but is quite scared of Christian society, as he's gay and believes that he'll be harshly judged. In my old church (the one in question) at least, I know that this would be the case. I don't know how he'd 'officially' be treated but I'm all too well aquainted with the stances of my friends who attend, who are mostly very well meaning, but one of which claims to be homophobic in the same light-hearted way that others might relate a minor personality flaw, and another of which has scoffed at the idea that God loves homosexuals.

I personally believe that homosexuality is probably not part of God's 'ideal' (as it were) plan for us, and is perhaps a product of the broken world in which we live, but don't believe I can make a strong stance on the morality of something that I (and I know this can be debated either way) do not feel that the Bible gives definite teaching on, and which must be incredibly hard to deal with in such an un-accepting society, the complexities of which I could not feel unless I were in that position myself.

I would not feel in a position to condemn a homosexual person or the lifestyle choices that they had made, but instead to extend love, and to try to as a Christian be if anything a more accepting part of society. To this end I viewed the introduction of civil partnerships in Britain as a positive step, as I believe that the law is in place to protect the poulation, and that homosexual couples should be entitled to the same legal and financial protection as heterosexual couples, with their wish to maintain a long-term relationship supported not hindered. It's a tricky and a contentious area, but too often I feel that I'm wanting to 'protect' homosexual friends from the church, as opposed to encouraging them to join with us, and to me that is desperately sad.