GM,

Personally, I've not had too much worry over homosexuals calling me nasty names.   I could not care less about name calling directed at myself.   (Back in the army I'd ask male soldiers what they'd do if some gay man asked them out and most would say they would probably punch the guy - when they asked me what I'd do, I would usually say, probably be flattered - just never got the big deal about it)

And I do worry about the folks on the fringe out there.  We used to have this white supremist right across the river - Matt Hale - and a few years ago one of his followers, Benjamin Smith, went on a killing spree.  Right now Hale is in the Federal Pen for trying to hire someone to kill a Federal judge. 

He was a pain.  He'd come over and have these "rallies" where the protesters would out-number his followers.  That part was quite comical actually - seeing all of these hateful people outnumbered by this mix of whites, blacks, young, old, male and female. 

As for arresting a scripture reading person - yes, I would not like that at all and hope I never have to.  Being that the town I'm in is the headquarters for Caterpillar, one time a union picketer asked me, "You belong to a union too, don't you?"   He was correct and I hated that part of the work and usually don't have to deal with stuff like that too much.

Want to hear a secret of this job?  When it comes to dealing with people, it all comes down to what I've  come to call the "pain in the ass factor."  We end up disliking people in direct proportion to their "pain in the ass" rating.  It's not about race, economic standing, sex, sexual orientation, but the simple ole "pain in the ass" factor.  If one is a pain in the ass, he or she simply is not liked.  That is all it is.....(though I'm not denying that there are others who just plain dislike for certain reasons)....