The family was under siege and needed defending, they shouted. Perverse sexual practice would become rampant, they screamed. They betrayed a moral and mortal fear. Similar legislation in other provinces had been emotionally fought over, and when implemented, those provinces had not suffered measurable dire consequences. Irrational fear builds barriers to acceptance of people who are different from us and thus blocks agape love.
Irrational fear is also harmful because it leads to violence.
We deny its existence with major effort and it grows. Sexual behaviour is highly controlled by fear of censure, disgrace and shame. Many of us are taught to fear Eros, with the result that we shun and vilify any group of people who wantonly embrace their erotic nature. People who play sexually are suspect and censured or oppressed. Because some heterosexually oriented people are erotophobic, they project their shame and fear on those people who challenge or defy their values and dare to consider sexual behaviours as a form of play - recreative, rather than procreative.