There are many "proof" texts that people (including JWs) use to justify their rejection of anyone that is gay. There are a few scriptures that you can pull up and try to make a case for show homosexuals why they are evil and wrong.
I've been researching more of these scriptures and I'm coming to some very different conclusions than many other Christians hold, especially JWs. I wanted to talk about the first text used by many people to condemn homosexual behaviour. BTW, as far as I've seen the condemnation that comes from people never stops at condemning the behaviour. It seems to always flow over and become a condemnation of the individual as well.
Look at Genesis 19. This is the account where God sent His angels to Sodom. Lot welcomed them into his home and was very hospitable to them. They went to Lots house and at evening time, before they went to bed, men of the city surrounded the house, asking for Lot to bring the men out.
Here is where the text is at issue. In verse 5, some translations say the following: "They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." Interestingly enough, this is not an appropriate translation of this verse. The word that was translated as "to have sex with them" is the Hebrew word "Yada" which literally means "to know someone". It is mentioned some 943 times in the Bible, and in only about 12 cases does it refer to sexual activity.
A more correct translation can be seen in the English Standard Version which translates this: And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”
It is unclear what their intent was. They MAY have wanted to rape the strangers. But they also could have wanted to physically harm them. Or they may have wanted to verbally interrogate them to see where they came from. It is not specified in this scripture. The point is, you cannot take this verse and say that it shows that homosexuality is wrong in and of itself.
So what is the "sin" of Sodom as spoken of in Isaiah 3:9? Interestingly enough, Jesus himself talks about this at Matthew 10:14,15. When instructing his disciples on how to preach he says that if someone is inhospitable to you, you are to shake off your feet and leave. He compares this inhospitality to Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 15. The parallel account in Luke 10:7-16 even goes further in comparing Sodom to those who are inhospitable.
So why was Sodom destroyed? Was it because of their sexual activity? Nowhere in the Bible is this found. In fact Ezekial 16:48-50 says that Sodom was destroyed because of their pride, their excess of food while the poor and needy suffered, and worshiped many idols; sexual activity is not even mentioned.
So in conclusion, to use Genesis 19 to condemn all people that are gay is to twist the scripture and perform isegesis on it.