Special Rights for Gay & Lesbians?

Its topical, and on the emerging forefront of almost every kind of gay and political literature today. But is it so important?

For while now, the issue of Gay rights has been banded around and milled over so many times, in some cases quite tentatively, and in some cases quite obstinately. Most of the Gay people I've spoken to do not want special rights, nor do they want special treatment. They just want to be treated like everyone else. IN that sense, everyone has their own set of quirks, why should sexuality be any different? As a gay man myself, i find the idea of Gay rights a relevant, but somehow distorted ideal. To say that Gays must have special rights, means that they must be treated differently to everyone else, and in that sense, hide behind protective systems, that may not be necessary. As gays, as men and women, as members of society, i think that everyone has rights, whether they're Gay, Straight, Bisexual, Transsexual, Martian etc. No specific group should have greater rights or the like more than anyone else. Isn't that what we're all trying to achieve? In my view, it's not exclusive rights we need, but tolerance. The same should be for everybody, don't you think?