I haven't gone through the op's post history, but if he has indeed shown himself to be a racist and homophobic, I agree that that's not OK.

I guess I didn't take offense to the term because I figured that the OP was trying to communicate in a general sense to a large mass of people (on reddit) and the people on reddit come from all over the place -- who really knows where everyone is coming from on reddit -- so maybe he was trying to use a very general term to cover who knows, a myriad of things. I truly didn't know that the term was considered insulting, probably because I don't think about it on a daily basis because I'm not gay, don't know many gay people who are upset by the term (at least not that I know of), and honestly I'm just not really used to hearing the term. I just do my life and pay attention to what applies to me, mostly, which is kinda how most people are; in NO WAY does that mean that I am trying to diminish the importance of what a gay man or woman might think of, or feel about, the term "alternate lifestyle". It just means that I haven't yet been exposed to hearing it or using it in the same context that many others have. My life is a bit different; I'm older, I'm hetero, I don't socialize much anymore and my contact with people is limited to my parent(s) who need care and my partner, and the people I work with.
"Alternative lifestyle" is not a term that I throw around, use, or even think about, and not because I'm filled with hate or intolerance or indifference or willful ignorance. I guess I was shocked to see that if I even replied to someone who used the term "alternate lifestyle", and I knew what he meant, then I was somehow some sort of monster to a lot of people on Reddit. and THAT is what I just don't understand, most of the time -- how I could be the target of such misunderstanding, such anger, and then dismissed as if I were an ignorant, uncaring, mean, unimportant person. I just don't think THAT is ok. You didn't treat me that way, vetter81, and I thank you.