Second, I have come across a few different strands of thought within Muslim intellectual circles when it comes to homosexuality in Islam. On the one hand, there are people who deny that there is such a thing as homosexuality, claiming that it is an invention and that those who claim to be are liars. In this sense, homosexuality is an exclusive and major sin.

On the other hand, there are those who declare that it does not matter whether or not homosexuality is natural–this is irrelevant to the actual ‘sin’. If it is natural, they say, then this is simply a greater test by God on the individual. If it is unnatural, then makes this decision freely for themselves. Nevertheless, for the second school of thought, homosexuality in and of itself is NOT a sin. That is how both views are able to be accommodated within this line of thought. The sin itself is not homosexual conduct, but rather the performance of sexual acts outside of marriage. Because marriage only occurs between men and women, then sexual acts between men and other men or women and other women are equal on a level to sexual acts between unmarried men and unmarried women: it is mere adultery. The importance of this interpretation is that there is nothing inherently evil or repulsive about homosexuality; rather, it is the commission of adultery which is a sin.

Personally, I don’t care. I’m not Muslim. But I find this argument intriguing and, for those who are Muslims, worth thinking about.

I may be wrong but didn’t I read in one of the Surahs that the Prophet says that God punished a city or group of people in the past, and one of the characteristics mentioned was a love of men for men, and implying or stating this is wrong?

Being in a state of “sin” as the Christians say, doesn’t mean one is cut off from the Mercy of God. There is a choice, and a responsibility to be honest with ourselves about our faults and our strengths. If we understand this as a character weakness.
I think I understand you to say we shouldn’t condemn another soul, but I would add as result of my previous reading and understanding that, at the same time, The attitude isn’t approval. It is willing to help as much as the other responds. I mean the homosexual has a either a choice or a medical/psyche condition. If we look at it as a lifestyle choice, and they are satisfied with their state. I say we should not condemn, but they can’t expect approval. Respect for the individual soul is different from approval of the person’s choice. I can respect you but I don’t have to agree with you. I can disapprove of any of your actions, or if I think it is a character flaw, I can try to overlook your flaw but that doesn’t mean I pretend the flaw doesn’t exist.

If on the other hand we look at it as a biological/psyche condition, then another set of factors must be included.