There's no difference between taking your one 42(c) shot *because a judge is gay* and filing a fruitless motion to disqualify for cause *because a judge is gay*. Maybe you don't make yourself look like a fool on a 42(c), and the reason behind it may be opaque to the court, but it's obviously not opaque to the lawyer or the client.  Using that reason to pre-empt a judge is bigotry. It was then and it is now. It's also pretty monumentally stupid to pre-empt a judge to cater to your own/your client's irrational prejudices and risk winding up with a much worse judge for another reason. As you should know. 

 Do you let your clients screen out Jewish, black, and female judges too? How about the ones who are just monumentally uninterested or untrained in the type of case you're filing?