Alwayscurious,
I've already made comment on the matter but I've been thinking and praying about this so perhaps I should make some further observation.
You've said:
"...there’s just one thing holding me back."
This could be the Holy Spirit. He will speak into our heart and draw us towards what is God's plan and purpose for our life. To take a wife is a major step in our Christian walk and this, obviously, is where such a relationship would be going if she becomes your girl friend. The things that divide you now will tear you apart in the future if they are not resolved before you marry. There is enough 'baggage' we carry into a marriage that we do not realize we are carrying without taking on the obvious stuff as well.
We all have the world's view in how we think and behave to a greater or lesser degree (as can be seen from the posts in this thread) but we need to have the mind of Christ and learn to do what is His will for us. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The world will tell us that we must love everyone and accept who they are and how they behave. We do love everyone else but that does not mean we must accept how they behave. If that's what all Christians did did then there would be nothing calling us back to repentance when ever we do something that is less than God's perfect plan and purpose for our lives (i.e. another Christian would be unable to speak into our life). There is the tendency, especially in women, to want to defend their family and sometimes this even extends to the point where they will try to rationalize actions that are not acceptable... even in polite society... much less our current one (which is becoming much more liberal in it's views about sexual choices).
About marriage! It is, essentially, a commitment to one another to love and care for each other. Love will not protect a marriage but marriage will protect the love. We should not be going into such a relationship for what we may get in that relationship but for what we can give into that relationship. The person that marries someone because they are gorgeous/hansom or because of how that person makes them feel etc may well, somewhere down the track, find someone else who does a much better job in those departments. In the beginning God commissioned Adam to tend and guard the garden. Eve was create from his side and brought to him as helper. The pattern, therefore, is for a wife to support the work and calling of her husband. Abraham called Sarah his sister (which, technically, she was, a step-sister) but so did Isaac with Rebekah and this is part of the relationship between husband and wife. She is to us a sister and, as such, contributes to the relationship that which she hears from the Lord but... the husband is Priest of the Most High God in that family. When a final decision must be made on a matter he is accountable to God for their actions. So, in my understanding of Christian marriage, this is why Christian wives 'submit' to their husbands... to do otherwise could bring their husband under the judgement of God. To this end it is absolutely essential that they be of one heart and mind. This may mean that a man may need to hear from his sister/wife what God is saying to them and change his understanding of a matter but, if God has put into the man's heart a understanding or direction about that matter, then it is something that wife will have to stand by him in. She must do it whole heartedly and not as a concession. No "I told you so!" even if she proves to be right. She must trust that whatever happens her husband and the Lord have it all in hand. It's a tough gig for a girl but that's where it's at.
I'm getting the impression from biblical accounts that marriage is not the formal wedding ceremony (e.g. Jacob 'went into his wife' and they were therefor married). It seems also, to me, that the seal or completion of a marriage was the birth of a child. God told Adam and Eve to be 'fruitful and multiply' so this is an important part of being married. It is a joining of two to bring forth another who is a part of each of them. God has set this in place but it is only, ever, something that can happen between man and woman. It is unfortunate where some marriages are barren and this aspect of marriage may not be fulfilled but this should be the hope in marriage. This is why I am unconvinced that marriage, in a Christian sense, is valid between anyone other than man and woman. Within worldly values it is merely a contract to provide validity to an inheritance should one or the other die.
I wish I'd met a "wonderful Christian girl who loves the Lord and loves people" when I was in the later years of college. I probably would not have sought advice about the relationship and just rushed into something with her so I am impressed that you thought to come to this forum to get another view on the matter. You should also be talking to those who have charge of the body of Christ, the church ministry and eldership, where you are because this is what it is to be a Christian. It means to be relational with our brethren in Christ. As it was, the girl, in secondary school, I was so afraid of swearing my undying love to that I could never talk to, gave me so much ice when I finally got the chance to, maybe, talk to her at College Christian Fellowship conference that I was frozen in mid-greeting. (I found out later she was in a same sex relationship... so disappointing). Then, 10 years later, I was swept off my feet by another girl into a marriage that last only long enough for her to have a legitimate son. We had no marriage guidance back then and the issues that should have been 'deal breakers', or at least resolved, were never discussed. It is so very, very important to sit down within the one you maybe love and someone wise to work through the things where the two of you will have a falling out. Even when I did meet my "wonderful Christian girl" then went through all the steps to determine if we were really compatible and meant for each other I was still... how can I put it politely?... poorly equipped? at being husband to her.
"She sees no wrong in what they’re doing, which has shaped her views on this, to the point where the many ideas about the mistranslations of the “Clobber” passages are her central point of contention."
If you were to marry her there would need to be a major change in how you relate. You could be absolutely compatible with each other. You could be completely meant for each other. You could be madly in love... totally crazy about each other... even unable to keep your hands off each other but... in the end... you have to have a complete trust in each other... you have to know that whatever happens you will both do what is best for the other to the point that what you would want for yourself you would give to them. This is not to say that what God says or requires of you would be sacrificed for them. God trumps all other things but, after that, the love of your life takes precedence. Will she trust you in what you have to bring in your relationship with God and the the Word of Life that He has place in your life? If she cannot... if she will not... then you have to consider "What are you doing pursuing a love that cannot make that commitment to you"?
The bible is not silent about relationship between people of the same sex but people will tend to ignore or attempt to change what is written in the book to suit their own desires. Studies in Greek and Hebrew could go into great depths on the subject but people will choose not to hear.
"...Now, I believe that being gay is not a sin, but engaging in sexual conduct is. However, I’m respectful and understanding of those who are part of the gay community."
I'm not certain but in making this sort of statement it may indicate that you may even have a touch of the world's teachings of the subject... to a degree. Perhaps I also have some... how can we know... except the Word of God, and our brethren, reveals it to us. It is so difficult to get away from operating out of the mental channel produced by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Even writing this could be attributed to that source.
Sorry this is such a long treatise. It's just that this is such an important matter I hope to provide maybe just a little more clarity. To address the issues completely would take a whole book... and this place is not really adequate for that.
