Many people use religion as a behavioral framework because that is how they were raised and they need that for their moral compass. I shy away from subjective terms, such as degeneracy. In itself, the word implies there is a single accepted standard, which is not true. I find that word and its definition much more useful (and valid) when discussing harmonics.
I'm more concerned about the behavior people have where they think that other people need to change their own believes, practices, behaviors to accept what they want in their own lives. It's destructive (and not in any way "good). It's forcing someone else's beliefs onto someone else. I mean, it's cool if you (not you but "you") want to live your life that way but to tell everyone else that they have to accept "you" and what you find acceptable in life is just as vile and evil as forcing someone to adopt religious beliefs.
It destroys the sense of community and kinship groups of people have. Some people call it "tribalism" as though it's a bad thing. Regardless, this weakening or destruction of kinship or community destroys the arrows or direction towards a goal of betterment of a local group.
Of course, that's not always the case. There are groups with moralities and codes of ethics which aren't just backwards but are demonstrably straight-up harmful. And I'm not talking about the people who follow those codes but rather the foundation itself.
I myself have redefined degeneracy to something a bit simpler: if it's something where you lose control or base/primal like you might expect an animal to do, then it's degenerate. It's stricter, in a sense, but also more tightly focused on the betterment of the whole and the individual by exploiting the community and "tribal" nature of humanity (since we aren't at a point where we can resolve all those things yet).
I accept people changes either way. Only processes degenerate.
I agree with everything else. No one has the right to force others to mimic their own behavior. People are individuals. As long as the person is not harming another, then go in peace. Community is based on kindred spirits, desires, goals, beliefs. When a person doesn't fit in, they should be allowed to leave or continue on, but with being harassed for being who they are.
I like to think that I am pretty tolerant of most things. I don't cotton to anyone being forward with children, harming another, or to senseless destruction of another's property in tantrum, so those would get stiff punishments were it my duty to pass them out.
No one forces anyone to view human sexuality beyond reproduction as deviant degeneracy. They choose to view it that way because they want to feel something wholesome about their existence.
All in all, it's pretty simple: Some people want a life where what they view as degeneracy is treated as degeneracy. People who want those things don't have to live in that society. They can go form their own country or city or whatever. There's absolutely no reason to stand there and force someone to have something in their society that they view as detrimental.
The perspective of allowing people to do or have whatever they want because "free will" or whatever isn't sacred, it isn't holy, it isn't beyond criticism. It's just as valid to call it "degeneracy" as it is to say that morals based on religion is a farce and it's time for people to recognize that.