Mary
None of us powered pilots are trying to spoil your fun. I for one am for more freedom of the skies for all of us not less.
Having experienced a very near miss with a glider in cloud while descending in a twin maybe i am not quite as confident with the big sky theory as most!
Are gliders a collision threat? Of course they are! Are they a bigger collision threat than a powered aircraft IMO yes! Why?
Firstly most gliders are composites and tend to be white making them very hard to see especially as the majority of their operations are just under the cloud bases.
The second reason is that they stay in one place circling for lift compared to a powered aircraft which travels in a straight line.
Thirdly they are pack animals rather than the lone wolf powered aircraft!
They do not have transponders and while in cloud cannot fly IFR as they cannot fly level for more than short times.
Like with anything all is fine until it is not and that goes for the rest of us! A collision with a commercial airline operating OCAS would create a dramatic change in regulations overnight and that is something we all need to be aware of powered or gliders.