I don't know that this is really meaningful* or surprising - inevitable is more likely - but Robert Gates today came out in support of ending the ban on gay scout leaders. I think this is more an indication of where we are in society, and how far we have come in terms of accepting LGBT individuals.
I'm wondering, for those of you who went through a transition on gays and/or gay marriage, how did it happen? I'm guessing most of us here at least tacitly accepted the idea that homosexuals were somehow deficient when we were younger.
For me, it was finding out one of my best friends was gay. It was hard for a while, as I had been taught repeatedly how wrong it was in church as a youngster. But I sat down and contemplated the issue, and asked myself two questions. First, does this change anything about our long relationship (I had known him for almost 10 years)? Second, did I choose to be straight? I decided it didn't change anything, and since being straight was simply who I was, and not a conscious choice, I had to accept that being gay was simply who he was.
The shift was immediate and dramatic for me. I'd never been an anti-gay activist, mind you, but I'd said horrible things about gays (and, unknowingly, to them!), and I'd simply accepted it as a truth that they were somehow wrong to be who they were. This despite the fact that my parents were very clear to me that I shouldn't hate people who were different. Different religions, different races, etc., it would never have occurred to me to think down on anyone for those reasons. But for sexuality, it was so easy to simply categorized them as different - and therefore lesser - in my head.
* It's obviously meaningful to openly gay men who wish to be scout leaders.
I'm wondering, for those of you who went through a transition on gays and/or gay marriage, how did it happen? I'm guessing most of us here at least tacitly accepted the idea that homosexuals were somehow deficient when we were younger.
For me, it was finding out one of my best friends was gay. It was hard for a while, as I had been taught repeatedly how wrong it was in church as a youngster. But I sat down and contemplated the issue, and asked myself two questions. First, does this change anything about our long relationship (I had known him for almost 10 years)? Second, did I choose to be straight? I decided it didn't change anything, and since being straight was simply who I was, and not a conscious choice, I had to accept that being gay was simply who he was.
The shift was immediate and dramatic for me. I'd never been an anti-gay activist, mind you, but I'd said horrible things about gays (and, unknowingly, to them!), and I'd simply accepted it as a truth that they were somehow wrong to be who they were. This despite the fact that my parents were very clear to me that I shouldn't hate people who were different. Different religions, different races, etc., it would never have occurred to me to think down on anyone for those reasons. But for sexuality, it was so easy to simply categorized them as different - and therefore lesser - in my head.
* It's obviously meaningful to openly gay men who wish to be scout leaders.
