I grew up in a time when disparaging epithets invariably were thrown against anyone who was thought to be homosexual, even someone who had such tendencies.
Though I probably went along with the crowd, I don’t recall ever specifically being mean to anyone for reasons other than typical rants that occur among the young — playground arguments or a fuss over some meaningless trinket or toy.
Today, I am comfortable with everyone. Sexual orientation, race and religion — political views I’m still working on — have no effect on how I look at others. I have come to the conclusion that what others do is not for me to judge.
That’s certainly not universal. A graph on the Register’s editorial page Thursday showed gay marriage is accepted by the majority in all regions of the nation other than the Deep South. Therein lies a comparison that may be more telling than we’d like.
Desegregation had its booming start in the United States 150 years ago with Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, but it was hardly more than hope for most people of color until 1954 when Brown v. Topeka Board of Education integrated schools and the Little Rock Nine broke the color barrier in Arkansas. Other monumental events, mostly at the behest of the federal government, occurred about the same time that were preliminary to putting all peoples in the U.S. on truly equal footing.
Has it occurred? In large measure, but far from fully.
Blacks and those of other races and ethnic backgrounds still face barriers; racial profiling is a very real and ongoing concern. It may yet be years before we become completely homogeneous.
So, too, may it be with gays and lesbians.
This summer the Supreme Court will rule whether marriage of two women or two men is the law of the land. If the decision is favorable to the proposal, legality will be established, but I doubt if universal acceptance from a social perspective will follow in more than fits and starts.
The rocky path of desegregation tells us that changing mindset is a difficult task.
Change likely to be generational
