The American people have come a long way in the last few years in accepting people whose sexual feelings do not follow a binary division into male-attracted-to-female and female-attracted-to-male.
It took decades to go through the chaotic process of changing attitudes and feelings and laws. We're not 100% yet, but we have very definitely shifted in what most people accept, including a majority who now approve of same-sex marriage.
This is the result of turning the chaos into teaching moments. I don't mean the preaching kind of teaching. I mean the kind that occurs naturally when ideas are challenged, prejudices are exposed, and -- most important -- feelings are changed when someone you know reveals that they are one of those "others." How can you continue to say derogatory things when they now apply to a beloved son or daughter, or grandchild, or dear friend, or respected co-worker? Or a character you like on television?
The chaos is now focused on irrational fear concerning transgender rights -- playing out in loud and often ugly terms, made worse because it's a handy hot issue that politicians are exploiting shamelessly to troll for votes.
But the silver lining in this, I believe, is that we're going to come out of this period with more people understanding what it means to be trans, with more empathy for those who are, and with more protections and saner laws. We've still got some ugly times to get through, especially during this election year, but it's going to be all right. Just keep thinking how far we've come in making it *NoBigDeal* to be gay. Some day, we'll be able to say ". . . to be gay or trans."
Ralph
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