As a gay man who is 60 years old, years ago I had to accept that depending on one’s particular culture there was a learning curve regarding gay rights. Although my parents were loving, it took them years to fully accept that I was gay. For many years, they didn’t even want to meet my partner. I knew many people who had difficulty with me being gay, but I realized they grew up in various cultures that believed without much thought gays were mentally ill and could be cured. It took them time to learn. I had to help them learn, and be patient. Many of us did. And I give all the credit in the world to those who changed their thinking.
We are a multicultural society, and so should accept that each of us is born into a specific culture, regardless of our gender, race, religion, and so on. We are sometimes victims of that culture, but hopefully we learn. A white person born into a rural southern community might very well start out as racist and homophobic, but if they learn, we should acknowledge that. If they learn at a young age, great. If they learns at an older age, that’s still great. An American Muslim born into a home that believes in Sharia law may disown a child who “dishonored” the family, but if that Muslim learns to open their heart and become accepting, they deserve all the credit in the world. Many people even in the LGBTQ community still have difficulty with bisexuals and asexuals, but if they learn to fully embrace those orientations, we should welcome that. As we make our country more accepting and tolerant, we have to find ways to welcome people who are open to change, to welcoming them as equals.
I can think of several situations that progressives might have a kneejerk reaction to judge, such as people who are nudists, gamers, furries, and so on. It’s easy for many people, even progressives, to mock or criticize these subcultures. Soon, people will augment their intelligence and their bodies with technology, and many people will judge those who do. If we don’t find ways to include those who learn to accept that which they formerly rejected, then we are all vulnerable to being haunted when the beliefs we hold today are made obsolete by new ways of thinking in the future.
This difficulty welcoming people who learn has already cost us good people like Al Franken. I think we ought to learn to embrace those who are open to change. Governor Northram has apologized. We need to consider if that apology is sincere. If it is, then we should welcome him. If we don’t, then we are telling bigots that there is no value in reforming, which quite frankly will reduce our ability to effect change.