My friend Shelly Goldstein, oft-mentioned on this blog, writes a monthly column for a Gay Rights website arguing for more tolerance and also some of those "equality" things like marriage. When I mentioned her gig to someone once, he furrowed his brow and said, "She's not gay, is she?" No, she's not and it's sad that there are some people out there who can't seem to grasp the concept of taking a stand on behalf of others, as opposed to your own immediate self-interest.
Here's her latest, which is about a great teacher she had…a man she later learned was gay. I think I had one of those, too. I mean, I never found out for sure but years later when I'd met more gay folks and had several instances of learning that someone it didn't occur to me was gay was gay, I realized that particular teacher probably was, too. And of course it doesn't really matter except to make the point that it doesn't really matter.
I should probably link to all of Shelly's column but if I wrote about everything she does, there'd be no room on this blog for me or pictures of Laurel and Hardy or postings about tomato soup. But if you read her new essay, you may want to look up some or all of the earlier ones.