PeterPanfan wrote:Ugh, must we really continue this?
If you don't reply, it won't go anywhere.
PeterPanfan wrote:I never said that society was completely open, or even open for that matter. I said they were STARTING to BECOME more open.
We all understand what you're trying to say. And you want to know something? I think society started becoming more open to homosexuality when they declared it wasn't a mental illness and Gay-Liberation was starting to get media attention...Over
3 Decades Ago.
No offense, but you're getting your idea of "starting to become more open" from TV and movies. Fictional programs. Where almost all the people playing gay characters are straight and everyone knows it's a performance. And for which, they've been playing gay characters for decades. George Carlin, Rene Auberjonois, Al Pacino, etc (if I think of more, you KNOW I'll post 'em later). Heck, look at The Birdcage. Released 10 years before Brokeback Mountain got a theatrical release. Think anything changed in that 10 year period? If anything, things got worse! The film was attacked and battered all over the place in the media by conservative homophobes. Rush Limbaugh called it "Bareback Mountain." And not as a joke. As an angry, nasty, hateful slur.
For a more accurate barometer of what's going on, look at the gay celebrities. Like Clay Aiken, who refused to come out of the closet more than 5 years after he became a household name. Or Dan Pintauro who was forced out of the closet by a tabloid. Same with Chad Allen. Or T. R. Knight, which caused a tidal wave of problems for the show's cast. And let's not forget the trainwreck that is Rosie O'Donnell. Do you honestly think she gets as many death threats as I'm sure she still gets just becasue she's a liberal? Nope. It's because she's a lesbian with a partner with children. How many places do you think they can go out in public safely in America? Not many. You have my guarantee on that.
But with any hope, things might get better. But don't hold your breath.