Gay rights. Women's rights. Minority rights. There are people alive today who went to segregated schools and, if they had a vagina, couldn't open a checking account.

These things are being actively scrubbed from history by people who desperately want to go back to those "good old days". Sadly, it is working much better than it should.

A lot of younger people don't realize how far we've come on gay rights in a very short period.

A while ago I heard recordings of white house press conferences from the Reagan administration when a reporter started asking about AIDS for the first time.

I was just a kid during the Reagan administration, and not the kind of kid that listened to white house press conferences, so I had no recollection of this.

It was shocking to me how casually they joked and laughed about gay people dying and how they made fun of the reporter for asking the question. It was also shocking that it wasn't just Reagan's press secretary but also the other reporters joining in and laughing.

I found a link to it for another post recently:

When Aids Was Funny

Isn't it obvious? Something that nobody will deny in a couple decades, for which future generations will curse us?

I'm in my early 30's and I remember the opposition to gay marriage when I was a kid in the 2000's, it was strong and very visible. This was in a Southern California beach town, not exactly a bastion of conservatism. Hell, Obama was opposed to gay marriage when he first ran for president. Things changed very quickly as we entered the 2010's.

those aren't encouraging numbers tbh.

half of the population hating you is a big deal. half of a state hating you, even montana, is a big deal.

a lot of that approval may have to do with cancel culture as well. people may be hesitant to share their real viewpoints even in supposedly safe environments.

if you're a man, go out in public wearing pink sneakers and tell me you don't feel the gaze of other humans.

To be honest though, I feel like queer people that grew up in that period and before were robbed. It sucks and I don't really know where to place the anger properly. Definitely not on a musician though, personally.

My family, the people I grew up around, yes, but not a musician really, especially when half the time they were probably just looking for an easy rhyme, as compared to someone a foot away from my face saying they wanted to drag me behind a truck. Or saying how wrong it is to be with a guy. I'm not big on ICP but have listened to a few of their songs and if I'm being real I didn't even notice them saying it. But the other stuff... I don't think I'll ever heal from.

Good shit, you get the game. It's all about numbers good bad or ugly. Hate for the idea and the actions, a way out for those looking to change and join the ranks of the opposition.

There's a story of a rude and hateful boy. He would spend his days hurting others. One day the father said every time you spite someone you will put a nail in our fence. Day after day nails were hammered into the fence. One day on returning home the boy noticed the fence with countless ugly rusting nails sticking out of it and decided then and there to change. Day after day the boy became kind, helpful, and friendly to everyone. The father said to him each day that goes by take a nail out of the fence. Finally one day the boy was removing the last nail. The father said you can work to better yourself and amend wrongdoings but the damage will always be there, be remembered, forgiven but not forgotten. So to my son don't ever fear working to undo the wrongs you have done but know to mind your actions as they will leave a lasting mark on the world and people around you.

People want to hate and they need anything not in agreement with them to be a totem of pure evil. Actually entertaining reality and humanity as it is is beyond them or not their prerogative. Ultimately drama, war, conflict, hatred and the like are fun or at least entertaining. If it was boring no person would bother with it.

It could be a lot better and there's some backsliding but it is indeed better than other places. Where I live most of the year homosexuality is illegal and people are regularly killed for it with zero recourse. Similarly any statements against the government are met with a similar outcome. Even before the last protest could organize people were killed in their homes. Now as for the US in some ways it's a lot better than its ever been and in others it's worse. It's usually like that anywhere. I wish reality was as simplistic as your comment is hinting at. I will say everywhere I've been on this earth there are good, kind, compassionate, and loving people doing their part to make the world a better place.

I don't spend much time in my life thinking about such people to begin with but I also wouldn't shy anyone away from their attempts to change into better people. There's a lot more he could do and I hope that he does.

Acknowledging someone's humility and accepting their remorse does not mean we have to condone who they were, nor do we have to like who they are now. Wisdom is not measured by how early someone learns a lesson, but by their willingness to learn it when the lesson finally arrives. Be careful dismissing another's growth; none of us can know which of our current beliefs or biases we may one day regret.

People are messed up, man. I've still had someone flat out say "that's a gay name" to my face. About my name. Without knowing anything else about me. Weird, man. Like, I'd even accept somebody saying it out of anger in traffic as being easy to brush off. But some people, man.