Those events are central to the straight community. Nobody even knows about them. Folsom and gay pride are the biggest gay events there are, and everyone knows about them. All the gay publications talk about them. Yet none denounce.

Not a good comparison.

By the way, i said that in a different thread

But my primary point is that when people are considering ‘coming out’,
they always are leary of how those around them are going to react.

These ‘coming out’ revelations to friends and family are often shocking, not due to the issue of homosexuality but rather that friends and family often feel ‘left out’, some even betrayed with the ‘news’. Coming out is a long hard process. and for some folk acceptance of homosexuality isn’t the true issue, it is more likely the issue of trust.

And with gay marriage, many folk are uncertain with the idea. Uncertainity breeds confusion, denial, defiance and even higher emotions of anger and distrust.

As the walls of the institutional bias created by heterosexism and internalized homophobia continue to crumble and more and more folk become ‘acguainted with gay folk’ life will become easier.

As far as American Elephant’s comment about the LGBT community denouncing events like Folsom, and even audacious Pride events, please remember that there are lots of non-family events out there in the hetero community that don’t really line up in the ‘family events’ sections of community papers and aren’t denounced by the greater community. People just don’t go. Think about those crazy music concerts.

Most of my most conservative, religious friends hug me with great enthusiasm, because they are hugging me, and not the gay community.
But these same folk have a different idea of the gay community because of me, my partner and the friends that I have. I am an out gay man, but not because of the rainbow flag or the HRC equality sticker. I live my life with pride and honor, not in the shadows of a closet.

(William Shatner) also attacked (George) Takei’s decision to come out of the closet later in life, saying “Who cares? Be gay. Don’t be gay. That’s up to you, George.”

How exactly is that statement an “attack?” I don’t get it.

Marriage is the bedrock of our civilization. We no longer live on the land, and we tend to become unmoored from our families. Marriage has therefore become less about property and more about friendship between two people.

Children are, however, at the centre of marriage still, and represent one generation’s stake in the succeeding generation. This is why I am coming to the conclusion that marriage should INCLUDE the presence of children (either adopted, as in the case of Roger L Simon’s son and partner), or as a pregnancy (as in the Todd and Sarah Palin marriage).

The stability and health you talk of is because of the taking on of the responsibility of children.

Maybe if you did a Vlog from Parliament House…..