Evan Hurst has a very nice piece on the Truth Wins Out blog that I encourage you to go and read. I’ve highlighted one small part here for my comment.
Dittrich also describes the change of heart experienced by Hannie van Leeuwen, mentioned above as one of the fierce opponents of marriage equality:
For some minutes, we tried to pretend nothing was going on. But finally, Van Leeuwen, who had lobbied so hard against the same-sex marriage bill in my own parliament, stood.
“At the time I opposed same-sex marriage, I was led by fear,” she said. “Having seen so many happy gay and lesbian couples getting married, I realize I was wrong. I don’t understand any more what made me treat gays and lesbians differently from other citizens.”
- This is an example of how organized Religion has failed so many. Rather than being a light in the darkness that overcomes Fear, Religion has been the source of the Fear itself. This is counter to the true meaning of Faith and why most gravitate to a Faith experience and practice. No wonder so many are leaving religious communities.
- Those opposed to same-sex marriage work extremely hard to isolate and “other” gays and lesbians so that we are experienced as different. Use a Google Alert, and follow the term “homosexual” and you will see some horrific ways that the haters describe and attempt to define gays and lesbians. From some of this, you would think we are canibals that eat live babies! Perhaps the single most important work of activists and advocates for Full Equality is to counter the lies and misinformation with truth about what real gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans persons are like. The more we are out and proud- the more people see us and our lives as they are, the harder it will be for the general public to see us as different.
- So often a change of heart comes after a period of time. We can not wait for everyone to agree that we deserve Equality before we push for it. We must push forward now, knowing that many who oppose us today, will eventually see the light and have a change of heart.
- The post I quoted was specifically about same-sex marriage, but the same applies to all forms of Equality including non-discrimination protections, anti-bullying, etc.
via Truth Wins Out – Even After Ten Years Of Marriage Equality, Netherlands Still Exists.