This politician, on the other hand, I have nothing but positive feelings for.

I agree that it is baseline... but the bad options are SO wretched and so frequent that giving props for doing the plain ol' right thing is worth it society-wise. Some other person somewhere is going to be thiiiis much better to their kid or to people in general because someone they respect took this stand. He's famous, so potentially a lot of other persons.

It's like when Tommy Gabel became Laura Jane Grace. For a fair number of people that was their first "personal" experience with a gender transition. They didn't have to be particularly malicious to be in the position of having a lot to learn. They're better people for it now. Their reaction the next time they encounter someone trans-gendered is going to be better.

Not at all, Steph, you're right.

Eh, I've been feeling like I've been having the wrong reactions all week, so this just magnifies it.

This politician, on the other hand, I have nothing but positive feelings for.

Holy cow.

Not seeing any wrong in your reaction, Tep.

I agree that it is baseline... but the bad options are SO wretched and so frequent that giving props for doing the plain ol' right thing is worth it society-wise. Some other person somewhere is going to be thiiiis much better to their kid or to people in general because someone they respect took this stand. He's famous, so potentially a lot of other persons.

Yeah, this.

And, frankly, his son is probably his first honest, serious interaction on a regular basis with someone who is gay, where they can't just slip past that fact. As I recall, one of the major reasons for a change in view on social issues is realizing that someone you care about is part of the demographic you've held ignorant beliefs about.

While I still think he's a wrong headed person on many issues, it's a starting point. It's an exceptionally important one. Would it have been better if he'd had a change of heart not motivated by family reasons? Sure, I suppose, and that does happen, but far more rarely than when it's something that suddenly hits home, because there's a reason people say the personal is political.

Less bad is a little good. He could be better, but I wouldn't recommend him be shitty to his son until he's ready to be decent to everyone. Take your incremental gain, but don't give him a GLAAD award.

I have a Hugo Chavez quote: "Try and make your revolution go into combat. Advance a little - even if it's only a millimetre - in the right direction, instead of dreaming about utopias."

And while I think his framing of it is still wrong headed, his editorial on his change of heart and mind on marriage equality is worth reading. [link]

This kind of reminds me of people who lose their faith in God because a loved one dies unexpectedly. People's loved ones die unexpectedly all the time, so it seems weird to me when it only affects people's faith when it happens to them.

Well, that's more of loved one's death -> existential crisis -> loss of faith. That other people's loved ones dying doesn't provoke an existential crisis in someone is not surprising to me.

Some people need to have children who turn out to be black.