ABC News’ “What Would You Do?” series recently set up a hidden camera scenario in a diner near Dallas, Texas, in which an actor pretending to be a homophobic waitress harassed two lesbian moms and their children, and then two gay dads and their children (all also played by actors).
Several patrons, to their credit, spoke up for the couples and told the waitress her behavior was unacceptable.
While this is hardly a scientific study, it gives me hope that attitudes are changing. (Was I the only one, though, who worried about the effect even the pretend scenario might have on the child actors? I hope someone sat them down and really explained what was going on.)
At the same time, videos like this one from the National LGBT Cancer Network—part of a new training program for healthcare professionals—indicates we still have a long way to go. At 1:34 in the video, lesbian mom Rosemary talks of bringing her child to a hospital that refused to let in both her and the girl’s other mother.
I am a straight male. Though I do not believe in same sex marriage, and possibly I never will. I would speak up on behalf of the same sex couples being denied service. I meet plenty of obvious and openly gay people in life. While it’s not My thing, I’m all for letting you be who you want to be. “Live like you wanna live” in the immortal words of Chuck Berry.
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