TopoGigo: The actual op-ed was amazing. TFA's hack job, not so much. Follow the link.

This.  The original op-ed was an amazing, well-written account of a true LGBT ally in 1992 (not 1990, like TFA states).  I never would of suspected a hack could twist it into a negative.  The article is directly misleading with its bullshiat "By the end of his piece, Booker softened both his tone and view on LGBT people." line.  Booker was already an ally in 1992; he was talking about the past and using it as a moral lesson.  TFA is a complete hit piece.

His honesty is refreshing.  He seems like he had a more progressive attitude in 1990 than most Republicans have today, 20 years later.

I think most men his age went through an arc of prejudice/bigotry on sexuality over the course of their lives.  I was bigoted in my thoughts in 1985 when I was 15.  I didn't start becoming less of an asshole until I was in my 20's.  I feel like I finally became mostly open-minded and accepting of homosexuality by the mid 1990s.  I blame my upbringing/peers to a large extent.  My kids will won't have those issues at any point in their lives hopefully.  The idea of thinking any less of anyone today based on their sexual preference would just make me ill today and seems pointless.  Even when I was dealing with my own attitudes, I have always been against institutional bigotry as I suspect/hope Booker is.

chimp_ninja: Utter Genius: Remember kids, gay-bashing is wrong unless it's a Republican.

You're responding to a guy who wrote an op-ed in a college newspaper in 1990 about letting go of his disgust for gay people and learning to embrace them. He made a public apology to the gay community at a time when virtually no one would have faulted him for being openly homophobic.

Editorial is here.
"It was chilling to find that so much of the testimony he shared with me was almost identical to stories my grandparents told me about growing up Black. People found it revolting to share a meal with them and often felt it to be their duty to beat them so that they would learn proper living. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that the root of my hatred did not lie with gays but with myself. It was my problem. A problem I dealt with by ceasing to tolerate gays and instead seeking to embrace them. In these efforts I have found another community with which I feel akin and from which I draw strength. The gay people with whom I am close are some of the strongest, most passionate and caring people I know and their demands for justice are no less imperative than those of any other community."

I can say I never had a problem with gays on an emotional level, so I never had a "come to Jesus" moment that went from hating to accepting.

But with regard to understanding their struggle for equality and civil rights, I can say I came to the same conclusion through the same logic.

I think its probably genuine.

Fizpez: Calling the guy a liar or someone just being political serves little purpose - if anything unconditional support should be offered if only to say to the next group of people "Hey, it's ok to pull your head out of your ass at some point and change the way you think....

I have more respect for a bigoted person working on their attitude than a slightly bigoted person who is comfortable with their attitude and isn't trying to be more open minded.  Worst of all is people who act out on their ignorance/fear and wish to impose it on others through social policy.

Objectively speaking, what gay people do together sexually is disgusting.  What straight people do together is also disgusting.  It is only that one or the other floats your boat, is what makes it acceptable to you.

BillCo: Woohoo, a totally trolling headline with a completely unrelated slam against Republicans.  This is why I pay my $5 a month.

It sure it neat to part of the cool kids club.

Feel good how your money is being spent?

preybyemail: Its tolerance vs. Acceptance.

I think its a pretty realistic idea that gays are or will be tolerated in society. Treated fairly and represented by the law.

Acceptance, well, ill use myself as an example. I cant eat poop. My body is wired so that if i smell it, or see it, i get this clinch of repulsion right in my belly. Its physically repulsive to me.

Some people are wired different. They eat it. Paint in it. Roll around in it. Its their thing. Do it love it whatever, just dont let me in on it.

I can tolerate something that disgusts me. I can be nice and you can live your life how you see fit. Have fun.

You cant make me think its cool, normal or ok. I will never accept it as being part of the natural order. This goes for chicks or dudes. Same sex sex is repulsive to me and many others.

whether you accept it or not has no bearing on it actually being part of the natural order

preybyemail: mrshowrules: preybyemail: Its tolerance vs. Acceptance.

I think its a pretty realistic idea that gays are or will be tolerated in society. Treated fairly and represented by the law.

Acceptance, well, ill use myself as an example. I cant eat poop. My body is wired so that if i smell it, or see it, i get this clinch of repulsion right in my belly. Its physically repulsive to me.

Some people are wired different. They eat it. Paint in it. Roll around in it. Its their thing. Do it love it whatever, just dont let me in on it.

I can tolerate something that disgusts me. I can be nice and you can live your life how you see fit. Have fun.

You cant make me think its cool, normal or ok. I will never accept it as being part of the natural order. This goes for chicks or dudes. Same sex sex is repulsive to me and many others.

whether you accept it or not has no bearing on it actually being part of the natural order

No, it doesnt.

You accepting it does not either.

True but in this case homosexuality in nonetheless part of the natural order of things.   I might find short red headed people creepy (I don't) but even if I did, I wouldn't be dumb enough to honestly believe they weren't a natural or part of the natural order of things.

I think you are confusing what is natural versus what you wish was natural.  Or, it is an aspect of nature you find disgusting based on either religious/cultural influence, your upbringing, your personality or a combination thereof but that does not make it unnatural.

I can't imagine having that opinion.
I've never hated them or wanted them banned from marriage/etc despite growing up in the bible belt.
I had good parents, I suppose.

I still don't fully trust people who "converted". The distrust will always be there.