Chapter 10. It's A Matter Of Understanding On What 'Coming Out' Means To Me
Let's go back to the idea that understanding is the key to resolving contentious issues. One of the best examples for that was gay marriage. Back when I was in college, only about 35% of people supported gay marriage in Western English speaking countries. Today, polls show that the figure is about twice that. It is clear that people can be persuaded to change their minds. The key is understanding. People used to think that gay marriage meant the end of the world, because, you know, family values would somehow be destroyed. The key to winning support was to convince people that this wouldn't be the case. And reality has proven that we were right: life simply went on after gay marriage became legal, and it is now legal in almost every single Western country. The fearmongering people were wrong, and rational reformists were right. 88