I know this is going to ramble, but I've been reading some posts and comments on here and it's just dredged up some thoughts and memories.

I grew up in a small town in the south. Back then, you didn't see gay people (aka "the gays") actually represented in any media (definitely never in children's books), none of your friends had same-sex parents, bisexuals were "deviant" and trans were mostly considered harmless cross-dressers (as long as they weren't gay). LGBTQ+ didn't exist outside of caricatures on shows like Jerry Springer. I'm sure there were plenty of LGBTQ+ all around me, but they stayed pretty well hidden.

Is anyone here old enough to remember Matthew Shepard? If glow had been around back then, his death would have been debated. You'd think there'd be nothing to debate about such a heinous murder, but back then there would have been a good number of people who felt his murder was justified.

Anyway, one of the things I remember about Shepard's death was Westboro Baptist Church. They came to the funeral and put their homophobia on display. They held up signs and shouted slurs. Even Westboro's young children participated in showcasing their hatred. They were an extremist cult, and while there were plenty who agreed with their homophobia, most also found their displays … distasteful.

I think it changed the conversation, a little. Homophobic people that never wanted any rights at all for gay people were saying gay people deserved a respectful funeral. Sure, they were still against gay marriage and most other rights, but it was really the first time I actually knew some homophobic people to start wanting any rights or respect for gay people. And as the decades passed, Westboro faded into the background and it felt like people became a little more accepting.

Then politics seemed to be looking for some divide. Something to get people riled up, and now here we are. We have people that want to go back to when shame and danger kept people in hiding. "Stay hidden!" they are practically screaming. We have people that think LGBTQ+ people simply existing and living life openly is "having an agenda" and "shoving it down our throats." We have people pushing to codify the ideals of Shepard's murderers and Westboro Baptist Church into laws. They want to go back to before … back to how it was when Matthew Shepard died. When killing someone because they were not staying hidden enough was considered defensible. I don't understand why they want it to be like that. It makes me incredibly sad and scared.

I wonder how Westboro Baptist Church picketing funerals would be received today. Would they still be condemned?