Today a Huffington Blogger had an amazing piece on learning what the real quest of Equality was between the two groups and I think it's great piece about thinking and learning to be tolerant of our differences so success will be available to all.

According to Huffington Post, "Perhaps people find it easier not to support the gay rights movement, to tell themselves that these individuals are somehow less deserving of equality under the law, because gay and lesbian individuals make up a relatively small sector of society, one which, in many communities across the nation, one hardly encounters at all, certainly not with any personal face attached to it. "

So, why is one group superior to the other? Don't we want the same things, equality, justice, accountablity, acceptance, so why must we put one group down to benefit another? What does this accomplish? How about Hate, Resentment, Fear, Pain?

But think of it for a moment in comparison to a movement that, as a straight woman, I have plenty of personal experience with and which it closely mirrors, a movement which affected more than half of the people in the United States, and indeed, in the world: the women's movement. Before the current battle over the evolution of marriage, a different war for marital and personal freedoms was fought in this country, by and for women who were hoping to find something more than just marriage, as well as more rights within that union.

Wow, right?

The gay-rights movement has gained ground, too; that same generation of young people who are daring to dream for more are overwhelmingly in favor of equal rights in all things, including marriage, for gay men and women.

So, why do we make a difference in the two? Why do individuals have to suffer based on preference? What have we learned in the past couple of years about oppression and discrimination? What does it solve?

My thoughts...

After reading this piece, I thought a lot about both movements and how each have made an impact in society. Sometimes peoples lives where at stake, others lost their lives in the individuals struggles, but what is evident to me is people still try for "equality". It seems far-fetched, especially when you are the one in the fight, but it's never that far away. I feel like dreaming, hoping, and praying for a day when everyone will have individual rights and not have to apologize for them, is going to be the day when the face of America and it's people are changed to the world. Shouldn't we be an example to other countries, or should we say what we want "equality", but still deny that to people based on personal preference?

Being a Christian, I've always struggled with the acceptance of "being different", but why would you want to conform, when you can make a difference and stand-out? I am a straight-african-american-female, who am I to tell someone else, that because they look different, believe different, want different, that they are somehow inferior to me? I can't. But I can allow people to be themselves, make mistakes, and grow personally on their own, that's something I can support.

So, I support "being different" and finding your own way in the world. What the Women's movement has taught me is that "equality" may seem far-fetched, but it's something we work towards everyday, and one day, maybe not today, it will attainable to all, until then, I'm going to set the standard and practice it everyday.

This isn't a problem being fought in distant courtrooms and the halls of justice for a group of unknown people, this is a fight being fought just down the street, in your local public high school, by your friends, neighbors, and family members. We have to stop thinking about gay and lesbian individuals as a group of "others" and start seeing them as they are - people just like us, living the same sorts of lives as we are, with the same hopes and dreams for themselves.

If the struggles of the women's movement have taught us anything, it's that there's no limit on what an individual can do when given a real chance. But until we give them those chances, tell them they're deserving, allow them to be equal, we'll never know just how much we're missing.

To read the entire article, click here.