Straight dad, gay advocate

[Sapphocrat]

As a student at William and Mary College, Aaron Toleos made gay men and lesbians the butt of jokes or the subject of witty, caustic songs - that is, when he actually considered them at all. Some 15 years later, Toleos says his journey from "clueless frat boy" to "pro-gay family man" is complete.

As the co-director of KnowThyNeighbor.org, a Web site that publicises the names and addresses of supporters of same-sex marriage bans in US states Massachusetts and Florida, Toleos not only has a vehicle for fighting marriage equality foes, but also a platform to speak out for gay rights.

. . .

Though the overall political impact of KnowThyNeighbor.org is still unclear, Toleos believes the site is already succeeding through peer pressure.

"When your next-door neighbor comes over and says, 'Did you know you signed a petition that will hurt me?' it's a shocking and uncomfortable moment and it brings the issue home," Toleos said. "It's transformative when you're called to account for sponsoring legislation that would take rights away from real people."

. . .

More:
http://uk.gay.com/headlines/10044

[Midlodemocrat]

1. See, to me, his behavior in college could be construed as

'youthful indiscretions'. I am glad he turned his life around. I only wish that clueless asshat in the WH whose 'youthful indiscretions' lasted well into middle age was as educatable (is that even a word?)

[Warpy]

2. Some folks do get older AND wiser, but it seems they

often need our help to make the transformation. I'm not surprised at this story. I know people who underwent overnight transformations from thoughtless bigots to people who became aware of what that meant because a neighbor, a friend, a coworker, or a relative came out and said their attitude was hurting them.

It's just too bad it doesn't happen every time, but no matter how hard we all try, some folks are just determined to be jerks. Most will be reachable, though.

[xchrom]

3. excellent story.

and i love that it serves as a background for th on-going story in massachusetts.

[BOSSHOG]

4. I'm not a Dad

but I strongly advocate civil liberties for Gays including Marriage. If the "christian conservative" experiment with marriage showed nothing but perfection, they'd have one helluva an argument, instead they have to hate and be their evil selves.

I recently had a little chit chat with a local "conservative" who, of course opposed gay marriage. He said why should we let them get married? My answer - why should we let them pay taxes?

[foreigncorrespondent]

5. This is great!!!

Nice to see such a wonderful journey someone goes through. Good on him!