Why we need to get past the idea that "Acceptance" and "Tolerance" are good enough.

Amelia on Huffington Post Gay Voices wrote this great piece, 'Accept' and 'Tolerate' My Gay Kid?  That's Not Good Enough.

I loved and identified with Amelia's responses to U.S. Senator Rob Portman saying he now supports gay marriage because his son came out to him, and to U.S. Congressman Matt Salmon saying he still doesn't support gay marriage even though his own son is gay.

And when Amelia said

I've been fortunate enough to hear from gay kids all across the country. A lot of them don't have supportive families, but some do. I cherish the good stories, but there's often a moment in those good stories that makes my heart hurt: when they tell me how happy they are that their parents "still" love them -- because all those kids knew that not loving them was an option.

My heart hurt, too.

And when she made her point that

Every child deserves to be loved for exactly who they are, so I think it's about time that we change how we talk about our gay children. Let's abolish the words "accept" and "tolerate" and replace them with "cherish" and "celebrate."

I wanted to stand up and cheer.

Check it out.

Namaste,
Lee