reasons for hope

G sent this excellent story that ran in the Washington Post about six months ago: "Coming Out for One of Their Own - An Oklahoma Teen Finds Love Where He Least Expected It". A young man discovers community...
A lesbian couple with a 3-year-old daughter took Michael and Shelly to dinner in Dupont Circle. Walking around the gay neighborhood, Michael was in awe. "It was like being around family," he said. "Seeing all those successful people, that could be me." . . . "Men were holding hands with men, women were holding hands with women, and no one was yelling at them," Shelly said.
...then a family discovers a larger community, when their town stands up to bigotry and allows themselves to think. (Thanks, G!)

The story reminded me of another town that stood up, when Ibrahim Parlak, a restaurant owner in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was retroactively accused of terrorism. (By strange coincidence, these two old stories are dated one day apart.)

I've been following Parlak's story (second item in that post); his supporters' website is here.

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