Not long ago gay marriage was ruled legal in the US state of California. As many Christian conservatives hang their head in shame, wailing the virtues lost in the state, equal rights are beginning to be realised for the homosexual community. While those who oppose may remind people of their puritan origins and I am reminded of laws past.
In my parents generation, they saw the rights of interracial marriage instated. Previous to this, those who were not the same skin colour were banned from marrying each other. In my grandmother's generation she saw the rights of women realised. She saw women's cognitive abilities acknowledged and their rights to vote given.
Looking back we wonder at how people would oppose such things. We look at countries who have yet to realise these rights as "backward" and "undemocratic". What will the next generation say of us when they look back and see that it took so long for the public to cry "enough" to the discrimination and segregation of those with a different sexual orientation. I wonder if they will be appalled at our voyeurism, our desire to dictate what happens in other people's bedrooms.
Perhaps they will simply classify us as "undemocratic" or "backward".
