Quick excerpt from the draft of an intro of a paper I’m writing. Goes along with the system and cultures idea:

Without DADT and Proposition 8 completely repealed, the government sends a very clear message to the public that being gay is not OK. Sarah Silverman addresses this issue in the Huffington Post in October 2010, saying

“Dear America, when you tell gay Americans that they can’t serve their country openly or marry the person that they love, you’re telling that to kids too. So don’t be fucking shocked and wondering where all these bullies are coming from that are torturing young kids and driving them to kill themselves because they’re different. They learned it from watching you.”

Silverman touches on something very poignant in her rant. She points to the fact that it is, in fact, the culture of America, that is unaccepting of gay Americans, but that this culture is derived from the legislative system that treats gays and lesbians as second-class citizens.

So the burning question becomes, how long after the legislative system changes will the culture follow suit?