This is why, as a straight dude, I wholeheartedly support everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. They’re people, just like everyone else, and I’m sure there’s some that are just terrible people, but on the whole, they’re just folks trying to find their happiness just like everyone else.
I consider myself an ally, and I’ll use any power I have to promote equality for everyone; whether that entails voting against people who would take their rights away, or try to silence them or whatever, speaking out against tyranny or judgemental asshats… It doesn’t matter.
IMO, we are people first. Your choice in name, pronouns, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc, are all secondary to the fact that you are a human person deserving of all the same rights and privileges afforded to everyone else.
My favorite (tongue in cheek) comment, specifically about (gay) marriage is that LGBTQ+ people should have the right to be just as unhappy as the rest of us, in marriage.
This is the way.
You engage in the economy of helping people to move stuff. One person has a dolly, another has a truck, they come, they move the thing, you pay in pizza and at least one IOU of “I’ll be there for you next time”.
When the time comes you are enlisted, you go, you help, you recieve pizza.
The cycle continues.
This is the way.
This is the only way.