@mallory One of the most important roles I play in my life, at least in my view, is that I have a kid, who quite without any interference from me, decided he was gay, and some of his friends as a consequence, also minors who are well into puberty and figuring that side of themselves out, understand themselves to not be straight. It would make me, in my view, a genuinely bad person, if I didn't interact with those kids because of a perverse or absurd expectation that all of my interactions be "adult friendly". Most kids in our society don't know anyone who they can really talk to about what it's like to navigate these issues of self-acceptance, dignity, and functioning in a world in which their very existence is taboo in many places.

The background radiation of hate makes it important they know adults that not only accept who they are, but who can also show them that the world isn't comprised of pure hate, that the simple act of standing up for yourself as yourself can even turn a place that is initially skeptical or bigoted into a place that accepts you for who you are. I grew up in a place where all of it was an uphill struggle from minute one, and I learned how to assert that I am a soul worthy of living and a contributing member of my community, and the existence of kind older people who were friendly and safe around kids is the only reason I'm alive today. My point is that if you can't be a positive influence on the next generation just because you're bitter and alienated, you're no better than the generation before you that just got theirs and threw you to the dogs.