A lot of great replies here. Annabelle, I really liked yours because when I first read the thread I thought immediately of the general public and not necessarily of those closest to us. As Kelly says, one person at a time every time we meet someone or someone sees us. One of my beliefs is that we should not let peer pressure limit how each of us decides to express ourselves. That is for each and everyone one of us to decide. People who are more extravagant may have a harder time finding the tolerance and acceptance that they may be looking for and that is their choice.
Going back to the tolerance versus acceptance, I think that we sometimes use those words interchangeably like we use passing and blending. Yes, we will probably get a lot of tolerance before we get a lot of acceptance. I just think that most of us, including those that want to go out and who go out, basically desire be out, be ourselves and not have negative experiences because of how we present ourselves. Just have a good time and not be bothered by others. I believe that it is happening and probably faster than we think. Every little bit helps us, from references in movies, TV shows, news articles, anti-hate crime laws, equal rights regulations and by our actual personal presence out in the real world. Let's go do it people!
