I grew up in a small somewhat conservative town, probably not as not as conservative background as yours but conservative enough.I think my experience was pretty typical for the times. We didn't really understand it much and we tended to mock it and belittle it. As a kid you can be pretty ruthless. It wasn't the kind of environment where anyone would have admitted to being gay, so chances are pretty good we hurt people along the way without knowing it.

But that was not the point of my reply, this was:

I recall a debate at my high school in later years. The subject was homosexuality and the debaters were pretty heated with a few members of your conservative religious background in the panel. And I recall this old teacher nearing retirement sitting up there. A very strict old man, but fair and very witty. The kind of teacher that evoke that weird mix of "love and fear" in students. And the debate host asked him "What would you say to homosexuals in the audience" and the old man picked up the mic and said "Deliver your homework on time".

It was such a good reply. It made it about people and made us out to be equal. It is a very clever way of expressing that defining people by their sexuality is often just silly.

I'm not going to say it was a "Hollywood moment" that changed me forever. But it cemented views that had been growing and that resonated with my family upbringing and values. If a person doesn't hurt anybody, then it is their life to lead and they have the right to be happy like anyone else.