S. Armed Services member thanking the protagonist for helping the cause of closeted homosexuals who risk jeopardizing their professional careers by acknowledging their sexual orientation.
In the 14 years since that sitcom episode, social perspective about sexual orientation has improved in a general sense, but probably much more so in areas where it was already accepted than elsewhere. Because popular perceptions are so profoundly influenced by the multimedia portrayal of cultural trends, the fact that high profile celebrities like Rosie O'Donnell and (most recently) former NSynch band member Lance
Bass have publicly acknowledged their homosexuality. Since 1993, bisexual experimentation" (particularly for women) has become a fashionable trend, especially within the entertainment industry. Like anything else that is publicized about celebrities in American culture, this change has also led to emulation among the masses, especially on the two coasts where the entertainment industry is based.
Naturally, progress in the area of the social acceptance of alternate sexual identity in society has inspired dedicated political opposition from the Religious Right, whose main mantra (in the absence of anything more philosophically legitimate) is the so-called sanctity" of marriage and family. Ironically, the two most influential anti-gay institutions, (for example, the Church and various state political representatives famous for their conservative position...
Obvious parallels to sitcom episodes aside, their duplicitous conduct and repression or secretive expression of their own sexual urges clearly relate to perpetuating a political agenda and, in the case of the Church, also to preserving their financial interests.
In this sense, the concept of both marriage and family have been politicized.
The conservative lobby portrays traditional marriage and the "family" as capable of being threatened by recognition of homosexuality as a valid personal choice. Meanwhile, more than half of all traditional marriages end in divorce, poor parenting is a virtual epidemic in society, and the issue of domestic violence within marriage hardly raises a conservative eyebrow. Homosexuals face difficulties pursuing parenthood through adoption, despite the fact that children in need of adoption far outnumber available adoptive parents.
The fact of the matter is that anecdotal evidence suggests that homosexual couples seeking to adopt are statistically more likely to maintain professional careers and less likely ever to be involved in domestic crimes than their conventional counterparts.
Ultimately, it is mutually supportive close emotional connections that should define the concept of "family" rather than blood relations or social convention.
