I know! I'm in my 40s and queer, I'm always stunned by how different young people's attitudes are to lgbt now.

And we are unfortunately vulnerable to regression. It's sad to think that if Mr Rogers was around today his show would probably be attached to an executive order to have his funding cut.

I don't know if a similar show would be influential in today's media market. Not just because it would be considered "woke" by half the population, but because the content would be like watching paint dry for a lot of kids.

I think a big part of learning empathy is wrapped up in learning how to be patient, and how to appreciate someone's company enough to allot them your time and attention. I just don't think people value patience very much anymore and wonder if our media reflects that or it's vice versa.

Just wait until you hear that the US fully repealed all laws penalizing sodomy (which included homosexual intercourse) between two consenting adults in 2003, when the Supreme Court declared that such laws were unconstitutional under the equal protection clause (Lawrence V Texas).

The progress in that regard was fortunately very quick. In 2009, first states started legalizing gay marriage, in 2013 SCOTUS decided that even gay pairs from states that banned gay marriage can receive benefits if they have a valid marriage license from a states that allowed it (US v Windsor), striking down the shameful Defense of Marriage Act, and in 2015, it was at last decided that the constitution protects gay marriage, making it legal in all states (Oberfeller et al V Hodges). In 2020, in an opinion paradoxically written by Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, the court decided that the protection guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applied to LGBTQ folks as well (Bostock V Clayton County).

Eh, longer than I've been alive. It can take a while sometimes, but there was a lot of resistance to overcome. That kind of racism wasn't something that could be easily overcome with a law, certainly not with screaming/fighting, or murder, or stealing & burning shit down; this racism was inscribed on the hearts of others by their parents, families, communities...things done in anger & blind hatred only perpetuate it. This lingering racial discrimination required public actions like this to erase it. Humility, acceptance, quiet persistence, love. Qualities & traits that don't exactly abound in today's so-called "culture", if you ask me.

This is not a super popular thing to say & it doesn't map onto this racial discrimination at all, but generally speaking you wouldn't want a society that's quick to change. Prone to flights of fancy, turning this way & that in the wind. You want society to be strong, cohesive, truly united, and defined/driven by a set of agreed upon values. I see a lot of people pulling a lot of different directions. We can't agree on anything, and sometimes, our goals are even in direct opposition. It's hard to build & maintain a strong society when we can't agree on a sturdy foundation, the things we stand for.