Changing the World One Interaction at a Time
I can’t believe I’ve writing about this in 2025, but here we are. My husband and I have run a Bed & Breakfast for the last two years. We have met every kind of person, from a plumber who lives in a small town in Florida to a wealthy traveler from Europe. Every time someone comes into our home, we will say “Hello my name is Tim, and this is my husband Steve.” Then everyone is pleasant and happy to see each other and we get to the business at hand.
No one has ever balked at meeting a gay couple or staying in our home. No one has ever questioned the validity of our marriage and is always happy to spend time with us. We’re nice and welcoming and friendly.
Some powerful people may want you to think that couples like me and Steve are dangerous or have some agenda to harm the fabric of our country. But, of course, we really just want to make you comfortable and give you a great experience in our home. And maybe bake you a cake.
From our point of view, people are unfazed by meeting a gay couple. It’s 2025. If someone is making you afraid or trying to manipulate you by thinking LGBTQ+ people are dangerous, I hope you’ll stop and know better. Just like your family, OUR family (and our gay and trans friends) are all just trying to be happy and live life to the fullest. Like you, we really just want to be left alone to pursue our happiness in the best way we know how.
So sometimes it can feel political just to walk down the street as a couple. But we also realize that every time we interact openly with someone, we are helping to change the world. I’ve been saying this for 30 years, but people who are afraid of gay or trans people also say that they do not know anyone who is gay or trans. So let’s change that one interaction at a time. Don’t be afraid, be inquisitive.
And whoever you are, be your authentic self out there in the world. Someone could be meeting a band director for the first time, or a drill designer, or a color guard instructor, or a dancer or a majorette or paranormal investigator or a ghost hunter or a psychic medium or whatever! Let’s all be who we are, creating positive interactions in the world, and expand how people view the world!
Thank you to all the friends and advocates who are speaking up when someone tries to use their LGBTQ+ friends as punching bags. Don’t be silent. These are unsettling times. We must remember that we all have much more in common than we are different.
Tim Hinton
February 21, 2025
