It only takes a little interest to make a big impression on someone who has been cheated out of the love and affirmation of their own parents, a common problem within the GLBT population. Here is an excerpt from a man who took a small step forward to support his lesbian daughter and had his eyes opened wide:

My conversion to gay activism — on behalf of family values, as it were — took place more than 20 years ago. But the experience has taken on new poignancy in light of today’s passionate objections to gay equality on purported moral and religious grounds.

On October 11, 1987 — a date now annually commemorated as National Coming Out Day — I took part in the national gay and lesbian march on Washington. My daughter had come out as lesbian a few months earlier, and since we live in the Washington metro area, her mother (my ex-wife) and I decided to attend, mainly out of curiosity.

We were astonished to find ourselves part of a sea of some 600,000 demonstrators, nestled in a relatively small delegation of about 150 parents. But some of the parents were from as far away as California, Colorado and Washington State, and many carried signs reading, “We love our gay and lesbian children.”

As we began to march, we heard a sort of mysterious rumble that seemed to grow in volume, and we looked at each other with some concern. Then it dawned on us — as the noise reached a crescendo into a resounding roar — that it was in fact a heartfelt ovation for our little band of supportive parents. The deafening din followed us all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue.

We were profoundly touched by the ovation — but even more by the tear-streaked faces of many of those cheering us. Dozens of young men and women rushed out sobbing to hug us and thank us for, in effect, serving as stand-ins for their own, less accepting parents.

It was that powerful response, borne of a senseless rending of the young people’s own family ties, that triggered my personal commitment to combating parental ignorance, primarily via participation with PFLAG.

I had a somewhat similar conversion experience myself, not with children but with members of my church family. After I grew to know and love them and understand the discrimination and hatred they had dealt with, I was moved like the writer of this article was.

I believe very strongly that most open minded people who have (or make) an opportunity to share that type of experience would react in a similar way.

Here's the rest of the article from the Washington Blade.