People called him all sorts of nasty names when he was growing up, even before he understood discrimination and gay rights. When he was in public with his parents, he would be treated differently and maligned. Even some of his friends who seemed to be pretty cool with the whole gay rights things in private would make jokes about it. These jokes were meant to be funny, but they were not funny. A lot of them had gay discrimination at their roots, covering up real hatred with a mask of humor. Fortunately, there is a lot that you can do to help with civil rights in this country. One of the biggest campaigns is for gay marriage equality.