Small freedoms and victories

'Elders back home prefer that their children and grandchildren be brought up under their close watch', says the author

This weekend, we will attend our first reception for a gay couple, as neighbours and friends of a child who shared her adolescence and youth with our children, grew into a lively young woman, found love and companionship in an alternate space, braved the telling to her parents, and is looking forward to a future with her partner whom she married a while ago. The reception is a public declaration of their outing and acceptance within the family and circle of friends, and if there have been hesitations and hiccups behind closed doors, at least, openly everyone has stepped forward