Working in the private investigator world has its advantages and its disadvantages. As a private detective in Oklahoma City, Tinsley Keefe is being constantly bombarded with those disadvantages. The really sad thing is that most of those disadvantages revolve around the same thing: intolerance to the LGBT community. Tinsley also pulls from her experience working as a wedding officiant in Oklahoma City – where gay marriage is still a widely discussed and debated topic.
The biggest problem is highlighted in that last sentence: “debated”. That is the problem; that gay marriage is still being debated. That is the problem with all issues revolving around the LGBT community – that they are considered issues at all. Members of the community are being treated like they are not human. They are being treated like they are undeserving of basic human rights simply because they are what society deems as “different”. This is why, when asked if LGBT tolerance should be taught in schools, Tinsley is always quick to respond with a firm “yes, it definitely should be”.
Tinsley Keefe might be a private investigator helping the citizens of Oklahoma and surrounding areas, but she is also a member and progressive activist in the LGBT community. Mix that with her passion for uniting all humans – LGBT or not – as an Oklahoma wedding officiant, and you will find that Tinsley is constantly surrounded by the negative effect that prejudiced views can have on people. If schools started teaching children from a young age that there is nothing wrong with being a member of the LGBT community, only good things could happen.
Prejudiced views would die young – before getting the chance to develop into pure bigotry and ugly hatred. Those that identify as a member of the LGBT community will slowly become more comfortable with who they truly are as a person; giving them the chance to enjoy their life the way they deserve to.
With that in mind, suicide rates might also go down in response to the newly acquired tolerance. Tinsley knows it is time for a change, which is why she also pushes for the education of LGBT tolerance in the workplace too. Children should not be the extent of LGBT education and tolerance-teachings; society as a whole should be learning about the LGBT community – or at the very least, learning how to tolerate or even welcome it.
If businesses and organizations started offering or even requiring tolerance classes, society would slowly start to clean itself up. The problem right now is that intolerance to the LGBT community is not only expected – but it is treated as if it is okay. It is not okay. While working as both a private detective and a wedding officiant in OKC, Tinsley has seen the impact that prejudiced views can have firsthand. Intolerance can ruin lives – even worse, it can destroy lives. It can end lives. We are all humans. We are all deserving of the same rights; of equal rights. It is time to make a difference. It is time to accept that the time for change is now.
