The Advocate published a list of the 50 most influential LGBT people in the media, limiting themselves only to those who have been open about their sexual orientation. These lists are brazen attempts at getting hits but I clicked anyway.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the list contained many names that I am familiar with but did not know were gay. This is as it should be, when the sexual orientation of people is no longer big news but is instead greeted with a shrug and questions like: Why are you bothering to tell me this? What relevance does it have to anything? Becoming banal can be a good thing and the LGBT community is slowly getting there, though the fact that the above list was published at all shows that they not quite there yet.

Atheists have not yet become banal but we are also getting there. A prominent public person saying they are not religious is no longer shocking but is still somewhat newsworthy. At a recent meeting that I attended that had nothing to do with religion, a participant mentioned, in passing, that he was an atheist. The fact that he could casually say this and not induce gasps of shock is a good thing.

Atheists are no longer reviled nor do people assume that we do not exist, but our public presence scan still cause unease among the religious. Of course in some countries, especially Muslim-majority ones, being either LGBT or atheist is grounds for persecution and even death and one can only hope that it becomes banal there soon.