line in the sand

I remember when I was a Senior in high school, I started becoming interested in politics. On one of the first days of my Government class, my teacher said for us all to stand in the middle of the classroom. Then she said "If you believe abortion should be illegal, go stand on the right side of the classroom. If you believe abortion should be legal, go stand on the left side." I watched, dumbfounded, as my friends scurried to their respective sides of the classroom. My mouth hung open, slightly confused at what was going on. Was I really going to have to think about this and make a decision? Right then? Right there? Not only was I going to have to decide, but I was going to have to let everyone know what my decision was.

Ms. Howard rescued me and said "If you don't care or haven't quite made up your mind, stand in the middle." So I went to the middle. I hadn't quite decided how I felt about the very delicate subject of abortion. At this point in my life, I didn't see it as a black or white subject. But then she said, "If you believe gays and lesbians should have equal rights as heterosexuals, stand on the left side of the room. If you don't think that, if you think they should not be able to be married or adopt children, stand on the right side of the room."

There was no ambivalence or wavering for me on this topic. My best friend, a gay guy, was in that room with me. My former best friends, extremely conservative people, were also in that room. These were people who told me my gay guy friends were going to hell. At that moment there was only one place I belonged -- standing next to my friend as he stood for his basic human rights. I wasn't embarrassed. I wasn't anything but proud to be his friend. I could see their eyes uncomfortably shift, as they realized what just happened. They were facing a man whose basic rights they thought should be denied. They were facing a friend with whom bonds had been broken because of ideological beliefs.

The line had been drawn.

How do we cross that line? How do we meet in the middle, and, rather than compromising, come to an understanding of each other?