Food shortages are plaguing Somalia. Debt ceiling debates are overwhelming the United States. A mass slaughter has terrorized Norway. Still, the world is gay. This week, disparaging headlines across the globe were counterbalanced with (for the most part) encouraging news in the area of gay rights.

Last week, the Pride flag was hoisted outside Halifax’s Province House to kick off the city’s pride week. Vancouver has been awash with rainbows since Sunday, and Montreal will follow with its famous Festival Divers/Cité next week. While Canadians take to the streets to celebrate openness to sexuality, folks south of the border are making their colorful notes on paper.

Friday, July 22 saw the official repeal of the American military ban on gays by President Barack Obama. The ban has been the cause of discharges since World War I. In 1950, the Uniform Code of Military Justice deemed homosexuality (then considered a psychiatric disorder) incompatible with military service. The ban was relaxed in 1993 with the introduction of President Bill Clinton’s infamous “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which demanded military applicants not be questioned on their sexual orientation.

As of September 20, military personnel in the United States will be allowed to fully disclose their sexual orientation without the possibility of discharge. Moreover, those ousted from service under Clinton’s policy will have the opportunity to re-enlist. Presdeint Obama and Defence Secretary Leon Panetta have publicly stated that this new openness toward homosexuality should not affect the military’s ability to function properly.

Nor should it affect their capability to marry, declared New York. On Sunday, July 24, the state’s Marriage Equality Act made same-sex marriage legal. New York City held a 48-hour lottery for couples hoping to get wed on that historic day. In the end, 823 were able to tie the knot. New York joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont in legalizing same-sex marriages.

So, they have fought for love. They have fought for their country. And won. Has the fight for gay rights reached a turning point? According to a recent The Atlantic article, it has. The piece in the July/August 2011 issue cites the results of an annual Gallup poll that asks Americans whether they find gay and lesbian relations “morally acceptable.” In 2010, 52 per cent of respondents replied that, yes, they did. It was the first time the majority of opinions on homosexuality were tipped toward the positive.

But the wording of the question demonstrates that while gay rights may be moving forward, society’s perception of homosexuality itself leaves much to be desired. In categorizing gay and lesbian relations as questions of morality, Gallup pollsters perpetuate the false idea that being homosexual is a choice and, worse still, one that can be labeled as “right” or “wrong.”

It’s this stigma of “wrongness” associated with homosexuality that has long prevented the gay community for holding the same rights as other citizens. Now those barriers are coming down. But the ongoing Canadian celebrations and the legal hurdles achieved in the Unites States illustrate a downside to this progress: equal rights do not always necessitate sameness.

Take pride parades, for instance, which celebrate (among many things) confidence in a sexuality perceived by many as outside of societal norms. Flashy outfits, drag queens, scandalous signage: these are meant to stand out in an otherwise nondescript sea of downtowners. Taking pride in one’s sexuality is nothing to be discouraged; however, the emphasis put on a pride in being different is worrisome in that it reinforces the separation between hetero- and homosexuals.

This separation is present in the very policies that give gays (supposedly) equal rights. Although no official decisions have been announced, the Pentagon has hinted that same sex partners will not receive the same benefits as heterosexual couples once the military ban on gays is lifted September 20. The jury is still out on gay marriages in the military as well. Gay personnel will be equal, but not the same.

To ask that gays be seen as the same as heterosexuals is a heavy demand—ridiculous even (to some). But it’s the question that must form the base of these rights battles and pride celebrations in order for gays to eventually achieve full equal status. And for society to truly change its perception of homosexuality from a difference in morality to merely a difference in colour: rainbow, that is.