I think you hit it. It has always been challenging for the non-conforming, but intolerance has hit new heights. Especially when wrapped in false labels like 'inclusiveness' and 'liberal' it seems the persecution of non-conforming continues to escalate.

You can teach your kids to think. You have to teach them to question authority. As pointed out to me by a good friend, a few years ahead in the child rearing, the problem for us is that the first authority in our kids' lives are their parents. Another example of when doing the right thing may not be fun or easy, but it is the right thing. And it works - and raising a kid to be a good thinker, hard working productive person with a full life and shot at happiness is one heck of a reward.