Yeah, a really good movie. By tolerance, I mean the concept that society concedes that homosexuals and bisexuals should be allowed to remain a part of everyday life, but at the same time, does not condone homosexuality or homosexual acts. This is not to say that it is worse than the hatred preached by Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition. Still, Jason Robards is evil not because he considers homosexuality evil, but because he is insensitive to the ravages of a major disease. In the view of the audience, Tom Hanks can still be considered a hero and a faggot with AIDS at the same time.
Tolerance is only marginally better than condemnation, but the step is small.
It allows and promotes an us is us and them is them mentality. It accepts homophobic hatred as an opinion or even a Christian belief. It is the simplest way of seeing a problem and ignoring it. Tolerance as a response to cultural conflict has a very checkered past in American history. Northern city dwellers in the first part of our century would tolerate African-Americans in their cities and even sympathize with their plight in segregation, but they would not truly accept them as human beings or celebrate their contribution to society.