In the year you were born I was 26 years of age. 1992.
When I was your age, the notion of gays being allowed to marry anywhere was as far fetched as the sun rising in the west and setting in the east.
In 1992 Gays could not Marry in Canada, Nor anywhere for that matter.
In many states of the USA there were sodomy laws, you could be arrested for having sex with a man.
2003 the Federal Government Struck down Sodomy laws:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy_laws...ted_States
October 1998 Mathew Shepherd was beaten and hung on a fence to die.... This spurred Hate Crime Legislation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard aimed at protecting the gay.
Just this year (2011) 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' was repealed, it was set in motion a year after you were born, prior to that there was a strict - No Gay in military policy where they could ask and you had to tell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell
Parts of this world are indeed a lot more accepting - well on paper. And there is continual change. While Russia is daring to make 'gay propaganda' illegal, other parts of the world are fighting and winning such things as 'gay marriage'.
Most of this positive change has taken place in
your lifetime.
For some of the world the changes are positive, and do expect to find your lifetime seeing gay marriage across the USA and most of the 'free' world. Expect to see the rest of the world under political pressure to accept gays.