I also had a glimmer that Ennis hopes Curt has a deeper understanding of himself than Ennis did at age 19 so Curt doesn't hurt Alma, Jr. the same way Ennis hurt and disappointed Alma.
Yeah, I hear you. Ennis did love Alma (Sr.) in every way that was possible for him. He was very aware that he and Jack were not the only ones hurt by his inability to live and love honestly. This inability was in large part due to society, of course: Ennis was not allowed to marry the person he loved most. Still, part of it was also within Ennis.... after all, Jack wanted to live and love "honestly" as much as was possible in their day.
I've said elsewhere that marrying Alma was, in a sense, committing adultery against Jack. When I say that, however, I mean that marrying Alma was as hurtful to her as it was to Ennis or Jack: it caused Alma more hurt in the long run than calling off the wedding would have in the short term.
Now, after 40-plus years after Ennis married Alma, gay people are still forbidden to marry, and there are still many who marry people of the opposite sex to satisfy society's demands and their own internalized homophobia. Such gay people are bound for a life of regrets,
and their straight spouses are also in for a world of hurt, just like Alma was.
Nobody wins by denying any minority the right to marry the person s/he loves. How ironic that the groups against marriage equality claim they're "defending" marriage, when their laws and amendments will create
more bogus marriages, not fewer!
They just can't see that false marriages hurt straight people too.