I have a religious family. The ‘crosses all over the house’ kind of family. But, what religion my parents have doesn’t stop me from being me. I am queer. And I’m okay with that. My parents are okay with that. My fear of non-acceptance started when I started to develop feelings for my best friend, and she soon became my “girlfriend”. But I kept that hidden for a year and a half. But when a nurse asked me if I had a boyfriend or girlfriend, I said yes, because you can’t lie to the doctor. And that’s what started it all. When we got home from my doctor’s appointment, my mom asked me who my relationship was with. You know, for safety reasons. She asked me if it was a boy, I said no. Then she asked me if it was a girl. No, it’s a genderless sea sponge. I didn’t say that to her face, but if I could travel back in time I would say that. I said yes. She started to get excited and asked if she knew her. I answered yes. I wasn’t able to say anything else. Then she asked if it was my best friend and I answered yes again. She reassured me that she was okay with it and I felt a little bit better, but I was still worried about my dad.
But turns out he feels the same as my mom. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for other people. Lucky for me, my parents love me very much. But for other homosexuals, it can be a very heartbreaking story. Your mother and father kicking you out of the house because of your sexual preference. Letting the bullies at school get inside your head, making you think that you are a freak of nature. Friends abandoning you and not realizing that you are the same person who they have always known. Don’t let people judge you based on WHAT you are, demand that they acknowledge WHO you are. They have no idea what’s it’s like to be you. So if a guy runs up to you and hits you in the head with a cross, and expects you to sink into the ground while engulfed in flames, that’s his problem. But some homosexual people are scared of even going outside, hence the term “coming out”. Unfortunately, homosexuals spend way too much time hiding what they are and not realizing that being gay doesn't change the core values and virtues of who they could be.
Why do homosexual’s find it so difficult to be open and comfortable with themselves? I think I’ve narrowed it down to two big reasons. First, the judgmental ways of the human race have a direct effect on how LGBT people think about themselves. Second, Religion, the last sacred haven of the human soul is often set up as being in direct opposition to how LGBT people are looked down upon by God.
Being scared is a natural response to things that are frightening. Like monsters or supernatural beings. Things that can’t be explained. But parents shouldn’t be the monster or ghost, they should be a safe-haven from the outside world. But for our system, that is not the case. Teens hesitate telling their parents about who they actually are, this leads to isolation and depression. According to a 2017 Centers for Disease Control report, twice as many LGBT youth attempt suicde than “Normal” teens - whatever that is… The same report also detailed higher rates of depression and use of drugs than heterosexual people.
Looking at society, we see violence, hatred, and dishonesty. It’s true that we’re free, but how free are we? It started with freeing slaves, then increasing the rights of women, deleting the Jim Crow laws, accepting different religions in America, then letting Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer have the rights they deserve. We still have sexist, racist, homophobes, and discriminatory citizens against religions. And we could never change that. But the number of these people are slowly decreasing in numbers.
When gay people walk outside, it’s not like they have rainbows arching over them. Strangers can’t tell that they have a different sexual preference. We’re just another person to them, having a walk down the street getting groceries. They can’t tell us apart from anyone else. You probably couldn’t tell I was queer when I walked out. And being queer doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m gay. It means I don’t know what to be. I know I’m not straight, but I like guys too. And I’m not comfortable being a girl, but I’m very sassy and feminine. I think of myself as a sassy bisexual transgender.
Mostly Christian people believe that homosexual people are things of the underworld and are going to go back to where we came from. With the information that we understand about God and the Christian religion, God hates no one. But the people that are anti-gay are making other Christians embarrassed. And I’m not saying that homophobes are the enemy. They’re scared of the abnormal, and learn through others that you have to look out of these people, because they are believed to be dangerous. Monkey see monkey do. My father is part of the Air Force. He is a Chaplain. That means that he is a pastor and works for the government. But what’s really interesting that he is friends with a woman that is married to a woman. But just any gay, this gay is a pastor. We found a loophole! The explanation that Jehovah will not let anyone that does not follow his rule of marriage, will not be let into his paradise. With this information we can just throw that out the window! But if the rules still apply, just stuff all your gay in a bag and throw it into a rainbow and it spreads to another kid. Can we do that with race, religion, or gender? It seems that they change the rules a lot. It seems like Twister, moving your hands and feet onto different colors.
Anyway...
We touched the subject of suicide a bit earlier ago. But now this is the chance to talk about it. As I said earlier, homosexual teens are more prone to depression, drugs, and suicide than heterosexual ones. But this is just teens and just imagine the whole population of LGBT members. Studies show that depression and anxiety doesn’t cease as teens grow older. The trauma experienced as an adolescent still affects them in later years. The way you can prevent suicide is stay with with the person and remove anything that can harm them. Then call an emergency number to get them to a safe place. And don’t make the person feel threatened in any way possible. But most importantly, make sure that the attempt doesn’t happen in the first place.
Teaching children about why two men were holding hands, is not an easy task. I have eight years old sisters, and they are the most innocent little things. One night, before we moved here, we were watching Hulu. Hulu is a program close to Netflix. Anyway, we were watching Full House and an ad for a new season of Will and Grace is playing. So I asked them if they knew what gay meant. They knew and one of my sisters said that she didn’t understand it. I said, well it means that two people of the same gender love each other. I explained. She still looked confused and my other sister figured it out. So a girl and a girl can love each other? Now, little kids usually don’t have to understand, but if their big sister or brother, or I don’t know what I am, comes home with a girl or a boy, you have to go through the whole explanation for three hours just playing teacher. So I decided to do it right there, right then and tell them I have had a girlfriend. They both gasped in surprise. But then I told them that we broke up like, three months ago. So then they start comforting me and handing me ‘Sorry for your loss’ balloons. Now, besides the point. Children shouldn’t be kept from the truth about the world. We don’t live in the perfect country. We see poverty all over the place, crime in our streets, and most importantly, Stranger Things doesn’t come out with season three until 2019! Not to make it worse that rumors are going around about Millie Bobby Brown leaving the role of Eleven. This is why homophobes around. Parents don’t tell their children about gay people until last minute, which leaves them with their mouth gaping. “Oh, and by the way honey, watch out for the rainbow people. They’re the symbol that the underworld is about to break through the minds of the innocent. Go on get out of here.” “Mom!” “Ah! Git!”
With the new information that we have about President Trump electing new members of the Supreme Court. The members are young and members are supposed to stay members for the rest of their lives. This could have a massive impact on America. And we might take a step backward in civil rights. Americans might be segregated again. Women’s rights could be taken away. And LGBT members could stay in the shadows. The parades might not be protected anymore and more citizens could get injured or even killed.
Things aren’t perfect right now, even though this is the land of the free and the brave. But most people aren’t free enough to be happy and enjoy life. And we shouldn’t stay in the shadows, we should be proud and flaunt that we’re different. And by we I mean everyone that isn’t caucasian, straight, without a disease, Christian, and a robot. And by that I mean everyone is different and we shouldn’t stay in the dark. If a person you know might be questioning their sexuality, support them in whichever one they may choose. Support will give the person a sense that they are welcome in their family or in their friendship.
People of America are judgemental, in fact everyone is judgemental. It’s just a way of society. But think twice about judging someone if their favorite color is rainbow, because they might live a harder life than you do, and what you say just might kill them. Literally.