In lieu of the Supreme Court decision to ban any and all states from criminalizing gay marriage, I decided to write about how a wonderful figure in my life turned my suburban mindset on it's head. He introduced me to a new world of social acceptance and understanding, and I couldn't be more grateful.

I first met my darling Drew on the first day of high school. I've known this kid for almost six years, which is overwhelmingly upsetting -- I'm old enough to have had a friend that long? Yuck. Regardless, that's how long this crazy, wonderful little ball of joy has been in my world.

I knew he was gay the first day I met him, but there were other things I noticed about him; he was bright, vibrant, and also had the most phenomenal fashion sense. Seriously, this kid out-dressed everyone.

Truth be told we didn't really become friends until college. We found out that we were both going to be Cougs and reached out to each other via our social media platforms to hopefully spur a friendship. Low-and-behold, two years later he's now my Little.

Before the friendship between Drew and I blossomed into a flower of deep trust and loyalty, I didn't have any real connection to the LGBTQ+ community. The closest I ever got were the romcoms that filtered through my parent's cable guide every so often that I'd watch to try and experience the world around me vicariously through actors and scripts. I had no grasp on the LGBTQ+ community and atmosphere at all, which led me to believe that the protests and movements pushing for equality were small-scale and unimportant. Ignorant, I know.

The first thing I began to notice when Drew and I spent more time together was the startling amount I heard "that's so gay" throughout the day. The phrase "that's so gay" has been thrown around like a frisbee since as long as I can remember, but I'd never really paid attention to it. Now, I notice it everywhere. There are two things seriously wrong with the fact that people use that phrase in casual conversation.

1. It's demeaning to an entire community. I've seen Drew awkwardly laugh and look down at the floor or make a joke to cover up his discomfort whenever someone slips up and casually tosses that phrase into a conversation with him. It hurts me to watch, and it isn't fair to him.
2. It makes people look dispassionate and insensitive to a cause that affects people all over the world. It makes the speaker look like they don't care about the fact that the phrase is extremely offensive and demeaning. Some may call my reaction a little overdramatic, which I understand. Once upon a time, I would have said the same thing. But it's not. It's hurting people.

The second thing I began to notice was how people treated him like he was different from the rest of them. I don't mean in the sense that he's a special unique individual, which he is. I mean that they treated him like he wasn't the same human that we had all known him to be from an early age, like he was a different "brand" of human.

"Omg wait so like...where do you shop?" Uh.. a clothing store? "Wait no way stop, you're in a fraternity?" Uh...yeah. I'm a dude. "So like.. on dates. Who pays?" Uh..One of us? I don't know. "So like..do you want to get married?" Yes?

The third thing I began to notice is that we, as a people, seem to have forgotten what "gay" actually means. In its most naked definition, "gay" means "lighthearted and carefree."

I don't think I've ever heard a more appropriate description of Drew. He is the most lighthearted, kind-hearted, carefree man that I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with. Who he chooses to love does not alter nor affect that about him. It also doesn't change anything about people of gay orientation, either. They are a group of people who have found love in another, just like everyone else does at a point in life.

We don't -- or at least shouldn't -- have any say over who someone chooses to love. And furthermore, why should we? What right do we have?

Who are we to declare ourselves the judge of love, when it is a series of biological and chemical explosions that inevitably end in one being truly and incandescently happy?

I used to be the girl who didn't care about the LGBTQ+ movement because I wasn't immersed in the culture, nor did I know anyone with an orientation other than heterosexual. Now I stand here with my Little and friends, shouting in a funky costume in the middle of the Gay Pride Parade in New York City, lighthearted, and carefree. I'm straight as a ruler, but I'm as gay as can be.