There are people that struggle everyday with trying to figure out who they are or who they want to become. They are born with a certain mindset and a family that won't accept anything different. People who do not identify themselves as straight definitely have more challenges in life than the people who do. Of course, we as people will always be judged and criticized throughout our lives, but I do believe that people with different sexual orientations live through struggles that someone like me, who is straight, would never think of. There are also people in this world who are so intimidated by the concept of rejection that they cannot obtain the courage to come out of the closet and be the person that they aspire to be. How much longer are we going to judge other people by the way that they choose to live their lives?

While scrolling through my Facebook feed a couple of days ago, I came across a status that troubled me immensely. Before my eyes was a women who needed to express her troubled feelings of pure agitation as she stood in the face of rejection in front of both her friends and family. As I read further into it, she expressed how happy she is with where she is at in life, and wouldn't change anything for the world. While confronting the people who do not agree with her life decisions, she also confronted the fact that she cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her and her wonderful fiancée, who happens to be a woman. This has stuck with me and it always will. Why does today's society take it upon themselves to tell other people how they can and cannot live their lives? If our race — the human race — has the ability to show love to each other, then as a result we should be overjoyed to see something other than hate being spread. Instead of tearing each other down because other people do not share our own personal beliefs, we should be building them up because they are doing what they believe is right. They are doing what they believe is going to allow them to life happy and healthy lives.

I consider myself to be a lucky individual. This is because I grew up in a home, with a family who cared for my well being. Although I have gone through rough patches, and have done some rather questionable things throughout my life, they are still here to stand by me when I need it the most. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I didn't have the support from my family. I also grew up straight, meaning I grew up "correctly" in the face of society. Unfortunately, there are people that go through the challenges of life without the support of their families, and there are also people who go through the confusion of not being straight. If they have had family support, some people have experienced a turning point where they are no longer receiving the unconditional love from their own loved ones. Why? Because they put enough trust in their friends or family to handle the truth of their sexual identity. Many people are raised to think that being gay is bad, when it is just the opposite. Being gay or lesbian can be one of the most beautiful things in the world. It creates diversity throughout the world. It allows children who would never have a home to experience a life with two mommy's or two daddy's. It allows people to be who they are, instead of hiding it from the world in response to the fear associated with coming out. Coming out should be a celebration, not a disappointment.

I grew up in a Catholic home. However, my family has never shamed anyone for their sexual orientation. Religion is not an excuse to impose our personal beliefs onto another human being, who clearly disagrees. Religion is there to comfort us in good times and in bad. God is there to help us through the challenges of life, and I have no doubt that God will help put people on the path that we are meant to be on. Whether we are meant to be straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc. God is there to listen to us and to answer our prayers. All of us were created in God's image, and I don't believe that people who grow up knowing that they are gay are making any sort of mistake. God loves everyone for who they are, because our differences are what make us human.

The point of this article is to entertain the fact that we have enough hatred in this world. So why are we showing hatred to people that only want to show love? Personally, I believe that everyone walks into our lives for a reason, whether that may be to protect us, to teach us a lesson, or to be there to listen to us when we need it the most. I believe that people of different sexual orientations were placed in our lives to teach us acceptance of other human beings, and to spread love throughout the world. Society needs to stop sending hatred into the lives of the people who want to love and be loved, just because they are not the traditional couple that we are conditioned to know. The world is changing around us each day. We will be missing an awful lot if the only thing we are focused on is criticizing people who are just trying to live their lives in a normal fashion. Wanting to be normal has brought these people through hell and back because they realized that they are not normal. None of us are normal. Not one person on this earth will ever fully agree with another person's actions or beliefs, and we need to stop preying on the weak. Being gay is okay, and the world needs to learn this. To say that we are confused would be ignorant, because we did not wake up loving the same gender and not having any possible way of changing that.

In essence of the negativity that arises with this subject, I also want to congratulate the people who have lived through their transition, and I want to also congratulate the families who know acceptance. I want you to know that the world cannot spin without you and your differences. The struggles that you have lived through will impact the world, because one day we will learn to accept people of all differences, and you played a part in this. I am excited for the people who made coming out a celebration, and the families who continued to celebrate it long after the party was over. We are only human. We are not perfect, but we do know what is best for ourselves. If that means that you are a woman that expresses your love for another woman, have at it. You are not alone.