Most people love growing up in small towns where everyone knows everyone, the corner store is the hangout spot, and there's about two traffic lights in the whole town. But what if you identify as something other than the social norm?

I lived in an area where the gay community wasn't even heard of, more-less accepted. Prides weren't a thing, the rainbow flags you see on every corner in some cities aren't ideal, and "coming-out" ends up being something that seems impossible to do.

According to GLSEN, 87% of rural LGBT+ students reported being verbally harassed, 45% reported being physically harassed and 22% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation. I was one of them.

A lot of people that grow up in a different society, or even just a different household, don't understand the differences in people's lifestyles. I feel like it's my job to take part and help educate the uneducated. In school, you learn about math and English, but we aren't taught about how to love each other. Many think it's a natural instinct, but for some, that isn't the case.

Growing up in a place you don't feel accepted isn't healthy or okay. Once you get out of there, you end up learning there's a whole world out there full of people like you, that will love you unconditionally, and that's exactly what happened to me. I moved from a small town in Kentucky, to an even smaller town in Tennessee, to a city in Ohio.

I finally went to my first pride, joined GSA in high school, and learned about gender expression and more sexualities than just the "famous three". My world has opened up as much as my mind has.

Sometimes I felt trapped, as if my identity wasn't really me, and it was a "phase" as everyone would say. Realizing now that it wasn't, I am able to see all the time I spent worrying about who I am and my identity, and how I forgot to love myself in the process.