America. The home of the free. The home of the brave. A country built on values of freedom and independence. As this Independence Day approaches, I began to think about how our free our lives are. And how independent we've become. And unfortunately, I believe that in this millennial day and age the voices and actions expressed today, are putting on a new path and it's not a good one. We're slowly going backwards into history, especially in the LGBTQ community.

To start, the problem of prejudice views are swarming the media. Most recent, the shooting of Orlando's nightclub, Pulse, has brought fear and uncertainty to the gay community in their safety. With forty-nine deaths and over fifty others injured, it has quickly become the most disastrous mass shooting in US history. In this year of 2016, most people utter the phrase "it's 2016 shouldn't we be past this?" These people, they'd be right. In the past decade, especially in the LGBTQ community, we have made so much progress that you think people involved in this community can feel safe enjoying themselves on a night out.

Next, in this community, the transgender people of this country are now being limited in the south as North Carolina passes a horrific law that bans transgender men and women access to use a public restroom in the gender in which they identify. What is happening, is the restriction of expression and comfortability. While any other person is allowed to express themselves wherever, and feel comfortable in whatever situation they're in, the men and women of the transgender community are told "no." The simplicity of relieving oneself in a private stall is now put into a political debate over whether they should be allowed to for their comfort, or they shouldn't be allowed to because of the discomfort of people who haven't accepted the rightful choices of others.

But where is the line drawn? When do we start making progress forward? When can people stop living in fear and feel free and independent? Pride day had recently past last week, where one of the biggest LGBTQ parades was held in New York City. And instead of celebrating the community, the media focused on how people should be careful as it was considered a major target for bombings and shootings. Though people will argue and claim this is not an independence and freedom issue, it is. Independence is not always at a macro level, it fills a meso and miso level as well. Without equality for all, we will never be a fully free nation. With that said, we can't forget how far we have actually come. Let's just take it a couple more steps forward.