This is definitely the time of year where you will find the gold at the end of the rainbow. The month of June is National Pride Month for our LGBTQ community. For us to all come together and celebrate what progress we've made, to speak out for those who are silent, and to bring light that we will fight until our last breathe for equality.

The rainbow flag is more than just a pool of colors for me. When I hold that flag in my hand and raise it up, I'm holding my story. All of my scars and tears are made up of it. It reminds me of all that I went through to get to this point in my life. A time where I'm brave enough to introduce my girlfriend as my actual girlfriend and not just my friend. A time where I can walk out in public and hold my girlfriends hand without looking around and worried what people think. A time where I can finally just be...me.

This is not my first go around with love but it sure will be my last. This girl has a way of making me feel like I've never been in love before. Just the slightest touch of hers sends me running down the aisle to make her mine forever. She gives purpose to my life. If I had to explain the feeling of her coming into my life it would be that first breath above water after drowning, that's her. The most precious gasp of air that you will never take for granted.

She came into my life and saved me. The proof in my eyes that there is beauty that comes after pain. Someone like her is someone you keep forever, even when we become ghost. In the moments when I'm not her favorite she still makes sure to cut the edges of my sandwiches off or that I have a pillow under my head to watch T.V. better.

She is the reason I looked love in the eyes with my legs shaking and jumped for it. Even with me knowing the dark feeling of a heartbreak and the risk of it happening again to me. I didn't hesitate with her. She means everything to me. A love this true and this deep couldn't stay hidden in the closet even if I tried, and I'm happy with that.

Love is what we do best. So why should we have the right to limit that to our neighbors. We only have one life to live so why should we have to spend our days fighting just to be happy. We need our society to stop shaming the people who want to simply be who they truly are and stop pushing them over the edge of life. Throw that rule book out of the window and let people live the life they want.

So tonight I am going to hug my girlfriend a little tighter and feel grateful to experience this type of love and braveness with her. My love is the same as yours and no law should have a say in that.

Each day that passes, the four walls seem to cave in on you. The closet that you've been in is as dark as the night sky. But you can't let it have control over you. I know how hard it is to reach for that doorknob and open that door. I've reached out for it so many times but couldn't finish turning it. At times I was even able to open the door but pushing myself out of it became the hard part. You just need to believe that life will get better. You may stumble upon a few shoes on your way out but all you have to do is pick yourself back up.

Standing on your own two feet and busting through that door will be the greatest feeling you will ever feel in this lifetime, I promise you. It's the scariest but yet the boldest move you could ever make. The minute you step out is the start of your own story to living the life you want. Don't let anybody tell you the right and wrongs in regards to your life. That's why it's called YOUR life.

The greatest weapon you will ever posses is your voice. It's your story of trials and tribulations that can have the effect of pulling someone out of that dark closet that you were once in. Don't stay silent but speak up for those who are stuck in that closet you were once in. Show them that you can make it out alive and be happy. That it does get better, you just have to hold on to see it.

Turns out that YOU are that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

"Love is in the heart of the lover and it shouldn't be judged."- Mirtha Michelle