As pride month slowly comes to an end, I'd like to reflect on the progress that we, as a country, have made.

From not even having the right to marry the person you love until Massachusetts took the first small step towards equality in 2004, to the giant leap our whole country took in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled gay marriage as legal throughout our entire country, it's safe to say we've come a very long way as a nation.

Despite setbacks throughout our lives, we have all continued to push through and relentlessly progress.

Within the past decade, not only have the laws positively changed, but the people have as well.

Rewind a few years to 2008, and while it wasn't quite as discriminatory as it had been many years before, it still wasn't perfect.

Don't get me wrong, we still aren't a perfect nation when it comes to the laws of equality because we still make a lot of mistakes, but we are much closer to being one than we were 10 years ago.

Think about it. It's 2008, your best friend tells you about this new show that she doesn't like and refers to it as gay. No one even bats an eye.

Sure, it seems like a simple mistake, but at that time, "gay" was basically a synonym to dumb or annoying.

While it's still used this way at times, it's definitely heard a lot less, as people are realizing what is actually being said.

Besides the way we've educated ourselves and learned not to use our words as derogatory statements, we've also come an extremely long way in media and representation.

Going back even further to 1997, we can remember a time when LGBTQ+ representation on television basically didn't exist until Ellen Degeneres decided that she was done pretending, along with her character in her popular T.V. show.

As I'm sure many people are aware, Ellen was not embraced for her bravery the way many people are today. She was continuously bashed and ended up losing her show, and at the time thought she was losing her entire career.

Jump ahead to just a few short months ago, and we can see the movie "Love, Simon" originating from the book, "Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda" premiering in theaters, which was an amazing form of representation that we aren't really used to having.

Sure, there's a movie or T.V. show with a gay best friend, but that's not a main character. While the creators are including these characters purposely to try to be inclusive, they also tend to be stereotypical.

So yeah, it's usually all meant with good intentions, but that doesn't always mean that's how it will be seen.

When I see a character in a show that isn't straight, I'm grateful because I know that a few years ago that would never happen, but other people don't always focus on the positive points and just see the negative sides of it.

Along with laws, representation, and overall more educated people, the LGBTQ+ community has also gained allies, which is probably the best thing we could ask for.

Without allies, we wouldn't have the support that we finally do, and we'd be reverted back to the 1970's mindset that it is not okay to be ourselves.

In all honesty, I've had a much easier experience than many others. Some people get abandoned by friends and family or get physically abused for being true to themselves. But I got embraced, and my heart truly goes out to anyone who got less than that.

As the years progress, I hope that our country continues to progress too.

As I mentioned before, we've come a long, long way from where we started in laws, views, and attitudes, but that doesn't make us perfect. There are still ways to make ourselves an even more supportive nation.

So, next time you find yourself going to use "gay" as an insult, or something that has a negative impact on someone nearby, think.

I'm not asking anyone to filter themselves, but I'm asking for everyone to be considerate of those around them.

Let's look back on the amazing progress we've made and use that as motivation to continue progressing as a community and a nation.

Looking back at where we were 10 years ago in 2008 and comparing it to where we are now, just try to imagine how far we will go from now until 2028.

It seems far away, but it will be here in the blink of an eye, so let's do all that we can between now and then to make a notable difference in not only our country, but also in our world, and become a part of history.