Growing up in a small town has its perks. For instance, you feel safe when you are home alone. You get to know your neighbors well and your relatives live right down the road. But living in a small town also has so many disadvantages. Everyone knows everything about everyone. You get bored super easily and have to drive 30 minutes in order to get anything that the local store doesn't have. When you live in a small town, views are very one sided. Growing up I went to an almost completely white school. There was little talk about rights for all. When I was in high school, there were also very few who were a part of the lgbt community. Views were highly based upon religion. So many times I get on my Facebook and see offensive comments from people in my town or surrounding ones discussing topics regarding the lgbt community or any race that is not Caucasian. For example, the recent movement regarding transgenders to be able to use the restroom they identify with. I always see comments about how they are fearful for their children's safety or how disgusting that is. Well I hope they all know they disgust me. Sorry, not sorry. These people need to get their heads out of the views of the early 1900s. Imagine yourself in the place of one of the people that you are so quick to judge. What if you child approached you and said they identified with a gender that was not their biological given one. There is not much I can do really but to unfollow and block the hate. You can't force people to change their opinions, even if they are wrong. I have been told that I preach equality yet I'm so fast to jump on people who think a different way. I'm sorry, but I cannot pretend that these opinions of hate are worth allowing to pass me without standing up for what is right. Living in a small town had taught me a lot. That safe place that felt so much like home can be a growing place for hate. I wonder if their own children will think this way too. When will it finally be cycled out for good? I hope that one day all the small minded ways will phase out. No longer will racial slurs be uttered. No longer will people use the word gay as an insult. I love my small town I can't lie. However, I do not love all the hate that spreads. I will not lie in saying I once shared in these hateful views. They were never powerful but I did have them at one time when I was younger. As I got older and experiences the real world, I could see how these views were awful. My small town helped nourish the hate but I also was able to escape it. So do I regret growin up in a small town? No. It helped me to become a better person in the arranges way