Tell me about the time you chose to like certain foods. Tell me about when you chose to have certain fears. Or about when you decided to be fearless. I want to hear about when you chose to love certain colors. How about when you chose to hate other colors. I definitely want to hear about when you decided to have unique talents. Also tell me when you chose to not be so talented in some things. I’m extremely interested to know when you chose your gender. Please inform me when you chose your hair color. While you’re there, tell me when you chose your race. I especially want to hear when you chose to be straight. When did you decide to be gay?

Oh- you can’t? You mean to tell me you were born that way? Remind me not to chastise you for loving the color purple or being afraid of heights.

Are you aware of what a hate crime is? Do you realize that your close-minded mentality is just as sickening as those who actually perform them? It’s equivalent to me plotting a gruesome murder because I simply don’t agree with the fact that someone has brown hair, except not doing it just because I don’t want blood on my shoes. That’s truly how stupid it sounds. As of 2013, 20.8% of hate crimes were targeted towards one’s sexual orientation. If you don’t see an issue with that statistic, you are clearly the problem. Among all the biases and prejudices in the world, the ignorance towards those of the LGBT community has got to be the most blood curdling horror to follow us into the twenty first century.

You want to bring religion into this? Okay, fine by me. Don’t act like you’re such a religious angel; let's talk about the ten commandments. Do not commit adultery? Would you verbally abuse someone you didn't know because they cheated on their spouse? And you totally honored your mother and father all the time, right? I'm also sure you've never thought about stealing anything. If you’re going to play the religion card, you’re not allowed to pick and choose which issue to fight for. Religion is about interpretation and sadly you've chosen to interpret it in a manner that involves cruelty and injustice. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew, 22:37-39), but only if they’re straight right? "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you,” (John 15:12) but not if they’re gay! What about the pledge of allegiance that you’ve recited since elementary school? “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”...again, only liberty and justice if they’re straight, correct? So tell me, how did religions intention of loving and accepting one another get so misconstrued in your head? Who taught you that your lack of humanity makes up your religion?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for fighting for what you believe in, but once it impedes on someone else’s ability to live, to love, to be happy, that’s when you better keep your radical and selfish opinions to yourself. If you’re so sickened by two innocent people of the same sex happily together, then look away. No one wants an audience. Since when did people of the LGBT community be considered not average people? When did society announce that they shouldn’t be treated with the same respect as everyone else? I must have missed that one. Your cold-blooded hatred is not going to turn them straight. It’s as likely as if my spitting on you in disgust could suddenly make you hate the food you once loved. My beliefs are not going to change your taste buds. Again, that’s truly how pathetic it sounds. Just because you are granted freedom of speech, does not mean it is morally right to loudly and publicly advertise your disagreement with how people live their lives. That’s just being a truly ugly person.

You’re forgetting something very important- love is way louder than your sad judgements. When you see a couple of the same sex, you see gender first and love last, if at all. That is the issue. With that very same couple, I see love first and love last. If you and your uncultivated friends began seeing it that way, the world would be a much happier place. Straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, we all get buried under the same dirt. We are all people; we all have feelings, dreams, ambitions, goals, so who are you to say theirs are any less cherished just because they were born loving the same sex? You and your uninformed followers are losing; as of 2014, 18.6% of hate crimes were targeted towards the LGBT community. Although it is a small decrease, it is still a little victory that gives me hope for the future. People are less afraid to come out. Gay marriage is now legal across the United States. Same-sex couples are now allowed to adopt children. People of any sexual orientation are allowed to enlist in the armed forces. There are annual gay pride parades designated to celebrating and embracing the LGBT community. May our everlasting love forever scream louder than your disgusting and unnecessary hatred. Love is winning and it always will. Sexuality is not a choice, but acceptance is. So choose it.