Last week, the highly anticipated celebration, Pride, took place all around the world, and just a year ago from the date June 26, gay marriage became legal in all 50 states. Some people saw this as a the country taking a step back, but I saw this as a huge step forward. First off, I'd like to say that, yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I support gay rights and, no, there is nothing wrong with that. I am not going to bombard you with scripture or try to sway your beliefs. I just want to share my perspective on this issue, an 18-year-old Christian, and why I support it.

I have never seen anything wrong with homosexuality or, in a different sense, I didn't care who you were with as long as you were happy -- that's all that mattered. I remember being in church and my teachers bringing up the subject of homosexuality, and asking the class, "Do you think homosexuality a bad thing?" I was with the small group that said no it wasn't, to which the teachers replied, "It's a sin, an abomination," and I thought to myself how can love be an abomination?

We are taught at a young age not to judge, or "Love thy neighbor as thyself," yet we seem as Christians always ready to point out someone for opposing beliefs, or denigrate them for being different. Who you choose to love does not make you different, nor does it make you lesser than anyone. My question to all is: do gay people really alter the fabric of your personal beliefs? Does it affect you? Does change who you are as a person?, or are we just mindlessly following the masses? let me ask you one final question: Would we want someone judging all aspects of our lifestyle because all sin is an abomination in the eyes of God.

I asked myself these questions often: Why am I for gay rights? The truth is I've never cared if someone was with a man or a women. I have never cared because its never affected me, seeing two people happy will never bother me. Frankly, wouldn't you rather see two people bound by love, or unhappily and untrue to themselves bound by a ring. I never wanted to enslave someone for being true to who they are. I never want to be a slave master to someone's feelings. I never want to tell people to be someone there not, to keep someone from being happy. I never want to judge someone for who they are. I believe the most beautiful thing to be is true to yourself and who you love.

In the Declaration of Independence it states that, "We hold the truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with wit h certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." We are all created equal. June 26, 2015 was another day toward equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation. if we are to trust and hold the Declaration of Independence as a sacred document we must truly believed that we are endowed by life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness even if it allows people to have a different way of life.

I'm not asking you to support something you do not want to, or sway you opinion. I'm just asking you to respect them and their love, because who are we to chastise people when we are not perfect. God created love, and love comes in all shapes and sizes, love is diverse, love is blind, and love will always win.