If you didn’t already hear, today is the 28^th Anniversary of National Coming Out Day. For the LGBTQ community, it means a wide variety of things. It means that the freedom to express who they are, and who they love is still a struggle as of today. However, it also means that there are people on their side, who want equal rights for all human beings, no matter what gender or sexual orientation they identify with. I am one of those people.

As a heterosexual female, I don’t have the same experience with discrimination of my gender or sexual orientation, but I have seen it happen in my lifetime to other people, and I have seen it recently. I have seen it happen to my friends, and it breaks my heart to know that people do not feel comfortable going home to their families, because they feel they will not be accepted. It breaks my heart to know that good, caring people are not as cared for as they should be. As much as it hurts to say, discrimination has not disappeared in 2016, and it may not for a long while.

That is why people not only within the LGBTQ community, but outside of it as well, must show their support for those who don’t feel like they can express themselves. We must stand together as allies, as human beings, and as friends and family members. After all, the right to love, and the right to be whoever we want to be, should be inherent.

With that, here is a video in honor of National Coming Out Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TBTRFChC1M

I hope that today, you can find the strength to show your true colors, encourage others to be themselves, or just demonstrate love and compassion to those around you.

Also, if you are an OCU student who wants to join a welcoming environment of people in the LGBTQIA+ community, SPECTRUM is a wonderful organization to get involved with.

Learn more about it here:

http://www.okcu.edu/students/multicultural/student...