As Donald Trump continues to be our President, our political climate continues to undo a lot of progress that we had during President Obama's term. Yes, we can talk all day about the pros and cons of both of our presidents, but the main issue today is that we are about to take away rights from our LGBTQ+ friends. In different states, there are bills being introduced to Congress and some are in the progress of an answer. It's ironic that we were built on a belief of religious freedom, but that thought process is harming our brothers and sisters because of analytical differences.

As a nation, we should be more aware of what we are doing to our people. LGBTQ+ people pay taxes like the heterosexual community, so we should be shown what our taxes are going to. Freedom for All Americans is a great website to keep track of the different bills as they go through different stages. There are bills being introduced in South Dakota that are making it harder on transgender youth. It stinks because of the suicide rates among the kids in that situation. Could you imagine losing a child because they have untreated Gender Dysphoria? I hope that question give you the chills.

Can you imagine kids screaming in pain as they are going through conversion therapy? if you smiled at that though, you are sick. Did you know in Arkansas that professionals in the medical field can deny you healthcare because of their conscience? So if a doctor is against your religion, sexual orientation, etc, they can refuse to help you. The only thing is that can't deny you if it's an emergency. That shows that we are regressing as a society and going back to when we had segregation. Ironically, Hawaii has elected to have conversion therapy banned.

In Colorado, they are outlining and making it clearer on what should be taught in sexual education classes. They are to include LGBTQ topics, but not explicit content on how sexual acts are performed. This truly is a step toward an accepting society. Whereas in Indiana, they are still not allowing students to participate in sports that are typical to certain genders. I understand both sides of the argument on that. Biologically females and males have differing strength, but you have to think about that not all males are as strong as others. I know females who have taken down other males with no problems. It's how you train that will show your skill. If a kid wants to play a sport, let the kid play a sport.

I know I've only touched on a few bills, but that's why I encourage research. The website I provided has links to all of the other bills and updates on each of them. It truly makes me sad that we are regressing as a society. The fact that we going to have a state where it's okay to deny someone healthcare due to their religious and sexual orientation shows that we never learned from the civil rights movement. The fact that we are finally having states ban conversion therapy makes for a win. During this time, we are more divided then we are united. The world is getting scarier, so we aren't we banding together?