I believe that love may be the only pure thing left in this world.

I know nothing to be more pure and real than the intimacy shared between two people who truly believe that there is no one else in the world who can make them feel more accepted, and appreciated. There is nothing truer than dedicating every ounce of your heart to another person, and letting them into the depths of your mind with open arms. There is nothing more true, and nothing more beautiful, and some people are forced to suppress the way they feel out of the fear that they will be ridiculed for who they chose to love.

In April 2011, a report published by the Williams Institute estimated that 3.8 percent of Americans identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. This means that 12 million people in the United states are part of the LGBTQ community.

To deny people the freedom to love is denying people of one of the most pure aspects of life. Being in love is a blessing, not a legal right. Walking down the aisle next to the person you want to raise children with should be an extraordinary symbol of passion and dedication, not a far-off dream. A feeling of deep attachment with someone else can save people. When the rest of the world crumples down around you, and you have someone else's arms to fall into, it makes the burdens of life a little easier to handle. Love is not just coffee house dates and midnight kissing in the rain. Love is not a lifetime movie. Love is the fact that you are no longer alone in the world. You're no longer alone in your hopes and dreams and endeavors. You find a piece of yourself in someone else and you get lost in another soul. It is the most incredible thing in the world, and there are 12 million people in this country who might never be able to experience it because of the society we live in. There are 12 million people who face hatred and homophobia simply for whom they decide to go home to at the end of the day.

We live in a world where people can walk on the moon. Every single moment, a new human exists. There are 86,400 seconds in a day and for however many years this planet has existed, the sky has never looked exactly the same twice. These things are absolutely absurd. They are incredible and unbelievable, yet we know them to be true. We accept these beautiful things, yet some people find it difficult to accept that a boy can fall in love with another boy.

I want my future wife and I to be able to be married in a room full of people who don't look at us and see two people different than they are. I want people to look at us, and see two people who have never been more in love. By the time I call a beautiful girl my wife, I want to live in a world where it's not looked down upon. I want to live in a world where we all have the freedom to love.