LGBTQ: A Community to Honor

I was lucky to be born during the 2000s. I can’t imagine how many people had either been kicked out, beaten, or committed suicide because their close families wouldn’t accept them. All because their family didn’t accept who likes what person. The LGBT community has been through hard times before, but the acceptance is getting there. I hadn’t been told that I am going through a “phase” or been called something else just because I think boys and girls are pretty. But other people certainly had over the past decades. However, they always pull through in the end. LGBTQ communities are diverse, strong and they are a natural and beautiful thing, but they still need help.

The LGBT community is the acronym for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans community. Of course, there are other variants of the acronym, like LGBTQ + which is Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer +. While some are straightforward and simple, some variants are longer than my attention span. This is a well-diversified community with people of different abilities and of different nations. Some are black, some have disabilities, some are of different religions and ages. ANYONE is accepted. Except for adults who like kids in THAT way, which is an exception.

The LGBT had gone through a rough past. According to HISTORY On June 28, 1969, a riot rampaged throughout New York City. Why? Because back then, homosexual relations and other people who are non-gender-conforming are discriminated and subjected to violence. People who are caught by the police are either fined or sent to jail. However, at the Stonewall Inn, where it used to be a refuge for these types of people, they are still being threatened by the mafia and being raided by police often. The community had enough and started to resist arrests against the police. Chaos broke out, including throwing bottles at the police and setting the bar on fire. Nonetheless, it made an important impact on equal marriage rights, thus marking the first victory of a battle to a war.

Now, many people who are anti-LGBT will say things like “gay people are a menace to children” or "It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”. According to a credible resource like University of Missouri Saint Louis, they’re myths that immature people tell to stigmatize the others. A person might say that “gay teachers bring their homosexuality into the classroom”, but it is proven that it does not matter and sexuality does not influence a person whether they teach or not. Sexuality is not the center of a person’s identity, only partial. Take the wonderful teacher I have. She has a girlfriend but does it affect how she teaches? No, it obviously does not. I didn’t know she has a girlfriend until I saw them at the mall. She still is a good teacher whether I knew or not. Sexual orientation does not affect how good a person teaches; how they teach, however, makes them either a good teacher or not. Another person would also say “BeInG gAy Is NoT NaTuRal”. The truth is homosexuality exists in nature, and it’s beneficial to the ecosystem. Take lions and penguins as an example. They can adopt and raise orphans if the biological parent[s] cannot take care of the young. This obviously goes to show that being gay or bisexual or lesbian or anything other is fine.

Nonetheless, people are still getting hurt, and being shut out by their families. The fact that people still are hurting other innocent people hurts me emotionally. People are still getting bullied and we are still getting discriminated against. We should not deal with that much longer. As much as we are diverse, strong and fine, we still needed help. People are still getting bullied, as a child was pushed into suicide because he was gay. A CHILD. NO ONE should make someone kill themselves because they are gay, bisexual, trans, whatever. As the Golden Rule states: “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. Be tolerable towards others and you’ll get tolerated by them, even if you don’t like it. You can support the community by donating to pro-LGBT organizations like the Trevor Project.  I am starting to make some money to donate to the organization, I am already doing my share of the support. As a bisexual, I truly felt like I needed to do something for the community so I’m making a few pieces of art on pride so the profits can go to the Trevor Project. Throughout history, the LGBT have been discriminated against, beaten, driven to suicide, and the horrors. The LGBTQ is beautifully diverse, persevering, and a beautiful thing, which I am proud to say that this is a community I also belong in.