The Simple Things We Want

We all remember what happened to the kids who were different. We all remember what it was like for kids who didn’t conform to gender stereotypes and those suspected of being gay. Many of us experienced the bullying that often goes along with not blending in. Many of us remember the shame and guilt. Many of us remember what it was like to believe that our tormentors might be right about us and that maybe something was wrong with us. Many of us remember what it was like to not have friends, family, teachers, ministers, neighbors we could count on when the world seemed to be against us. Many of us know what it’s like to be afraid our secret will get out and those we care about will turn against us. We know the loneliness. We know that the memories of it haunt us. It’s not a small thing. It’s not something that all kids go through or should go through. It does not build character. It serves no useful purpose. It is simply needless pain that sometimes never completely goes away. It slows us down. It keeps us from reaching our full potential. It kills some of us.

You can not call LGBT people abominations, you can not claim they have a diabolical agenda, you can not claim they can chose to be straight if they want to, you can not claim that they recruit and indoctrinate young people and then insist that you’re innocent when your campaign of hate filters down to the kids who are different. We did not spring fully formed into the world. We were young once, and the haters remember us when we were young even if they pretend not to. They aim to break our spirits. They want us to believe we are inferior. And they know they can’t successfully destroy our self-esteem unless they begin tearing us down when we’re young. They want us to grow up in a hostile environment. They want us to be told over and over again when we’re young and impressionable that people like us don’t measure up. They cling to their sense of superiority. They want to hold onto it so much they call it their religion. And they want everyone to believe that when we merely ask for fairness and respect, for ourselves and our youth, we are attacking their religion.

We are not out to destroy the world, or even anyone’s religion. What we want are very simple things. We want our families to love us for who we are. We do not want to have to figure ourselves out all on our own and then educate the people who are supposed to support us. We don’t want to be mocked and teased and ridiculed and threatened relentless. We do not want to live in fear of abuse if we slip and let the wrong person see a glimpse of who we really are. We want to be ourselves and not be afraid. We want dreams and hopes to be our birthright. We want to live…freely, openly, without shame or fear. We want what everyone wants.