An obvious statement I know, but a powerful one.
People are not commodity, they arenât inanimate, they have a will to live.
They feel things; we feel things. And thatâs what makes us beautiful and powerful. But power and beauty can be misconstrued and abused.
Often times we feel the need to ask someone what they like. This helps us get to know them and how to have conversation, and gauges the connections we have with that person right off the bat.Â
We take this a step further when we see people in power. Celebrities, politicians, community leaders, teachers and anyone else we feel that we respect or fear.
More often than not, we have just rolled our eyes and just become angry with Donald Trump. Letâs all be honest here, heâs an idiot who shouldnât be president. But somehow he became our president; he used fear.
For some strange reason people are afraid of the LGBTQ+ community. I donât know why though. Weâre usually pretty nice, we have made strides in culture, we have a vast amount of love for people, and we throw some of the best parties ever.
Yet it violates the sanctity of marriage, even though fifty percent of marriages end in divorce.Â
It violates whatâs natural, it wasnât Adam and Steve, it was Adam and Eve.
It violates what we know, because clearly there are only two genders, MAN AND WOMAN.Â
If you couldnât tell, Iâm being sarcastic. The LGBTQ+ community doesnât violate marriage at all. If all marriage is loving a person for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and to love and cherish someone, then all people are capable of that. If you love someone wholeheartedly and want to be with them through everything listed above, it doesnât matter what gender or sexuality you are.
Maybe there was and Adam and Steve, maybe Eve felt like Steve, maybe it was Anna and Eve, we donât know. We donât know because we werenât there. We were just given eye witness accounts of what apparently was there. We donât know if it was literal or figurative. More importantly, we donât know if its fully true.
And obviously there are more than two genders. Iâm not going to debate that because there is massive amount of psychological and scientific evidence that supports and solidifies that there are.Â
There were still people who voted for Trump and Pence; there were still people who were for taking away the rights of others; there were those who were for the violence against the Queer community.
We are alive, but we are unwell.
Transgender people are being turned away for basic medical needs.Â
If a Trans person needed to go to the emergency room for whatever reason, they could be turned away. If they needed medicine from a pharmacy, the pharmacy would be allowed to refuse to help to them. If a Trans person needed to go and receive immediate medical attention, doctors and nurses are allowed to violate the Hippocratic oath and can use medical malpractice to not help someone.
Gay men and Lesbians are having their children turned away from medical procedures as well. Should their child need a shot for the flu or vaccinations to stay healthy and attend school, a hospital or a doctors office can turn them away and refuse to give them the necessary medical attention that those children need.
Young pansexual women, men, and people are being sent to conversion therapy against their will.
Should a minor be outed, have that knowledge be shared with their parents, and are somehow in the eyes of their parents be found âunnaturalâ, the parents are within their rights to be able to send their child to conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is still legal in about eighty percent of the world, and is still legal in at least 30 states of the United States. And while some states have proposed bans and have attempted to be made it illegal, the institutions are still allowed to operate.
It is an outrage to deny people basic rights. Everyone deserves a home, everyone deserves medical attention, and everyone deserves the freedom to choose who they are. Its in the United States Declaration of Independence. Life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, these are considered âunalienableâ rights.Â
This means that everyone deserves them, regardless of who or what they are.
And because of this statement, change is happening
Countries around the world are making change. Many countries have removed homosexuality and transgenderism from mental health lists, meaning that people who are gay and/or transgender are allowed to be themselves and wonât be sent to a mental hospital or be forced to go to conversion therapy.
In the United States, same sex marriage has been legalized. In fact, many western countries have legalized same sex marriage. This is a huge jump for civil and Queer rights. Should you and your partner want to be married and you are the same sex, you are allowed to be married.Â
Violence still exists, hate speech still exists, and bigotry is allowed to thrive.
At times, it feels like we as the LGBTQ+ community have made one big step forward, and then it feels like the world and our governments make us take four huge steps back.
While it feels like we are being limited and persecuted, we have hope and we have each other.
We have the community that has built itself up from the ashes of despair and hatred. We have risen and we have fought tooth and nail for our rights, and we will keep fighting until everyone has full and equal rights in our community.
We are a powerful community, and we are a beautiful community.
There will be days where it feels like all is lost and we have nothing.
But as long as we remember that love and acceptance transcends above the bigotry, then hate, violence, and bigotry from those who oppose us will never win.
- That Pan Man Boi(who will fight for you no matter what)Â