I believe that people can grow.
When I was 14, I was given books by my parents that portrayed gay people as being possessed by demons. And I believed it because I was an idiot kid who didn't know any better.
In less than a year, I went from believing that, to understanding that I was handed propaganda by people who wanted to control the way my brain processed information. And I was horrified.
Within a year of that realization, I also came to the conclusion that the belief I had been taught since I was two years old (love thy neighbor) was only meant to apply to people that looked like me, believed the things I believed, and for into a certain mold. And I fucking hated that conclusion. My belief system began to change. I began to resent the church I grew up in, and stopped basing my beliefs and opinions on what those people wanted from me.
I grew. I changed. And before the end of my 16th year on this planet, I was meeting friends an hour before work, to hold signs and support them at No H8 rallies.
I had to be careful. Didn't want to get in trouble. But I also wanted to be there to support my friends who loved me regardless of my background, my upbringing, or my beliefs. I learned to fight for those friends, who had no reason to fight for me.
I was 19 when I finally walked away from church and the hypocrisy I was raised in. I only made it that far because of my deep seeded fear of letting down my parents, or upsetting authority figures.
Because, first and foremost, above all else, I am a coward.
But, I believe that people can change. I am proof that people can change.
But if you know someone who is currently defending ICE and their actions, that is not your friend. That is not your family. That is someone who, above all else, is selfish. They are not cowards. They are not afraid of upsetting their family. They can look at something that is fundamentally wrong, and be okay with it.
There is no convincing them.
They're already convinced.
You'll be better off for it.
But if they were going to, they would have by now
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