Every person should have equal rights when it comes to marriage. Whether you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, transgender, or any other sexual orientation or gender identity, you should be entitled  to marry whom you love. Part of my belief includes the non-involvement of  politics and government  in whom a person marries. The law was passed and gay marriage is legal. However, that did  not guarantee acceptance. In fact, it can often do the opposite. The passing of the law, although happy for the majority (I’d like to think) of the country, angered a lot of people who often lack an understanding of the subject, are misinformed, or have religious beliefs that they use to discriminate against people fighting for their rights.  Love is not politics. You love whom you love. It’s that simple. At least it should be. Why are people who are gay made to feel unaccepted? Why do straight people have the right to marry and divorce with acceptance and lack of judgement? Meanwhile, gay people struggle towards gaining acceptance and understanding from the world. This is mind-boggling for me to think about.

This subject hits close to home for me. I attended a wedding between two men, one of whom was my uncle. This wedding happened about a month after the federal law was passed making gay marriage legal.  This was an exciting time for my uncles and my family. However, this wedding was bittersweet. The majority of my family did not attend the wedding because they do not support gay marriage. This has put a strain on relationships between my family members. It has caused me to lose respect for them. The fact that someone wouldn’t attend the most exciting day in someone’s life just because they personally don’t agree with it is baffling to me. If your family doesn’t accept you, how are you supposed to accept yourself? Love between two other people does not affect you. Why should other people get to have opinions on relationships between people of the same sex?

People tend to hide behind the “it’s just my opinion” nonsense. But if your “opinion” has a death toll and a body count, then it is more than just an opinion and does not deserve respect. If your “opinion” dehumanizes others and implies that all of us on this earth do not deserve equality, it is hate speech. It is bullying. Suicide and murder are real. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people. Gay youth are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers. People as young as 10 are deciding that they want to die because they know they are not accepted. People need to realize that we are in the 21st century. Girls like boys, girls like girls, boys like girls, and boys like boys. That is how it is. That fact that attention still has to be brought to it is crazy to me. Gay people should be accepted. That is not a question. Why doesn’t everyone on this earth want everyone on this to be happy? Because in the end, that is what matters. Happiness. And we all deserve it.

A lot of people say that they “don’t know how to explain it to their children” or that their “children will think that they should be gay too.” First, it isn’t hard to explain that two men or two women could be in love with each other in the same way that a man and a woman can be. This doesn’t mean that your child will be gay. It is not something you decide to be. It is who you are. People who practice certain religions also have strong opinions against being gay or gay marriage. In my opinion, these religions have been practiced for thousands of years and there is something to be said about eventually trying to modernize and adapt with the world as it changes.

All you have to do to understand people who are gay is put yourself in their shoes and imagine an opposite world: gay people are accepted and straight people are not. People need to imagine how they would feel if they were denied their rights, called names, bullied, insulted, treated with violence, etc. That is unacceptable and all that people are doing by hiding behind their “opinions” is encouraging a world in which treating people who are gay badly is accepted. There is nothing wrong with being gay. There is nothing wrong with being straight. There is nothing wrong with be normal or different or somewhere inbetween. Everyone has the right to be who they are. Everyone has the right to feel accepted and happy and loved. Everyone deserves a life in which they can live freely and enjoy every emotion and adventure and right.

Love has nothing to do with politics. Why should a small amount of people sitting in a courtroom determine if millions of people get to live happy, loving lives? They shouldn’t. Love has nothing to do with people who are not involved in your life. Outside opinions shouldn’t shame people for who they love. I hope that one day we live in a world where you are accepted no matter what your sexual orientation is. Our main goal as people should be to always accept everyone and treat everyone with kindness. There is no reason to do otherwise.