I have something to tell you.
It's something that I've been keeping a secret for a while
Locked tight inside my soul
I don’t know how you will react
but I realized that I shouldn't hide my feelings
I should be proud of who I am
And I should embrace the community that supports me
So here it goes...

I am America.

Now wait, before you say anything,
Let me explain.
Since I was born I've always had a pretty straight set of morals
I believe that skin color does not define you
No matter what anyone says
Everyone should have the right to decide who they want to be
By the kind acts that they take, the courage they show, the friendships they make, and the loved ones that they hold onto
They define themselves
Others chose to be defined by
their racist remarks, their ignorance, and the intolerance they show
To people who did not ask for their opinion
But all the prejudice people in the world should not, will not have power over me because I see that their words have no meaning
Their guns have no ammunition because every round is full of more lies
We could all strip ourselves bare to the bone
And there would still be no difference
Kind people would still be kind
Geniuses would still be smart
Friends would still be friends
Lovers would still be lovers
Racists would still be racist
And skin color would still not represent a person
And
I think that people have the right to love who they love
Women or man
Because it wasn't a genetic mutation that made a girl realize how beautiful her best friend was
It wasn't a devastating disorder that caused a man to pronounce his undying love for his soul mate
No one made a mistake that showed me the gorgeousness of a feminine smile
No one forgot to do something that resulted in my recognition of the person
Who holds me in my weakest times
And wipes the tears from my face
Who doesn't judge me or ask me to change who I am
The woman, the man, they are the one who loves me
Love is love
Man with women
Women with women
Man with man
God does not control our decisions
and he does NOT have to "forgive us" for being who we are
All anyone ever wants is for a hand to hold
Someone to share memories with
To construct a life with
And who the hell thinks that they can tell someone what bathroom to use?
What gender to be?
The people who judge them have not had half the struggle of those who do not feel right in their own body
His skin crawls when someone calls him pretty
Her body goes numb when someone tells her how handsome she is
It is the right of every human to have the parts that fit
And the bodies that are not wrong
They shouldn't have to look in the mirror and see someone else
Or ride the bus and hear the transphobic remarks of a person who I bet couldn't take the feeling of having the wrong body for more than 2 minutes without wanting to end it all
The man who you say wants to rape you in the women's restroom is a women who wants to have the correct body parts more than anything.
She's not there for you, she's there for her
so just accept that the world doesn't revolve around you and your judgement
The women who just wants to kidnap your son in the mens restroom is the real victim
Tied to a body that does not belong to him because
A body does not represent a soul
I'm sick of letting the bad guys win
Of accepting that this is how it will always be
I'm done having the closet door shut in my face
It's time to kick it down
I'm sick of hearing racial slurs
It's time to educate
I'm tired of seeing people in need shunned for not fitting into "society's standards"
Because f*** those standards
We create our own vision of justice
We don't need to define ourselves to anyone
I am a women
A man
A lady-lover
A gay
A bisexual
I am black
I am white
I am Asian
I am Muslim
I am Mexican
I am Latina
I am all of these things and more regardless of those who try to tear me down
I am me and I won't stand behind those who can't accept that
I'll be anyone who is willing to stand against the rascist, homophobic, transphobic, humaphobic
People in the world

I am America