I love gay people, or what I prefer to call them, people. One of my recent blogs was about a school teacher who was pressuring members of her community to form a "traditional" prom committee and hold a prom for couples made up of members of the opposite sex (one male, one female) to attend instead of attending their high school prom which was allowing same-sex couples to attend together openly.
Let me make my point perfectly clear. You may not like my blog, you may not even like me. You may think that I'm going to Hell for condoning (and downright advocating for) equality for ALL PEOPLE. If that's the case, that's fine. You can hate me and my blog all day long. You don't have to read it. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
I'm a fairly straight-foward person. When I have a question or an opinion, chances are you're going to know about it fairly quickly. When I was setting up my website for my new business the other day, Brian noticed that I had a picture of myself featured on my "About Me" section that he thought I may want to change. The picture in question is the one below:
When I asked why he thought I should change it, he stated that we were in the South, and potential customers might find my opinion "offensive" and choose not to use my company. Now, I would like to make it perfectly clear that I agree with Brian. There is a good chance that someone is going to be offended by my photo and choose not to use my design service because of my personal opinions. The best part, however, is that I don't care.
My name is Amanda, and I am STRAIGHT AGAINST HATE. Some people skirt around topics that they think others may find awkward. I however, embrace awkwardness. For example, some people have questions that they are too embarrassed to ask someone for fear of what the other person may think about them. Prime example. I was surfing Pinterest the other day and realized that the majority of people on my Pinterest feed were women who were planning their grown-up lives of the future: the perfect house, the perfect husband, the perfect children, the perfect wardrobe. So I asked myself, hm...I wonder if lesbians like Pinterest as much as straight women. For some, this thought may pose a problem. What is the best way to ask someone without offending them? How about straight forward?
It took me less than 30 seconds to ask my friend Ally - a confident, beautiful, athletic, smart woman who happens to be gay - my question. Her answer was straightforward and she thought it was hilarious that I asked her that.
Our world is changing, and in my opinion, it is changing for the better. More and more people wake up each day with the realization that being gay defines you only as much as you let it. When I look at my friends I don't see them with a giant label that says GAY or STRAIGHT on their forehead. I see an athlete, an artist, a gamer, a teacher, a mentor, a son, a daughter, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a best friend, a Christian, a leader, a musician, an actor, a dancer, a singer, and most importantly, an equal.
I'm not asking everyone to suddenly wake up tomorrow and see the world through my eyes. I know that isn't possible. I am, however, asking you to wake up each day with a more accepting view of others than you had the day before. Changing the world starts one day at a time, one person at a time. I am a firm believer in the It Gets Better Project, a group helping to unite and encourage LGBT youth that things really do get better. The teasing and taunting, name calling, malicious tricks and games that our LGBT youth are constantly subjected to is unjust, unfair, and unnecessary. It happens everywhere. In every town, neighborhood, community, church, school, playground, and workplace. Many people choose to ignore it, but personally, I can't. LGBT youth have one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, simply because they feel alone, unwanted, unloved, and misunderstood.
YOU can help change that one day and one person at a time. The next time you're around your friends and one of them calls something "gay," stand up for what you know is right and tell them to get a dictionary. When you see a kid being bullied for trying to be themselves, step in and offer words of encouragement instead of turning a blind eye and walking away. YOU can be the difference in someone's life.
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