Homosexuality is easily one of the most controversial subjects in MANY countries at the moment.
It is easy to pass judgement on someone who isn't the same as you, but let me ask you, what if it were the other way around? what if being straight was considered a moral downfall? What if you held hands with someone of the opposite gender, and you were beaten? phsyically and/or emotionally? While I could talk for ages on this subject, I wont. And I wont bring religion into it either. Instead, I have a lovely peice that was submitted to me by a dear friend. You don't have to read the whole thing. you don't have to read any of it, honestly, but if you would just take a moment. It would be much appreciated. maybe you'll learn something new.
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"Imagine living in a world with 7 billion people, but you feel so utterly alone that the loneliness sometimes sweeps you off your feet and into a whirlpool of depression. You feel like there is no one to turn to. Your own family rejects you, your friends reject you, no one in the world can understand what you’re going through. You get bullied almost 26 times every day at school for being yourself. You’ve tried to be someone you’re not but that only cripples your soul. When you live the life you were born to lead, everyone you love turns their backs on you. They call you evil, disgusting, sick, freakish. They say the words so much that they seep into your being and you start to believe them, too. Sometimes it hurts so much that it seems the only answer is to take your own life. Does this seem like something that could never happen to you or anyone you know? Then why is it that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in youth between the ages of 10-24? LGBT youth are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers. The accounts of children taking their lives because of their sexual orientation are haunting. It’s hard to believe that we live in a world that has enough hate in it to drive a child to death. I speak before you today for one reason: I want to make the world a better place. With the help of love and acceptance, this world can be a place where our children are safe and content. This world can be a place where hate does not exist and all the people can truly be themselves. This world can be a place where everyone can hold up the flag of freedom and equality and freely express who they are without ridicule. I believe that if we all learn acceptance and love we can make this possible. That is not to say that the journey will be easy, because it won’t. But it is a worthy journey to embark on. The journey of freedom for all those that are persecuted is a long, bitter road, but the free expanse of land at the end is pure and golden.
Jamey Rodemeyer was 14 years old when he took his own life on September 18, 2011. He had posted videos on the internet promising other gay teens that “it gets better”. He said that he felt so loved, even by strangers. But the love from so many wasn’t enough to compete with the hate by all the others. He was bullied at school for his sexual orientation and he eventually took his own life. It is a shame, a terrible shame, that there has to be so much hate in this world. How can we let our children drive other children to their death? We do not have to agree with everything. The way a person lives their life does not have to be the way we live ours. But just because someone is different than we are does not mean we have to hate them. America is a melting pot. It is a glorious place where people of all races, colors, ethnicities, genders, religions, and sexualities should be able to join hands under the tree of equality. Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream. He had the dream that one day all people could be free and equal and love each other. I share that dream. I dream that one day ALL people can join hands in a chain of love and I know that that chain will spread through the entire world. The chain of love can be weak at times because it can sometimes be corrupted by the evils of ignorance and hate. But we can make it strong. If we can all accept the knowledge that gay, straight, bi, transgender, asexual, heterosexual people are all human beings that share our goals and dreams, then we can make the chain of love strong again. We just need to take time each day to accept someone for something we can’t understand. Just because something is different doesn’t make it any less. Is a rose any less beautiful than any other flower? Each flower is different and special but they are all beautiful. Similarly, love between two men or two women may seem different from the love between a man and a woman. But is it really? Why is it so different? What makes love between the same gender wrong? When I see the love in the eyes of a gay couple embracing, I do not see evil. I see love. I see that same love in the eyes of a straight couple. Why should love be something we have to try to control and limit? Why should we have to take something so precious as love and put rules and partitions on it? Love is a falcon. It is bold, it is beautiful, and most of all, it is free. It should not be chained down by the tassels of hate and oppression. It should be free to soar to new heights, to new limits, to new horizons. Love is pure, no matter what form it takes. The love between mother and child, husband and wife, friend and companion, man and man, woman and woman is pure in all its forms.
Many people think that being gay is a choice, but I do not believe that. The majority of people that are gay say that they did not choose to be gay. Many gay people try to change themselves. They try to be straight, but they can’t. It’s the same for a straight person: a person that is straight never chose to be straight. If they tried to be gay, they couldn’t. Why is being gay any different? If we cannot change our sexual orientation, why can they change theirs? And why WOULD they change their orientation? Why would someone choose a life where they are hated by everyone? Why would they choose a life where they feel so utterly alone that they go insane? Why would they choose to lead a life that can lead to their own death? There has been some scientific evidence that being gay might be genetic. According to the Discovery News movie Gay? You were born this way! “Epigenetics is the theory that hormone exposure in the womb can affect sexual preferences in the next generation.” Some people argue that being gay is unnatural because animals don’t exhibit homosexuality. But that isn’t true. According to the same movie, “Over 1500 animal species DO exhibit homosexuality”.
Many people say that a same-sex marriage poisons the structure of a traditional family. Is it the love between the couple that poisons this structure? What is this structure made of if love can poison it? What really poisons a family is abuse. There are many straight couples that poison the structure of a family. Personally, fathers that physically hurt their children are the ones that poison. Mothers that mentally corrupt their children are the ones that poison. Spouses that don’t truly love their partners are the ones that poison. And this poison can be anywhere. It can be in straight or gay couples. We should not be labeling a particular group as poison, but the parts of the group that contaminate. We should not ban gays from marriage, because many of those couples have a love that is just as pure as that of many straight couples. Let us not ban marriage from a particular group. Instead, let us purge the poison from the structure of a family, and let us purge it from all peoples, gay or straight. This poison is the poison of those that hurt others. That is what destroys a family. Hate destroys a family. Hate destroys all that is pure, all that is worth living for. Sometimes, hate destroys life itself. Some people hate gays. They HATE them. But why? For what reason? What reason is a good enough reason to contaminate your own body with such impure feelings? Hate is evil. Hate needs to be purged, not love. You don’t have to agree with everything everyone does. But you shouldn’t hate. It’s not healthy for anyone: for the people the hate is directed towards, for those that let hate contaminate their bodies, for the children of those that hate that learn their parents ways and follow their footsteps along a path that leads them to a life full of hate.
There are bad people in this world. That is evident from the chaos that surrounds us. But there are also very good people, and they come in all shapes, sizes, colors, sexualities, genders, religions, ethnicities, races, backgrounds, and forms of expression. And all these people are, obviously, people. And people should not hate other people. We were woven from the same fabric, molded from the same clay, painted form the same easel, carved from the same tree. We are all people and all people should learn to love so that we can battle hate. I want to battle hate so that a parent doesn’t have to wake up to the sight of their child hanging from the ceiling fan. I want to battle hate so that a friend doesn’t have to answer the call letting him know that his best friend just killed herself. I want to battle hate so that no one ever feels like the only answer is death. I hope that one day, we can all love each other enough to prevent a child from taking their own life. Maybe if everyone had loved a little bit more, they could have prevented Jamey Rodemeyer from commuting suicide. Or Asher Brown, or Tyler Clementi, or Kenneth Weishuhn, or Jadin Bell, who were all gay youth 18 or younger that killed themselves. No one person causes these deaths, and no one person can prevent them. We all cause, and we all can prevent. But to prevent we all have to work together. We have to rise up in the call of love, and freedom, and equality and answer it with our heads held high. No one is perfect, and there will be many times when we will fail. But failures bring success, weakness brings strength, fear brings courage, and hate brings love. Together, if we all wish to, we can make this world better. We truly can. It won’t’ be easy, but whoever said life was easy? Life is not easy, and neither is the journey to a better future: a future filled with life, with love, with acceptance. But one day, we will get there. One day, all our children can reap in the rewards of a better life. One day, everyone can swim in the banks of the river that has carried happiness, love, and equality to its shores. And one day, we will make this possible; we will make this dream a reality."
~Aspen R.
It is easy to pass judgement on someone who isn't the same as you, but let me ask you, what if it were the other way around? what if being straight was considered a moral downfall? What if you held hands with someone of the opposite gender, and you were beaten? phsyically and/or emotionally? While I could talk for ages on this subject, I wont. And I wont bring religion into it either. Instead, I have a lovely peice that was submitted to me by a dear friend. You don't have to read the whole thing. you don't have to read any of it, honestly, but if you would just take a moment. It would be much appreciated. maybe you'll learn something new.
_____________________________________________________________
"Imagine living in a world with 7 billion people, but you feel so utterly alone that the loneliness sometimes sweeps you off your feet and into a whirlpool of depression. You feel like there is no one to turn to. Your own family rejects you, your friends reject you, no one in the world can understand what you’re going through. You get bullied almost 26 times every day at school for being yourself. You’ve tried to be someone you’re not but that only cripples your soul. When you live the life you were born to lead, everyone you love turns their backs on you. They call you evil, disgusting, sick, freakish. They say the words so much that they seep into your being and you start to believe them, too. Sometimes it hurts so much that it seems the only answer is to take your own life. Does this seem like something that could never happen to you or anyone you know? Then why is it that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in youth between the ages of 10-24? LGBT youth are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers. The accounts of children taking their lives because of their sexual orientation are haunting. It’s hard to believe that we live in a world that has enough hate in it to drive a child to death. I speak before you today for one reason: I want to make the world a better place. With the help of love and acceptance, this world can be a place where our children are safe and content. This world can be a place where hate does not exist and all the people can truly be themselves. This world can be a place where everyone can hold up the flag of freedom and equality and freely express who they are without ridicule. I believe that if we all learn acceptance and love we can make this possible. That is not to say that the journey will be easy, because it won’t. But it is a worthy journey to embark on. The journey of freedom for all those that are persecuted is a long, bitter road, but the free expanse of land at the end is pure and golden.
Jamey Rodemeyer was 14 years old when he took his own life on September 18, 2011. He had posted videos on the internet promising other gay teens that “it gets better”. He said that he felt so loved, even by strangers. But the love from so many wasn’t enough to compete with the hate by all the others. He was bullied at school for his sexual orientation and he eventually took his own life. It is a shame, a terrible shame, that there has to be so much hate in this world. How can we let our children drive other children to their death? We do not have to agree with everything. The way a person lives their life does not have to be the way we live ours. But just because someone is different than we are does not mean we have to hate them. America is a melting pot. It is a glorious place where people of all races, colors, ethnicities, genders, religions, and sexualities should be able to join hands under the tree of equality. Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream. He had the dream that one day all people could be free and equal and love each other. I share that dream. I dream that one day ALL people can join hands in a chain of love and I know that that chain will spread through the entire world. The chain of love can be weak at times because it can sometimes be corrupted by the evils of ignorance and hate. But we can make it strong. If we can all accept the knowledge that gay, straight, bi, transgender, asexual, heterosexual people are all human beings that share our goals and dreams, then we can make the chain of love strong again. We just need to take time each day to accept someone for something we can’t understand. Just because something is different doesn’t make it any less. Is a rose any less beautiful than any other flower? Each flower is different and special but they are all beautiful. Similarly, love between two men or two women may seem different from the love between a man and a woman. But is it really? Why is it so different? What makes love between the same gender wrong? When I see the love in the eyes of a gay couple embracing, I do not see evil. I see love. I see that same love in the eyes of a straight couple. Why should love be something we have to try to control and limit? Why should we have to take something so precious as love and put rules and partitions on it? Love is a falcon. It is bold, it is beautiful, and most of all, it is free. It should not be chained down by the tassels of hate and oppression. It should be free to soar to new heights, to new limits, to new horizons. Love is pure, no matter what form it takes. The love between mother and child, husband and wife, friend and companion, man and man, woman and woman is pure in all its forms.
Many people think that being gay is a choice, but I do not believe that. The majority of people that are gay say that they did not choose to be gay. Many gay people try to change themselves. They try to be straight, but they can’t. It’s the same for a straight person: a person that is straight never chose to be straight. If they tried to be gay, they couldn’t. Why is being gay any different? If we cannot change our sexual orientation, why can they change theirs? And why WOULD they change their orientation? Why would someone choose a life where they are hated by everyone? Why would they choose a life where they feel so utterly alone that they go insane? Why would they choose to lead a life that can lead to their own death? There has been some scientific evidence that being gay might be genetic. According to the Discovery News movie Gay? You were born this way! “Epigenetics is the theory that hormone exposure in the womb can affect sexual preferences in the next generation.” Some people argue that being gay is unnatural because animals don’t exhibit homosexuality. But that isn’t true. According to the same movie, “Over 1500 animal species DO exhibit homosexuality”.
Many people say that a same-sex marriage poisons the structure of a traditional family. Is it the love between the couple that poisons this structure? What is this structure made of if love can poison it? What really poisons a family is abuse. There are many straight couples that poison the structure of a family. Personally, fathers that physically hurt their children are the ones that poison. Mothers that mentally corrupt their children are the ones that poison. Spouses that don’t truly love their partners are the ones that poison. And this poison can be anywhere. It can be in straight or gay couples. We should not be labeling a particular group as poison, but the parts of the group that contaminate. We should not ban gays from marriage, because many of those couples have a love that is just as pure as that of many straight couples. Let us not ban marriage from a particular group. Instead, let us purge the poison from the structure of a family, and let us purge it from all peoples, gay or straight. This poison is the poison of those that hurt others. That is what destroys a family. Hate destroys a family. Hate destroys all that is pure, all that is worth living for. Sometimes, hate destroys life itself. Some people hate gays. They HATE them. But why? For what reason? What reason is a good enough reason to contaminate your own body with such impure feelings? Hate is evil. Hate needs to be purged, not love. You don’t have to agree with everything everyone does. But you shouldn’t hate. It’s not healthy for anyone: for the people the hate is directed towards, for those that let hate contaminate their bodies, for the children of those that hate that learn their parents ways and follow their footsteps along a path that leads them to a life full of hate.
There are bad people in this world. That is evident from the chaos that surrounds us. But there are also very good people, and they come in all shapes, sizes, colors, sexualities, genders, religions, ethnicities, races, backgrounds, and forms of expression. And all these people are, obviously, people. And people should not hate other people. We were woven from the same fabric, molded from the same clay, painted form the same easel, carved from the same tree. We are all people and all people should learn to love so that we can battle hate. I want to battle hate so that a parent doesn’t have to wake up to the sight of their child hanging from the ceiling fan. I want to battle hate so that a friend doesn’t have to answer the call letting him know that his best friend just killed herself. I want to battle hate so that no one ever feels like the only answer is death. I hope that one day, we can all love each other enough to prevent a child from taking their own life. Maybe if everyone had loved a little bit more, they could have prevented Jamey Rodemeyer from commuting suicide. Or Asher Brown, or Tyler Clementi, or Kenneth Weishuhn, or Jadin Bell, who were all gay youth 18 or younger that killed themselves. No one person causes these deaths, and no one person can prevent them. We all cause, and we all can prevent. But to prevent we all have to work together. We have to rise up in the call of love, and freedom, and equality and answer it with our heads held high. No one is perfect, and there will be many times when we will fail. But failures bring success, weakness brings strength, fear brings courage, and hate brings love. Together, if we all wish to, we can make this world better. We truly can. It won’t’ be easy, but whoever said life was easy? Life is not easy, and neither is the journey to a better future: a future filled with life, with love, with acceptance. But one day, we will get there. One day, all our children can reap in the rewards of a better life. One day, everyone can swim in the banks of the river that has carried happiness, love, and equality to its shores. And one day, we will make this possible; we will make this dream a reality."
~Aspen R.