Dear next President,

Be yourself. We are told almost daily that we should always be ourselves, but what happens when you try to be yourself and are discriminated against for that? People that are part of the LGBT+ community are discriminated against for being themselves, but they should be given the same rights as everyone else. People should be allowed to marry who they love and not lose income because of it. People should be able to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with and not be stared at or have the cops called on them because they don’t pass very well yet. They’re just people trying to be themselves and live their lives. The United States should put laws in place to stop this discrimination and give people of the LGBT+ community the basic human rights everyone else has.

Everyone feels some type of love at some point in their lives, regardless if it’s for a person or not. But you don’t get put down, or lose your job because you love the outdoors or snickers. So why should you lose your job because you someone of the same sex or gender. That person loving someone of the same sex or gender does absolutely no harm to you, so why discriminate against them because of it. Just because you don’t agree with it doesn’t mean you can make their life miserable because of it, they don’t tell you that you’re a horrible person because you don’t like your steaks cooked the same. It’s childish. In an article titled “Obama, Lincoln , and Gay Rights” The author quotes a speech President Obama gave, “We seek an America in which no one feels the pain of discrimination based on who you are or who you love.” Although America still isn’t perfect on accepting gay people, we have come a long way, and finishing what Obama started for gay rights, is something that is very important.

We all go to the bathroom. It isn’t an abnormal thing. But as more and more people that are transgender are coming out and starting to use the bathroom of the sex that they identify with. In an article titled “Virginia Case on Restrooms Could Affect N. Carolina” a quote by Gavin Grimm, a transgender male student in Virginia says something that is very true, “‘With this decision, we hope that schools and legislators will finally get the message that excluding transgender kids from the restrooms is unlawful sex discrimination.’” Everything Gavin said is very true. He is someone who has first hand faced this discrimination, and knows that he is not being allowed to use the bathroom because he is transgender. But these kids are just going to the bathroom, and they are that gender, just because they don’t have they don’t have the biological parts doesn’t mean they aren’t. There is no threat being posed when they use the bathroom, so why ban them from using it, it’s oppression.

Lastly we need to look at the hardships children and teens that are part of the community are facing. As more and more children and teens come out ot their parents, more and more parents will either kick their kids out or abuse them verbally or even physically. None of these kids deserve this, they are just kids that want to be comfortable with themselves and their parents are making it worse for them. On top of that, if they are out at school, they can be verbally and physically abused there. But what for? Because they were themselves? Because they listened to their parents, but their parents didn’t like that? It’s sickening.

People of the LGBT+ community deserve every human right everyone else gets. The best way to stop these issues is to put laws in place to stop this discrimination, and make it harder for people to commit hate crimes against people of the community. We also should educate people on the community, and make schools give more education and set rules in place to protect students. Let’s put an end to the discrimination, and make this country safe for people of the LGBT+ community.

Sincerely,

Fletcher H.