The rights of LGBT people seem to be a popular topic in recent time, and as many people as there are who are all for rights for LGBT people, there’s also plenty of people against those rights. Many people recognise that disagreeing with the idea that LGBT people having equal rights is wrong. Despite that, there are still people who believe disagreeing with LGBT rights is okay and is an opinion which can lead to people being openly allowed to discriminate against LGBT people. If they have enough power, people can create laws against LGBT people under the notions of “religious freedom” or “safety” which is an issue that needs to be stopped as soon as possible.

America was a country suspended on the idea of freedom for everyone, and in 2016, America should be able to live up to that. As good as freedom for everyone sounds and, if executed right, is, people are still twisting the idea of freedom to discriminate against other people. In certain parts of America, businesses are allowed to deny service to LGBT people under the idea of religious freedom. The biggest problem here is that being religious is a choice, and a person’s sexuality and gender are not. People who have chosen their religion are allowed to deny service to LGBT people who were born with sexualities and/or genders that were different from the norm. It’s not that religious discrimination is not a problem and a thing, because it is, but a person’s chosen religion should never give them the ability to discriminate against other people for traits they were born with.

“Religious Freedom” isn’t the only excuse people use to deny LGBT people access to public services. Transgender bathroom laws concern whether transgender people should be allowed to use the bathrooms for their prefered gender or if they have to use the ones that correspond to the gender they were diagnosed with at birth. People against allowing transgender people to use the bathrooms they choose often bring up “safety” as a reason for denying people simple rights. They believe that people could claim they are transgender and go into any bathroom they want and potentially cause harm to people. Of course, this is wrong on a moral level. They’re denying innocent people who have literally done nothing wrong the right to use the bathroom they want because they think that someone might abuse that right. Instead of taking rights from completely innocent people, there could be more effort put into actually stopping the people harming others.

Freedom for LGBT people needs to happen now. People who have had their rights protected from the moment they were born should not be allowed to take rights away from the people who need them the most. Giving LGBT people's rights will not stop social discrimination, but it’s not like not giving them essential rights will. Beginning with LGBT rights in all 50 states, we can begin social acceptance of LGBT people everywhere as well. If we begin to stop the idea that it is okay to discriminate against people can be treated as nothing heavier than an opinion then we can begin to see the real people who are struggling and help them get equal rights.