“The pressures on gay teens can be overwhelming--to keep secrets, tell lies, deny who you are, and try to be who you're not. Remember: you are special and worth being cared about, loved, and accepted just as you are. Never, ever let anyone convince you otherwise.” -Alex Sanchez

   Dear Future President,

   First off, congrats! Let's hope you don't drive our country into war with our allies and drive us even deeper into debt! Anyways, I hope you're not a bigot driven to take away gay rights. Which is dumb. Remember all that fighting against England for those "God given rights"? Who someone is attracted to doesn't make them any less of a person.

   Honestly, life is too short to care who someone is attracted to. Who cares if a girl likes girls or if a boy likes boys or if someone likes both? If that's really your biggest concern, I'm troubled by you. Society shames young teens for their curiosity, but uses their sexuality as sexual fuel, which is gross. How are you going to shame someone's love then say it's hot? Have you ever said "Oh I hate lesbians but gay boys are hot" or "Gay guys are gross but girls kissing is hot"? If you said yes then ding ding ding! You're perverse. Or made fun of teens and their sexuality or gender saying "oh you only identify as this because of the internet". What else are we supposed to do when no one tells us about sexuality besides being straight? I didn't know that I was Pansexual until I was introduced to tumblr. Pansexuality, by definition, is the sexual attraction to one despite their gender identity. Finding your sexual identity isn't always easy of course. I thought I was lesbian, then bisexual, then settled on pan.

   Let's talk about the most annoying thing: stereotypes. You know. That all lesbians secretly like men, or all bisexuals will "choose a side," pansexuals are just "special snowflakes," or that asexuals are broken. Your disgusting stereotypes and unnecessary hatred is why LGBT+ teens stay in the metaphorical closet. We need to teach children that sexuality is okay. And throw away your stupid excuse of "It will scare the children!" Because frankly? Kids are more accepting that most adults. I was introduced to my cousin's girlfriend at nine and you wanna know what me reaction was? "Oh, okay. Hi!" There was no confusion, fear, or rejection. I have a gay godfather, who is happily married to his husband, and I treated him no different from any other family members. Children are accepting and kind. I knew that people in love were together, and understood that these people love each other, and their love isn't bad. I didn't see it as "different" either, I just saw it as what it was. Love.

In conclusion, Future President, I hope you take what I've said to heart. Love is love, as long as it hurts no one.

Sincerely, Jordan