To whom it may concern in the future, preferably the next president or someone else in a higher-up office that matters:

The rights of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) persons in America are very limited. In 2015, the legalization of same-sex marriage was a huge leap in recognizing LGBTQ citizens the same way we recognize others. Without equality for all, can we really be considered “The Land of the Free”?

The rights of LGBTQ people in America need to be protected in the same way we protect the rights of any other kind of person. An LGBTQ person deserves the same as you in every way, shape and form. Just because they may be homosexual, bisexual, or not cisgender does not mean that they are any less human.

“L.G.B.T. people are twice as likely to be targeted as African-Americans, and the rate of hate crimes against them has surpassed that of crimes against Jews”, according to a New York Times article in 2016. This goes to show that not only are LGBTQ persons discriminated against, but they receive the most intolerance out of every minority group in the United States of America.

The New York Times article says that a gay married couple, George and Chris Zander, were assaulted outside a local nightclub.There was also an attack on Larry and Daniel Lennox-Choate, two years after they were married at West Point Military Academy in 2013. This was also just two months after the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal. Obviously, these were hate crimes not just against these men as individuals, but the LGBT community as a whole. If we show that LGBTQ citizens are the same as everyone else by giving them the rights aligning with their gender or orientation, people will realize that we’re all humans, and no one deserves to be oppressed.

Sincerely,

a concerned teen ready for equality