Dear Mr. or Madam President,

The United States has faced much discrimination in all forms, and we have - mostly - overcome many of them. Racial and sexual discrimination, while most definitely still around, has lowered significantly since the 1950's. Racial discrimination is still a big problem, and sexual discrimination happens more often than one would think, but the discrimination I would like to talk about in this letter is one that has just recently started gaining attention, and that is discrimination towards the people of the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) community.

We cannot deny the discrimination against this group of people. The comments towards the LGBT community are almost always negative, and these negative comments usually show a form of disgust towards the person. In fact, one of the most common reasons given would be that, "Homosexuality is immoral and unnatural." (procon.org) Homosexuality has been observed by scientists in virtually every species on earth. Why are people so spiteful towards the LGBT community?

When you ask most people why they despise the LGBT community so much they tend to cite scripture or bring God into the equation, especially in cases involving gay marriage. A quote from the con side of the website procon.org states that, "Gay marriage is contrary to the word of God and is incompatible with the beliefs, sacred texts, and traditions of many religious groups." I do not see a valid argument in those types of statements. The church and state are separate. If the state decides to legalize gay marriage , a church doesn't have to marry a gay couple, but they can legally be married and they should not be denied that right. I have noticed that every con on the website has to do with God, or homosexuality being disgusting, in some way. If you really want to bring God and the Bible into the controversy that is the LGBT community, I believe the whole book should be used, not just the one part that helps bash the LGBT community. Many people use the 'fact' that homosexuality is a sin to degrade the LGBT community, therefore 'justifying' that they will all go to hell for their shameful sinning. The Bible also says that it is a sin to wear clothing that mixes materials and to have premarital sex. Aside from religious reasons, people also reason that, "Legalizing gay marriage advances the "homosexual agenda"(...)" (procon.org) There are also people who just are genuinely disgusted by it, even though it affects them in no way whatsoever. One man, in reference to his homosexual cousin, stated, "Truthfully speaking it disgusts me to no end. It is wrong and it is a sickness in my opinion." (procon.org) These types of statements come from people who cannot think of any better reason than to scorn. Many people also say that homosexuals "choose" to be gay. That is equivalent to stating that heterosexuals choose to be straight, yet if you say that a straight person they will say, "No I don't, I just am. It's how God made me."

Not all people have negative things to say though, and restore a little of the faith in humanity I have left. One of the 'Pros' listed on procon.org was a statement from someone saying, "My opinion on homosexuality is if it makes you happy, I'm happy for you, you do not actually have to justify yourself to anyone on this planet, your life and how you live it is your business, as long as how you live it, is not endangering the lives of others." Unfortunately the negative outweighs the positive in this particular topic of discussion.

What I would like to ask, Mr. or Madam President, is that work be put towards continuing to decrease and possibly ending LGBT discrimination.