Dear Future President:

Mr.Trump, you are about to undertake the role of the President of the United States of America, and with that comes an issue you will be dealing with for the next four year. Everyone is born with thirty basic rights. These rights should not be taken away or dismantled in any way. Our forefathers fought for us to have these rights and for the people of America to keep ourselves safe. We are supposed to be able to use these rights but by omitting these rights Americans are being discriminated against.

People have forgotten all about a human’s rights when they inflict torture upon others. During “conversion” or “reparative” therapy, patients are shocked on different places of the body with electric currents anytime the “subject” has a thought about homosexuality. This method is used to try to retrain the brain into thinking and feeling the same way a heterosexual person would when faced with a series of pictures or a parade of people. This practice has been proven by many medical companies and research labs not to have worked and to be very harmful to the “patient”.

The practice is of “conversion” therapy is banned in just over 20 states, however there are still places that allow this kind of 2nd class citizen treatment to happen, and some people still support it. While it has been deemed illegal for use on minors it can still be used on vulnerable adults. The practice is also just a waste of time for the researchers because there is no surefire way to know if the subject of interest has truly changed their sexual orientation. This practice could cause the person to have doubts about him/herself and could lead into a downward spiral.

With this practice happening to stomp on the support of gay rights and trying to “fix” a homosexual person, you might ask what the percentage of people that actually support gay rights is. According to the website Human Rights Campaign, the percentage of LGBTQ… supporters in America is 63%. This number seems high and more than 30% of America has reported to being part of the LGBTQ… community, and if that is so then why are people that have undergone “conversion” therapy 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide and 6 times as likely to have high levels of depression according to Gallup.

When I was 13 I saw the harm that practices like “conversion” therapy could have on a person and their family. My best friend Riley, who was bisexual, was bullied not only by children at school but by her own family. They said it was just a phase, that it could be “fixed”. They made her feel like there was something wrong with her, that she needed to be different. Riley ended up in a heavily depressed state that no amount of treatment, therapy sessions, medications, or just plain reassurance from friends could fix. Sadly in Riley’s case this hatred resulted in her ending her life because of the constant feeling that nobody loved her and that she would never be good enough the way she was.

I ask you, Mr.Trump, to think of the Americans suffering and of the people just like Riley, the Americans fighting to feel a sense of belonging and then I ask you to fight with them. Mr. Trump, I ask of you to help the American people to be more understanding and to end the hatred. I call you to spread peace and love, I call you to show this great nation that everyone matters, and to teach the young children that it is okay to love and respect everyone. You could help to pass gay marriage laws for every state and to ban the practice of conversion therapy all across America. By starting these movements you will be changing America for the better.

Sincerely,

Heidi Hall