Dear Future President,

Since I was little, my mom has always told me that it is okay to be different, that you can be whatever you want to be and no one should bring you down for who you want to be. My mother has always told me that there is nothing wrong for a man loving another man or a woman loving another woman, or if a man wants to be a woman, or if a woman wants to be a man. As I grew up this was something I believed strongly in. I have also watched how many people who came out as 'gay' were being hated and being treated horribly for their sexuality or that they were too terrified to come out as they would be assaulted for their sexuality. It infuriates me that people don't understand that it's their lives and that they can do whatever they want to, and that it shouldn't matter who they love, it should just matter that they love them and are willing to spend the rest of their lives with that person. As I grew up, my friends would always come up to me scared to tell me they liked the opposite sex, and when they told me they were gay I would just say ‘I am so proud of you telling me, and I support you 100%’ and once they found out I’m not a person that would turn against them, they would let out a sigh of relief, but then with a sad face tell me that they didn't trust anyone else to know that they were gay, and that they couldn’t bear having their parents find out they were gay because they would be discriminated by their family for being gay. 

I know for years that people have been fighting to be able to get their rights to be able to marry the person they love. Why should people who like the opposite sex not have the right to marry the person they love, when it's okay for a straight couple that hate each other to marry? It’s something that doesn't make sense to me, people who come out ‘gay’ are humans just like a straight person. Why are people saying that being gay or wanting to change your sex is immoral? I know most people are strongly about the Bible and in the Bible it states being gay is wrong and that you would be sent to hell if you have relations with another man as you would do with a woman. I believe it’s okay to follow your religion, but when it’s taking lives of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (for example, the Orlando shooting), it’s taking it a step too far. 50 people were killed and 50 were injured at the Orlando Nightclub shooting, just because the shooter had seen 2 gay guys kissing! People are upset when an officer of the law shoots an African American and they start riots and protest, but when there’s a mass shooting at a gay bar, people just sit there in shock for a few days before shrugging it off over their shoulders.

In conclusion, ask yourself this - aren’t we all human? Shouldn’t everyone have equal rights and not be judged by others? What would you do if your son or daughter or a friend or a family member came to you to tell you they liked the opposite sex or wanted a sex change, because they believe they were to be the opposite sex? Would you be one of those family members or friend to tell them you don’t support them because you think it’s ‘morally wrong’ or that they are going to hell because God said in the bible ‘a man shall not have relations with another as he would with a woman’, or be one of those parents that dishonor or kick their kids out of the house just because they had the strength to come to you and tell you they were gay? What we can do to help is allowing for anyone to marry anyone and not be judged just because a man could love another man or a woman could love another woman. We should all start loving each other as if we are one big family, and not judge each other for loving the opposite sex. We should be able to live the life we want to live. If a woman wants to love another woman, let her. It’s her life she wants to live, and she should not be discriminated for loving someone she wants to love. Or if a man feels as if he’s not a man but more a woman, he should be able to change his sex and not be brought down for his choice. It’s the life he wants to live, so let him. Ask yourself - are you one of those people? Shouldn’t we live the life we want to live? Can’t we all just be a family that supports one another? Think of the struggle they go through. How would you feel if you were in that situation and you had no one to support you?

Sincerely, 

Laura