Dear Future President,

Due to the LGBTQ+ community growing, with it comes the issues of discrimination and rights against people with different sexualities. Gay and lesbian rights refer to civil rights, or legal and social equity of gay men and lesbian women. These rights have a broad spectrum of social areas, including employment, housing, violence and crime, health care, marriage, and adoption.

As a result of social pressures that are often combined with personal confusion and other psychological struggles, gay teens attempt suicide at a rate of 2-6 times greater than heterosexual teens. This supports the fact of discrimination against teens with different sexualities. Gay teens also have a higher rate of alcohol and drug abuse and are at greater risk for school failure than straight teens. 61% of teens see attacks happen every day but fail to report them. This results in the continuation of bullying and raises the risk of physical abuse and suicide.

The most prominent issue concerning gay rights in recent years has been same sex marriage. Although, the public is generally more accepting of gay people than it was a generation ago, the “culture wars” between gay rights activists and socially conservative people have persisted over the issue of marriage.

Many teens face the issue of embracing their sexualities and others accepting them as who they are. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals who keep their sexual orientation a secret are often referred to as “closeted”. Coming out can result in stereotypes and unwarranted prejudice against gay and lesbian people. Many conservative communities and religious groups teach that being gay, lesbian or bisexual is a sign of mental illness, immorality and deserving of punishment. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community I face the struggle of telling family members and friends of my sexuality due to the fact that i could face bullying and/or discrimination.

Some people would say that gays and lesbians should not have the same rights and should be treated differently due to the fact that they aren’t “normal” and live a different lifestyle. However, we are still people we still live the same way you do, dating the same sex does not change that fact. Overall, many people discriminate against gays and lesbians just because of their sexuality and this should not be a problem considering that everyone is still a human being.

Sincerely,

Veronica P