What is love to you? Webster’s dictionary defines love as a “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties.” To me, love is the bond that ties us all together as people, no matter your looks, race, religion or sexual preference. As long as there is love for all, humanity can stand.

Many have heard the term “LGBTQ+” before, but not many know what it stands for,  Were you wondering too? To be quite honest, before I started writing this, I had no idea what all of the letters stood for, but with a quick search of the world wide web, I soon found out.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning/Queer. Most everyone had heard of these terms before. But not everyone supports them. Since the dawn of time, people having same-sex relations have been discriminated against.

In the early 1900s, unofficial foundations had been formed protecting the LGBTQ community and have been fighting for equal rights since then. As a nation, we have come a long way in protecting and loving those around us for who they are, especially considering the fact that homosexuals have been executed in the past for their sexual orientation.

With all of the efforts being made through protests, meetings, and just spreading awareness of pride, the United States has legalized same-sex marriage in 36 states, with Missouri, fortunately, being one of them. However, we are still fighting for equality everywhere.

Even though gay marriage may be legal in some states, it is no shield from the amount of hate that the community receives. Sometimes people will throw out vicious uses of slang or slurred words to taunt the people of the LGBTQ community or told that who they love or who they are is wrong.

I would like to make something very clear: your sexual orientation is not a choice. What you feel inside compared to the outside is not a choice. It is part of who you are. Multiple studies have been conducted on what might decide one’s sexual orientation, proving that it is not a choice, more of feelings to a category of people. There is no scientific evidence that it is a choice, rather a part of your personality, it is who you are.

Walking down the halls of Liberty High School, I’ve heard countless remarks against the LGBTQ community, as well as my friends discussing encounters they had with people who spoke to them. However, this is not limited to students. Patterns have been seen in teachers and parents as well, not just in our district, but everywhere around the United States, inside schools and out.

My only question is: How does it affect you? Does someone choosing to love another, who may be of the same gender, affect the way you sleep at night? Does it change your daily routine, or interfere with the way that you, individually, live your life?

And the answer is no. Life continues on. In the whole grand scheme of things, we are only specks upon specks upon specks in the face of the universe. What does it matter if a woman kissed another woman? Or a man to kiss another man?

It’s all within the same boundaries of love that we live in, that we thrive on. We all deserve love, whether we find it within another man, woman, or even within ourselves. Love binds us together as people, it makes us human. When we all come to accept that, we will all be able to stand together as one.