I Am Gay. I Am Proud.

I Am Your Label, I Am Free

I was never raised in a religious household, and when I was young I did believe in God. But as I grew up, I gained more life experience and learned more about God, and it was then that I stopped believing.

What I see now is this: gays. I see gays, bisexuals, lesbians, transgenders, transsexuals, asexuals, pansexuals, and polysexuals. And I have never, not for a moment, ever seen anything wrong with two men or two women kissing and holding hands.

I have a gay cousin. I have gay friends. Some of my celebrity idols are gay, lesbian, or transgendered. I identify myself as a bisexual, and am currently in a relationship with another girl.

I was scared of coming out to my friends and family as a bisexual. I was afraid of the judgement and discrimination I would recieve. But I got the lucky end of the stick. My friends accept me like they always have. And my father, who is old-fashioned, racist, and homophobic accepts me the way I am, for that I am eternally grateful.

I have never really experienced being bullied for my sexual orientation. I know what discrimination feels like, though.

I live in a small town, and in small towns people are close-minded. Not many people really know that I am bisexual here. My freshman year, I wore a t-shirt to school that says "I Enjoy Vagina." I saw nothing wrong with it. Most kids got a laugh out of it, honestly. A few boys asked where they could get one.

The math teacher, a die-hard Christian, saw something wrong with it and had me sent to the principal's office for the t-shirt. I didn't understand what I did wrong, honestly. The principal claimed the shirt was "suggestive". Suggestive of what, exactly? It did nothing but state that I had a sexual interest in girls. 

But for some reason, a boy at my school could freely wear a shirt that had a picture of an eye, a picture of a heart, and a picture of a cat. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't think that means he loves cats. But he never got in trouble for it. The principal and most of the faculty were known homophobes. That is my story of discrimination.

I am a strong supporter of the LGBT community. I don't understand why people can't accept homosexuality, and I know there will always be people who won't accept it, whether it's because of their religion or just their own personal morals. 

I don't believe in God because I find him and his whole religion hypocritical. God is the creator of everything. So why would he create homosexuals and then damn them and let his followers beleaguer them to the point of trying to take away their right to marriage and benefits, and sometimes to suicide?

No one should have to feel so low about themselves that they want to end their life. In Christianity suicide is referred to as "cowardly." What I find cowardly are the people who make others feel so low about themselves that they would take their own life.

No one should ever want to do that, whether you be gay, straight, Christian, athiest, pagan, wiccan, Buddhist, Sikh, or agnostic. Life is precious, and fragile.

I am your label, but I am free. And I am not going anywhere.