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^^^
Anyways.
It's story time, because why not?
Some background: I went to a private Catholic elementary and middle school. We had religion class instead of health, were forced to go to Church every week, and it was basically a brainwashing place that sucked out your soul and will to fight.
This means that, fortunately or unfortunately, I only learned of the LGBTQIA+ community in 6th-7th grade from my new friends, as my old friends were becoming... well let's just say they weren't the nicest people even in the beginning of our childhood friendship and that my switch was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. Heck, I only learned of birth control and other stuff from internet posts and fanfics I regret reading.
Regardless, let's do a quick run down of my friends (I'm using fake names) before diving into the worst week of my life where in I almost 1) broke down sobbing, 2) almost killed some homophobic adults, and 3) repressed all my emotions in a single class to keep from screaming.
Lafayette: pansexual, has some family issues, very protective of her loved ones.
Alexander: bisexual, divorcing parents at the time, the most passionate.
Washington: aro asexual, what I consider to be my best friend, the mom of the group.
Davey: straight, LGBT+ ally, great friend to everyone. She had an problem early in her life that basically resulted in her not being able to have children.
Firefly: aro asexual, non binary, the adopted child of the group, a year younger than all of us.
On to the story!
So religion class is taught by this older woman who no one really likes because she hates most of us, homophobic, and a very very devoted Catholic. There's nothing wrong with being Catholic, just that she was one of those not-really-nice Catholics.
She's been telling both classes (my grade had two classes) that she was bringing in some guy to talk to us at once about the top 7 things we, as Catholics, should hate/not support.
War. The death penalty. Homosexuality/marriage without children. Transgender people. Euthanasia. Abortion. Stem cell research.
So, unfortunately, the day soon came when the guy came in. He was a Deacon at the time, I think he's a Priest by now but I'm not sure. ANYWAY both classes came in and like ya do my friend group, minus Firefly because they're a year younger and weren't in the same grade, found each other and sat next to each other.
The first couple slides weren't bad, war is bad ya da ya da, but then it happened.
The opening slide for Homosexuals came on.
I have no idea how well my friends handled it because I was locked on to that screen, fingernails digging into my palms, mouth clenched to keep me from screaming.
Now this isn't a direct quotation, but essentially he said, "Homosexuality is when someone of the same sex has feelings for someone of the same sex. This is not good as God decreed that love could only be between a man and a woman. It is fine, the Church says, if someone has these feelings, so long as they never act on them. For marriage is a scared thing, defined in the Bible as a unity of a man and a woman with the promise and/or openness to children."
To which multiple people in my grade, not just my friends, raised their hands to challenge that.
Some good points were: "Love is love, why should you care?" "Why does marriage have to be open to kids? What if one of the couple can't have kids? Does that mean you'd reject their wedding just because they can't have kids?" "Why does it matter what gender they are and wether or not they can have kids? Who cares?"
This went on for several minutes, until we were forced to move on by the teacher, mostly because their excuses were getting weaker and weaker at every challenge.
Then moved to Transgender people.
And the same thing happened.
Deacon guy: "They may think they are the opposite sex, but they aren't really."
My grade: "Um, no?? You're wrong! And here's why..."
We actually went to the bell, and he was forced to come back two more days to cover the rest he didn't get too.
And it kept happening, people kept arguing against him and the teacher.
Euthanasia:
Deacon: "it's very bad"
Us: "well yes, but in some cases it's best for the person." "It's like when you out down an animal. How is it any different?!"
Teacher to the last one: "Because animals don't have souls! I've told you guys this for years!"
Us: "ANIMALS HAVE SOULS YOU PRICK"
Abortion:
Deacon: "very bad."
Us: "um, what about rape??" "What if they were my age (she was 14 when she said that)? Would you really want me to give birth to a child of my rapist?" "Medical expenses, can't care for the child"
Teacher and Deacon: "um... we didn't- no, that's not- um..."
Stem Cell Research:
Deacon: "not good, humans shouldn't play God"
The smartest kid in the grade: "Actually, according to [statistics]-"
Teacher: "Shut up and listen to the Deacon, stop questioning your religion!!"
Us: "But-"
Teacher: "AND THERE'S THE BELL GO TO LUNCH YOU DEVIL CHILDREN"
And then we were assigned one of the topics to give a presentation on and I was given the death penalty (valid reasons to get rid of it actually, but that's another day), my other friends had war and stem cell research. But Alexander, the most outspoken of us all, got Homosexuality. Alex, the most chaotic bi.
Needless to say, she said screw this bigoted school and did a speech on why homosexuality is good and it's right for them to have marriage rights. While wearing a gay pride flag because she's extra as hell and that awesome.
And, as we were and still are Hamilton fans, her finishing line was, "Because Love is Love is Love is Love."
I almost cried from how proud of her I was. She got a standing ovation and lots of cheers. I think her brother, who dropped by just so he could video it, took a video of it.
None of us ever were out to our classmates and teachers (except our music teacher, because she was LGBT+ ally and we trusted her), but most of our classmates knew that Alex and the rest of our group was queer, just not what exactly we were.
My middle school years were both a blessing and a curse, but I wouldn't have it any other way because I got the best people in the world out of it.
Stay safe kiddos and don't let people like my teacher and the deacon guy brainwash y'all. You deserve to love and t be loved, to matte whomever you want and to have basic human rights. Never, ever, ever let them tell you otherwise.
