I was raised by very open-minded and loving parents who always taught me how to love and accept people who are different from me. From a very young age, I was always told that it is never my place to judge someone else because no person is perfect. I can often recall a Bible passage my dad would quote to me that said, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" It is a very hard ideal to live up to because it is sort of in human nature to be judgmental. However, that does not mean we should not try our hardest to be accepting.

Many controversial and much-debated issues today have to do with the morality of homosexuality and transgenderism. In the recent years, members of the LGTB community have increasingly been fighting for their rights and for acceptance in society, and I think, more and more, these things have become more accepted in the United States. Over the summer, Bruce Jenner famously went through gender re-assignment surgery to become Caitlyn Jenner. The government just came to landmark decision that same-sex marriage is a right guaranteed under the constitution. Later this year, a new movie, entitled The Danish Girl, is coming out which stars Eddie Redmayne as one of the first men to go through gender reassignment surgery at a time when it was very dangerous.

The Danish Girl is really what got me thinking about this topic and inspired me to write about this issue. I am a very big fan of Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, who also stars in the movie as his wife. The first trailer just came out a few weeks ago, and it really struck me and got me thinking about the modern state of these issues.

I was raised Catholic (and still am a practicing Catholic) and attended Catholic grade school. So, from very early on in my education, I always heard that being homosexual or transgender was very wrong. My middle school class used to do persuasive speeches as part of our English curriculum, and I distinctly remember being told we could not do a speech in favor of same-sex marriage because there was no issue on it at all. I was very on the fence about homosexuality when I first learned what it was, but as I have grown older, I have discovered people who are very important to me and whom I love are gay. This very much swayed my opinion on the matter as being very accepting and open to it. Seeing very good people who are very big parts of my life really put a face to it.

I have been very supportive of gay rights for a long time, but I have always struggled a bit more with transgender issues. I had always thought that someone was simply born heterosexual or homosexual, and it was not a choice. However, I thought there was something odd and maybe even wrong with people who believed they had been born the wrong gender. However, recent events and thoughts have begun to change my mind about the issue, and I think viewing the trailer of The Danish Girl really pushed me to think even deeper.

I am not trying to say one movie trailer is going to change my entire opinion on such a complicated and large issue. The thing about the trailer, though, that got me thinking was that it really made the issue much more individualized and personal. I have seen the life and struggles of people I am very close to who are gay, and I think that really opened my eyes to it. I have never personally known someone who was transgender, and I think stopping and thinking about that personalized level really challenged my outlook on it.

For me, it all goes back to what my parents have taught me about not being judgmental and just simply loving people for who they are. I know that many people are very against being transgender and homosexuality, and I think people absolutely have the right to do that and think what they want. However, I think that we have an obligation to treat every person with dignity and kindness without exception. My views on these issues are more liberal, and I know many people who disagree with me. I strongly believe, though, that people should not be defined by their gender identity or sexuality. We need to look deeper and at the qualities of what makes a person good. We are all flawed, and it is not our place to make judgements against another person.

I greatly look forward to seeing The Danish Girl when it comes out and to get an even deeper look into the life of this person than what the movie trailer provides. I will admit that the idea of transgenderism still puts me on a fence, but I think in the last year or two I have realized people are so much more than what gender they identify by. A person is a person, male or female, and they will always be deserving of dignity and respect.