To many people, music is so much more than just lyrics and a melody. Many people rely on music to lift their spirits when they’re feeling down, to energize them, to get them through the day or a certain period of time—in short, to serve as the soundtrack to their lives. Like any other art, music is subjective, and can have different personal meanings for everyone. For every devoted R&B fan, there is someone out there who is just as moved by 80’s rock ‘n roll. The emotional impact music leaves definitely has the power to unite people—but it is also easy to become closed-minded and inconsiderate of others’ different musical preferences. Some people even go as far as to make negative comments about other people’s tastes. While they may seem harmless, these five comments can actually be a bit irritating or even hurtful to anyone who considers music to be a big part of their life:

• 1.“You actually like this crap? What is wrong with you?”
• 2.“I used to listen to this kind of music when I was in, like, sixth grade.”
• 3.“All you ever listen to is (name of genre/band/artist)!”
• 4.“This song got old ten years ago! Get with the times!”
• 5.“This music is so gay.”

There is no right or wrong opinion when it comes to music—period. How could there be? There are tons of different genres and styles of music that exist because everybody has different taste, and the vast world of music is supposed to be available for the enjoyment of every single listener.

Music has no age restrictions. So what if you’re a college junior who loves an artist with a primarily teenage fan base? If that artist’s songs make you happy, you should feel free to sing along loudly and proudly!

And is that a bad thing? It’s one thing to try and open someone up to new music and broaden their horizons. But presenting this sentiment as a complaint is going about it the wrong way.

Many people develop strong emotional connections to songs. Perhaps those “old” songs remind the person of a good time in their life, or maybe that’s the music they grew up on. It’s perfectly okay to still feel a connection to a song that is no longer as popular as it once was.

It’s bad enough that the word “gay” is still used with negative connotation in 2016. But it’s even more upsetting that people connect music taste with sexual orientation. Everyone—including straight males—should be allowed to love music by any artist, male or female, from any genre, without having assumptions made about their sexuality.