I went to a Hayley Kiyoko concert on June 5th, 2018, which is different for me because I usually dislike concerts. I dislike the fact I had to be pushed up against people because we were in the standing area.

I also don't go to concerts unless I absolutely loved the artist and I love Hayley Kiyoko and her music. Her songs have normalized a girl having a crush or loving a girl with no shame. I still am learning to not feel ashamed. Also, the difficulty is especially, when I keep finding myself attracted to heterosexual females.

I went with my mom, aunt and my cousin. The reason I wanted to go with them is to let them see that it's OK to like the same sex. It's OK to wear pride clothing and it's OK to have a 20gayteen flag.

I felt it was the only place I could sing along to her songs without any judgment. For me, it was more than a concert.

It was an announcement about my sexuality in reality and not just on the internet.

During one of her songs, Girls Like Girls, I felt my voice starting to shake and my eyes started to water while I sang along to the words. I felt like I was hugging someone mentally and them saying,"It's OK." My friends supports me but I wish my parents felt the same.

I guess that was the reason I wanted my mother to go to the concert as well. She kept saying, "Oh, gay people can spread AIDS," and excuses such as that but I didn't know how to respond. I felt like, if I showed her the support of the LGBTQ+ community, how passionate I felt about the issues and Hayley singing and having a lecture about finding love and liking girls, I guess I hoped she'd change her mind. Of course she didn't.

But, I guess I hoped.

Hayley did say, "Even if you think you don't deserve happiness, you do."

I've always felt maybe, the world is punishing me and I might never date anyone or nobody would even like me. But, I do have to believe that I deserve to be happy. Also, like in the movie Love, Simon, "Everyone deserves a great love story."