With Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States enforced marriage equality. Finally, we took a giant step towards equality for all human beings, regardless of their gender or sexuality. And then we kinda stopped. We allowed for a stand-still. We attempted to pass legislation to continue the fight for equality, but then society started pushing back. We disallowed transgender individuals to use the bathroom that best correlated with their gender, the Orlando shooting occurred, and all of a sudden, I felt that intense desire to do something; to relive the day that so many wonderful people were able to get legally married for the first time — when it seemed like a progressive movement was going to sweep through the nation.

The other night, I had an educated, liberal female tell me that “in America, we have reached total equality.” She thinks that the “white, straight man is now on the bottom and all the minorities have now risen above.” Firstly, to assume their is a hierarchy means there is no way equality can exist, and to think that equality has been created is completely invalid.

We have made progress, but we have not reached the finish line.

It devastates me to see the turning point our nation is facing; I feel as if we are about to turn around and start going backwards. It is important to understand that when a minority faces the loss of their human rights, the injustices they face affect us all. We are all humans, so human rights issues need to be a concern of all of us.

The idea that we should even have the right to withhold equality from others simply because they are different is heinous. We do not need grand gestures, or millions of laws to be changed to simply take small steps towards accepting each other.

As we are faced with the decision to pick our nation’s leader, I hope we keep in mind that if we don’t prioritize the progress of all people, we are failing. Diversity is what makes America all that it is, so let's ensure that everyone, no matter how different, feels accepted and supported.