Circulating around the internet lately has been a pair of photos featuring the well-known Marine Corps War Memorial, located in Arlington, Virginia. The monument, well known for its depiction of one of the most famous moments of World War II, displays the historic scene where a company of United States Marine soldiers carried the American Flag to the top of Mount Suribachi and claimed victory for the United States over Iwo Jima, Japan. The Memorial is dedicated to every US Marine who has dedicated his service to his homeland.

The Marine Corps Memorial is one of the most easily recognizable and symbolic images of American patriotism that exists today. For many United States citizens, this monument is representative of the significance and bravery of those who serve. Therefore, it is no surprise that when edited photos surfaced in which on the backs of those well-known bronze soldiers the rainbow brightness of the LGBT Pride flag appeared in place of the beloved red, white, and blue American flag, the internet's fiercest and most well-informed warriors went up in arms: the middle-aged men and women of Facebook.

Thousands of shares, and endless comments later, everyone seems to share the same opinion, and, unfortunately, it is not one fitting for Pride Month. “Disrespectful” is the word of the hour. “How dare they compare their gay agenda to men who lost their lives for their country?” they ask. “We get it, you’re gay!” they exclaim. Overall, the trend seems to be to take a work of a camera and skew it into a personal attack on the very fabric of America. It is to these furious and chauvinistic keyboard smashers that I lay my following opinion.

People die every day simply for being gay. Throughout history, thousands upon thousands of living, breathing human beings have been tortured, persecuted, and murdered for loving the "wrong" people, or even for simply not abiding by society’s accepted standards of love and gender. You so righteously talk about the soldiers who lost their lives, ignoring that the LGBT community has done the same, and turn to call them tactless and without respect. My first problem with that argument: did LGBT men not fight in this war? Is being a soldier reserved for straight men? Or do you somehow believe that homosexuality didn’t exist way back then? Moreover, because they did not go to a battlefield to fight someone else's war, since the battle was brought directly to them simply for existing, how they are disrespectful and, as you make it seem, lesser? The LGBT Rights movement has never made any sacrifices, when, in many places, their very existence is a risk? In no way do I see a powerful symbol altered to show support for the rights of Americans as a sign of disrespect. The history and sacrifice that lies behind the Pride flag is just as heavy and significant as that which lies behind Old Glory. These men at Iwo Jima, you emphatically repeat that they fought for our rights and freedom. Are you implying in that statement that LGBT people do not fall under that illustrious "our?" An American is an American. In this country that you so love, all men are created equal. It is extremely ironic to ardently bash something in the name of patriotism, when your very arguments violate the founding concepts of the country you claim to defend.

Take a look again, social media warriors. The memorial, edited or unedited, is still the same symbol it’s always been.