Ever since I was a kid I've always had the mindset that, as long as you're not hurting anyone, I don't care what you do. Gender, sexuality, race and religion doesn't matter to me. I see us all as one equal human race, as people deserving of rights, liberties and the pursuit of happiness.

One of the hardest things for me to understand is the fact that there are people who don't think like this, who don't accept other people because of insignificant differences like sexuality or gender. It hurts my heart to see people disrespected, discriminated against, and even murdered for simply being who they are. Our president won't even recognize Pride Month, which sets a dangerous precedent, allowing those who don't support the LGBTQ+ community to continue this trend of ignorance or discrimination with no repercussions.

Alienating those that don't share your views on sexuality and gender is no way to live, for either party.

All it does is create a divide in our society that endangers the lives of the LGBTQ+ community and prevents them from living their lives. The LGBTQ+ community does not mean anyone any harm, they simply want to live fulfilled lives while being true to themselves. To do this, they need to be accepted by society, particularly by the communities known to shun them, namely religious groups who continue to use the Bible as justification for treating members of the LGBTQ+ community as sub-par humans.

Religion is not a justification for hate or discrimination.

No religion preaches hate at its core; it's people, humans, that misinterpret these words to demonize people who spread nothing but love. The Bible never actually condemns homosexuality, people have simply falsely interpreted passages to further an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. God is love. God is grace and mercy. We are all made in His image as His children. If you truly believe in the grace of God, how can you say that some of his children don't deserve the same rights because they are different?

So if you don't support the LGBTQ+ community, please educate, rather than hate.

Spread the love of God like He would want you to. Learn about what you don't understand, don't just reject it because it scares you or because you don't agree with it or because someone falsely interpreted the word of God to say that it's wrong. Sexuality is a spectrum, gender is a spectrum too, and every single person is different and valid in their gender identity and sexuality. There's nothing wrong with being bisexual, or gay, or transgender.

There IS something wrong with hating people because they are different.

What kind of message does that send to your friends? Your family? Your colleagues? Because if you think you don't know someone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, you're wrong. They probably just haven't told you because they're afraid of your reaction.

Spread love.

You don't have to understand it. You don't necessarily even need to completely support it. But discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community and voting against their basic human rights isn't helping anyone, including yourself. If you can't bring yourself to accept it or understand it, even after doing some research and reading, that's okay. Just don't vote against the community and their rights.

They're here. They're queer. And they're not going anywhere.

Pride Month is extremely important for those in the LGBTQ+ community and the allies that support them. Become an ally. Do your research. It's 2018. We need to do better. We need to do right by our fellow human beings.

We ALL need to support the LGBTQ+ community.