I come from a small town in rural New Hampshire. Peterborough is located in southern New Hampshire, about an hour and a half to two hours north-west of Boston, MA. We are a town known for the fall foliage, the quaint shops, the upscale artsy vibe, The Peterborough Players (a local summer stock theatre) and the MacDowell Arts Colony. Population around 6,500 people, with the majority being Caucasian.

Now you would think that in such a small town of mostly white people, the few ethnic people we have would be discriminated against, but in my 16 years of residence there, I have found it to be quite the opposite. Peterborough is the epitome of a small town. It's a warm place where everybody knows everybody, and for the most part, everyone cares about everybody.

Despite the small town stereotype, Peterborough is overall a very accepting town. Many people in the town are gay or on the LGBTQ spectrum and teachers, and residents are accepting of it. My high school, and the whole school district in general is very much into antibullying. The few people of different ethnicities that I went to school with were never treated any differently.

Believe it or not, the close-knit small town that I live in, isn't as close minded as people may think. When talking to my high school friends, they all say that people are often surprised at how diverse my high school was, and how cool the school and town is for accepting people for who they are.

What I've learned growing up here is that it's what's on the inside that counts sexuality and race shouldn't matter. Love is love, and people are people, no matter of the color of their skin, who they love, and what gender they feel they are.

People should take notice of us, not just for our quaint town and our fall folliage, but take a page out of our book and accept people for exactly who they are.