This past week has been one for the books. I have no words for all of the tragedies besides I am utterly ashamed to be a human. There is nothing I can say to make it better. If I could write one essay to change the world, I would spend my whole life trying to find the right compilation of words. I thought being human was having compassion, common sense, and a conscience. This will not be an essay of disappointment or anger, but one of hope.

I remember in seventh grade when “gay” was an insult. I believe it should return to its old definition of “happy”, or it should receive a new denotation all its own. Something synonymous with “alive”, “strong”, and “proud”.

I am not part of the LGBTQ+ community, but I am an ally. I stand with you. I bleed with you. I am ashamed that you have to endure such hate for basic human rights and for that, I am utterly sorry. I wish I could apologize for the whole human race. There is nothing different between you and me. We are all people. We all deserve to be treated as such.

Personally, I believe you are the strongest community there is. You have endured so much hate and animosity from religions, political parties, and other communities, yet you are still standing. To me, that is amazing. It is something to aspire to. You have not given up no matter how hard you have it.

Yesterday was the worst mass shooting in the United States to date, and you were targeted. To call it a tragedy is an understatement. It is an outrage. It is disgusting. The owner of the club said that they coined the name for her brother who passed away from AIDS, but “Pulse” is deeper than that. It is alive. It is relentless. It is what unifies all of us. It is you. The victims will live on in us all. You encourage us to spread love and to take pride in being ourselves. You embrace your differences because that is what makes you you. That is the strongest message I have heard from any community.

Your flag in itself is nondiscriminatory. It represents every color. Not one is excluded. I have seen so many business logos today sporting rainbows which is amazing, but we need more than that. We need change. You deserve the same protection and freedoms as any other person living in the United States. You won the right to love last year. Now, we need to win the battle of the bathrooms, and the war on gun control. I know you will not give up, it is not in your nature. You are resilient.

This is a call to all “humans”, it is time you start loving one another regardless of gender, sexuality, race, religion, political stance, or any other intersectionality category you wish to discriminate by. You do not deserve the title “human” until you accept everyone as they are; after all, there is only one race: human.

If we all join together, soon you will no longer have to hide in the shadows or remain in the closet. I hope that the next generation will live in a world that is as open and as accepting as you deserve. I can’t wait until my future children can see their Aunts René and Jacky and learn from them what it means to be true to themselves and amazing in every way.

Keep flying the rainbow. Take pride in yourselves. Choose love over hate. You can come out now, the world is yours. I’m right here with you.