On February 1st, there was an article posted, talking about the bill that was passed on Thursday, January 31 that required schools to teach LGBT history.

I initially saw this article on my Facebook timeline when a conservative acquaintance of mine posted it and said how terrible it is and that it's "another reason to move out of state."

Additionally, some of his friends commented under the post about how outraged they were that this is now a thing, saying that they're going to send their kids to private schools or homeschool them because they "don't want their kids to question their sexuality."

Well, I've got news for you. I know plenty of kids who went to private school with me and they are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. You have no way of preventing your child from questioning who they are or being gay.

I grew up going to a private school, where religious beliefs and the thought that it's not OK to be different were shoved down our throats daily. Now, I'm not saying private school was a bad thing, if I didn't go there, I might not have the morals I do.

Private school was actually a good thing for developing good morals. I'm saying that forcing a certain way of thinking will only make your child stray further.

As stated in the screenshot from the article above, children learning about the LGBTQ+ community will NOT force your child to question who they are. Questioning who you are is a part of life. Everyone questions who they are at one point or another.

Learning about LGBTQ+ leaders and contributors will make kids less ignorant in the subject and more rounded in the history of our country. LGBTQ+ kids will be less scared, and non-LGBTQ+ kids will be more accepting and knowledgable.

We've learned black history, history of immigrants, and the history of the country since we were little. The LGBTQ+ community is a part of our history.

When my parents were growing up, no one talked about serious issues like mental health and sexuality. Everyone suppressed everything. Conservatives act like being gay is a disease and keeping their kids away from DIVERSITY and INCLUSION will make their kids "normal," which isn't even a thing.

I'm proud of the direction that New Jersey is going in. A good chunk of mental health issues are linked to having to suppress who you really are. By learning about others that are like them, LGBTQ+ youth will feel less alone and will be able to open up more.

It's 2019 and it's about damn time that this bill was passed.