I was raised in a fundamentalist Evangelical home. My parents met at a Bible institute, and one of my dad's best friends is a missionary in Europe, so growing up as a gay kid wasn't exactly a walk in the park. However, once I moved out I had hope- I could marry whoever I want, I have most of my basic rights protected (I've lived in Portland, Oregon and the Greater New York City area since moving out of my hometown, which are much more liberal- and safer for the LGBTQ community).

I don't generally like talking about my past issues with my family, but oh, has this election brought them all backup, in the most painful and obnoxious ways. As you may know, the vice president-elect Mike Pence is also an Evangelical Christian, much like a majority of my family. And, as much of my family does, he supports the legalization of conversion therapy, which I grew up terrified of before I even realized I was gay.

So, of course when I found out that Mike Pence was going to be Donald Trump's running mate, I ran to my family to try to convince them to vote for Hillary, or even Johnson, just anyone besides the man who wanted to strip me (and many others for other reasons) of my rights. Of course, as I had expected, that conversation ended with my parents attempting to convince me that being gay was a choice and conversion therapy was a viable solution for those who wish to be "cured".

Obviously, conversion therapy has shown pretty deplorable long-term results. Hell, even the founders of one of the leading conversion therapy groups, Exodus International, ended up issuing an apology for the damage they had done when they, being two "ex-gay" men, ended up falling in love.

Of course, that doesn't stop many like my family and Pence himself, who truly believe that homosexuality is a choice, and are willing to do anything to keep "those who participate in that lifestyle" from living life as who they were meant to be without fear. It's absolutely terrifying how all the progress we made may be completely reversed, and what scares me the most is that my family will be right there behind Pence, supporting every single one of the rights stripped from me.