It’s 2016. An age where, in most parts of the Western world, two guys walking down the street holding hands might garner a double take, but for the most part won’t get a reaction. No riots, no 911 calls, and people won’t try to stone them to death. The LGBT+ community is growing in its worldwide acceptance, which is great, but there are some major downfalls to this:

1. The fight is not over. People still get thrown out of their houses and disowned by their families, simply for liking the same sex. Trans and gay individuals are still the focus of a lot of legalized systematic discrimination under the guise of religious freedom acts. Only 4% of regular characters on broadcast primetime television in 2015 identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. There were no regular trans characters on primetime television, but there were three characters on cable and another four on original online streaming content (such as Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu series). This massive under-representation of the community proves that there’s still more work to be done, purely on a social basis. On a legal basis, despite marriage and adoption being guaranteed rights to all LGBT+ couples, there are still so many hurdles and roadblocks targeting LGBT+ individuals.
2. Coming out has become a nonissue. Coming out videos were big on YouTube in 2015. It seemed like every week, another coming out video went viral. I think this is great; more representation, and it might help others struggling with their sexuality. But since there are so many people coming out now (especially in such a public way), people are starting to become indifferent, and even annoyed, over coming out videos, saying that it’s not a big deal and that people should stop making a spectacle out of their sexuality. If weren’t for all the homophobia that still exists, it wouldn’t be a big issue. People could just date the same sex and no one would react oddly. Kids are terrified of being different from the “normal” heterosexual, partially because they’re afraid of their parents’ reactions. It is estimated that 40% of all homeless youth are LGBT+ and almost 70% of those kids are homeless because they were thrown out of the house, and more than half said that abuse from their families was a contributing factor to their homelessness.
3. There’s a lack of education about the community. I personally think this is very visible in our current battle over transgender rights. People fear what they do not understand and people don’t understand being transgender. Being cisgender myself, I can see where they’re coming from; it’s hard to imagine yourself being born in the wrong body when you’re not experiencing it. But if people just took a few minutes to do some research on their own, about gender identities or gender dysphoria in general, I think it could alleviate some of this tension. Conservatives will stop thinking that trans individuals are mentally ill (if they’re willing to listen to the science), and maybe that can put an end to the bathroom laws that are causing harm to hundreds of non-cisgender individuals of all ages.
4. Religion (a big component of culture) influences people’s opinions. As lawmakers around the country/world try to prevent discrimination and abuse of this “new” minority group, people from all religions work to fight it. In many religions, being anything other than cisgender or heterosexual is considered wrong and punishable. These beliefs have been handed down for generations, beginning with some form of scripture written over a thousand years ago. People with these strongly held beliefs often refuse to acknowledge the harm they're doing to others by discriminating against people who are just people, the same as them. These beliefs are dated and have caused similar issues in the past. Christianity was used in defense of arguments against interracial marriage in the late 20th century, and to most people today, including those who are against same sex, that seems ridiculous, even though it is the same battle we’re fighting now.
5. Anti-LGBT+ activists seem to be increasing in number. This goes hand in hand with the last point. As the LGBTQ+ community becomes more vocal, so do the religious extremists against it. It's almost a guarantee that at any pride festival, human rights rally, or event of the sort, there will be a group (usually largely outnumbered) protesting against the community. “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination,” or “God makes no mistake, you are just a man living a lie in a dress.” Those are just a few of the many cries of protesters against the community. But these cries are echoed loudly in legal attacks against the community. In Alabama, it's written into state law that in sex education courses, not only are they not allowed to talk about same-sex relationships, they must emphasize that homosexuality “is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state.” These laws have been outlawed by some Supreme Court rulings, but they remain in place, thanks to a little statute called Religious Freedom.

I’m so amazed by the progress the LGBT+ community has made, in my lifetime alone, but there’s still so much to be done. Don’t let all the news stories distract you.