BEING GAY IS NOT A FAD

            It seems that the older generations like our parents and grandparents are looking at homosexuality as some sort of trend.  They seem to believe that being gay is just like how girls wore poodle skirts in the 50s, leg warmers in the 80s or Ugg boots today.  Maybe it seems like there are more gays today than in decades past, but it has nothing to do with the latest trends in popularity.  Gay people have been around since the beginning of time, but it hasn’t been until the present day that it is more socially acceptable to act on homosexual feelings. 

            For starters, being gay is not a choice, and not to be cliché and quote Lady Gaga, but we were born this way.  No one in their right mind would choose to be gay even today when gay rights are at an all-time high.  No matter how far we have come as a society, the world still does not accept gay people with open arms.  Some countries have laws that make homosexuality a sin punishable by death while others treat gay people as second class citizen by not allowing them equal rights and opportunities as heterosexual people.  Even in the halls of our nation’s school system, people are being bullied until suicide seems like the only method of escape.  It is not easy being gay and it takes a lot of self-reflection and inner strength to come out to someone, so please don’t disrespect them by saying that this is just a phase.  It would be like me saying that someone’s heterosexuality is a phase. 

            So why do people even come out if we live in such a world that is not favorable to the gay lifestyle?  The answer is simple, they believe that they need to let their true colors show and embrace who they are with hope to find love.  Love is something that I hope to never stop fighting for and should never stop fighting for.  My fight for love is not a phase and neither is my sexual identity.  I don’t plan on changing myself for anyone because I take pride in being who I am and what I stand for. 

"For me, the most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity and not to give into peer pressure, to try to be something that you're not. To live life as an honest and compassionate person. To contribute in some way." ~ Ellen DeGeneres