rant time.

and just before we begin, I'm straight and I'm a Christian. I'm not claiming to know anything about being discriminated against, and what I know is from stories from friends. bear with me please.

my best friend came out to me during our freshman/sophomore year of high school. he was terrified to come out to me because he knew my beliefs— and that broke my heart, but he came out to me anyway. I told him that I loved him, and he certainly questioned me. as a christian, it is not my job to hate or judge another person. It's my job to love people, that's what Christians are called to do.

but I told him I loved him and that I would stand by his side. we were young. and as a child, I was taught to love everyone, but this was really the first time someone had come out to me and I began learning more about the community. I became an ally during my freshman year of high school. There is actually nothing that can ever make rethink this decision.

since then, I've made more friends and I've had more people come out to me. and let me tell you, there is nothing better than seeing someone own their truth and be happy about being accepted.

and I recognize that I'm white, and I'm straight. I have privilege— I know that. the only discrimination I've ever faced is because I'm woman, but that's for another time.

it breaks my heart to hear these stories of children being thrown out because of who they love or how they identify. imagine hating someone for that? and it's so bad with the Christian community, and I absolutely hate that. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. and here's why.

We have failed you! WE HAVE FAILED YOU!

Christians are called to be like Christ. We are called to love, and to follow Christ. But people twist the bible's words and they pick and choose what to follow in the bible. If we were to follow every single thing in the bible, then we shouldn't wear articles of clothing that originated from two different materials. then we shouldn't get divorced, then we shouldn't remarry as a widow, then we shouldn't be having premarital sex— but this happens all the time in the Christian Community.

It's not our job to judge. We're taught that God is the ultimate Judge. should the sinner cast the first stone? no. Jesus was the only one qualified to cast the first stone, and instead, he offered a hand.

this behavior from my Christian community have certainly made me question my beliefs, but here's what I've learned. I'm a Christian because I believe in love and my savior. That's it. I do not care if people hate me because I decided to stand by my friends.

so here's this– I feel for the communtity. I will not claim that I understand what you guys go through, because I don't. I will never claim that I know. But instead, I'm here to take your hand, offer my love and support, and stand in front of you when times get bad. It's disgusting to see the discrimination that you guys face. It's heart wrenching. and I wish these entitled white people/cis people would get out of here with their hate. I will stand by the LGBT+ community, I will support the LGBT+ community, and I will fight for the LGBT+ community.

and finally, let's stop hating people because of how they identify and who they love. hate is gross, and no matter what, love always wins.

( this was super long, sorry )