You might be sorry but you'll still do things that make me and other homosexuals feel this way. I don't think you understand how humiliating it can be being gay, especially as a young kid. I don't think you understand how harmful things like "well, it's a lifestyle choice" are to people. I think you, and many others, underestimate the amount of shit gay people get, how often and how soon people start dropping "fucking queer, how fucking gay, what a god damn fa-bomb". How that fucking burns you inside, and makes you feel so shamed. When we've done nothing wrong but live.
Where we're told we're pushing an agenda by simply showing affection to our loved ones, and on a smaller scale than our heterosexual counterparts. When having a couple of mainstream gay characters on tv leads to fucking CNN publishing a poll asking "is there too much gay on tv?". Do you understand how that hurts? Do you understand how it rips out a part of you when even liberal states vote no on gay marriage? When that may be the most public issue, it is just one of many where we get treated as less?
You can believe what the Bible teaches you, I don't mind. I come from a very religious family, I understand religion and why people follow it. I understand it helps guide people and gives them peace in their life and an inner calm.
I also understand why some people of religion use all these things to deny other legal and consenting adults of their rights, and that isn't cool. I'm not trying to tell you your religion is bad, that you don't deserve rights, that your issues aren't really that big of a deal if they just make up a certain percentage of population or when you're treated bad you're just sensationalizing it.
But a lot of people like you tell me those things. They tell young gay kids those things, and young gay kids don't need that shit. They don't need to be told they chose something that gets them ridiculed and beaten. They don't need to be told that not coming out is keeping something secret, as if it is something you should be ashamed of rather than the real reason most people who stay in the closet: absolute fear of losing friends, jobs, family, and their personal safety.
The amount of self-hatred such things puts in a young person growing up, a young person who may not feel they have someone they can talk to, or are terrified they'll run into a counselor like this Ms. Keeton, is.. overwhelming. Overwhelming is the only word I can use, and it is not even adequate enough.
