Take LGBTQ+ Community Seriously

By Kendall Vaughn

Reporter

According to NBC News, 4.5 percent of the US are open about being in the LGBTQ+ community last estimated in 2017. That is more than 11 million adults which is a pretty large amount of people, so why is it still such a controversial topic?

When walking down the hallways, it is common to hear people say slurs that are against gay people and have absolutely no remorse. Not only do they say it to people who aren’t even gay, but they seem to not even have to slightest concern about that person or the people around them.

“It’s 2018 and times are changing, people should stop using ‘gay’ as if it is a bad thing and realize how mean it is to still use it. People should try and be more open about these things so it can be normalized and not looked down upon. If anyone has something negative to say then keep it to yourself,“ said Sydney Staples.

An important question that people were wondering about is why was gay marriage only now legal after hundreds of years? But more importantly why was it illegal in the first place? Some think that it took so long because people felt that it wasn’t a priority. The country was going through so many changes, but equality for the masses of people should be the main priority.

“People don’t like what they don’t understand and are too lazy to try and figure out. Some young kids nowadays were taught that being gay means that you are less of a human, which is so wrong in my opinion. I think that since there weren’t many really famous LGBTQ+ people in the earlier years, people are missing out on that part of history and how important LGBTQ+ people are,” said Ajia Stallworth.

Throwing gay slurs around with no context is deeply unnecessary and makes someone honestly seem disrespectful. There are many other playful words to say to your friends that aren’t offensive to another group of people, but they choose not to. People in these later years are really starting to make a difference in the world and normalizing it.

“I’m glad that people are standing up now. People aren’t as afraid to stand up for themselves and the people around them. Even if you aren’t a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it is good to bring awareness to it. I guess the government finally realized how important that move was and how impactful that was to so many lives. It shows people that if you work hard enough and speak up about what you strongly believe in then change will happen,” said Amber Johnson.