And I Can't Change. Even If I Tried. Even If I Wanted To!

I grew up in a family that taught me that everything was okay!  It was okay that you were a different color than me.  It was okay that a woman was doing a job that was considered a man's job, or even vice versa.  It was okay to be a different religion than me.  It was even okay for a man to love a man and for a woman to love a woman.

When I was in third grade I thought that I was gay cause I could draw, my uncle was and I kept my room straight.  I told my mom, tears rushing down my face.  She's like "Ben, you've loved girls since before Pre-K!  A pre-conceived idea of what it all meant for those that like the same sex had the characteristics.
I grew up in a church that taught me that everything was okay!  It was okay that you were a different color than me.  It was okay that a woman was doing a job that was considered a man's job, or even vice versa.  It was okay to be a different religion than me.  It was even okay for a man to love a man and for a woman to love a woman.

And I can't change.  Even if I tried.  Even if I wanted to.

I realize, now, that I grew up in a different kind of family.  That not all families are accepting of each other.

We've become so numb to what we are saying.  Our culture, founded from oppression, yet we don't have acceptance for them.  Call each other faggots (or other names) behind the keys of a message board.

And that makes me sad.

It's sad that a person has to move to another state so she is free to love whom she chooses without the disappointing glare of her family.

It's sad that someone would rather kill themselves than live another day being tormented at school.

It's sad, that in this day and age, we are arguing over equal rights for all people.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Love never fails.

Maybe, just maybe, if we all took the time to show a little love to each other, no mater what our beliefs are, we just might be better people.

I don't care if you are a purple gay man who wants to be a woman, if you treat me nice, that's all that matters to me!