I just read this article on Thought Catalog posted to Facebook that basically stated how straight people, who among advocating for marriage equality, stick their own sexuality into their supportive statements, like “Straight, but not narrow,” or “I’m a straight person who just supports love,” ultimately “hurting the LGBTQ cause.” The article, I gather, was prompted due to the influx of people who changed their profile pictures on Facebook over the past few days to equal signs in a red box to support marriage equality. I can understand how interjecting your personal (hetero) identification can make it seem like you’re scared of being identified as queer, but sexuality is still a touchy subject even for people who support human rights. Going to the hippy-dippy liberal arts school I did, being exposed to a plethora of sexual orientations and lifestyles, it has taken me some time to realize I am NOT “the norm.”

Here’s an interesting few lines from the article:

“Allying with the queer community means embracing the endless combinations and permutations of sexuality, orientation, and gender expression human beings experience. Being comfortable with this idea means being comfortable with the reality that some people – gasp — might think you’re gay.”

Or not. In this country of millions of people who have, plainly, not been exposed to nearly the same experiences that have molded my view of the world. It’s easier to immediately jump to blanket statements or assume the worst of people, instead of accepting the reality that not every straight person is irrationally terrified of being called gay. I’m hoping America is moving in the direction of blurring lines and accepting people as people, but we’re not there yet… and won’t get their for a while if these are the strict guidelines every ally has to fit in order to be a suitable advocate. I would like to rush this entire process as well and if it were up to me there would be a major overhaul of American culture in general, but I have come to terms that it’s going to take some time to break these ridiculous barriers keeping us from seeing each other as the beautiful individuals we are and not labels. This is merely a baby step. The amount of people who changed their profile pictures and proudly remarked that marriage in fact does equal love means something. Some straight people who were discerning about their sexuality may have done it in order to show other straight people they need to support this cause because it’s a problem we should all be facing together as a unifying whole, not just the queer community.

Personally, I could care less what any of my friends on Facebook or otherwise think my sexual orientation is because they absolutely should not be my friend if that’s even a blip on their friendship radar. This article has a lot of really valid points in it, and I think it is such an important sentiment to be published for everyone to read. More people should be talking about gender and sexuality and the hardships that going along with identifying as LGBTQ, because regardless of all of these new sources of information and even the media attention, we are still a long, loooooong ways away from equality and in some situations mere understanding. Throwing up an equal sign in your profile does not automatically make you an aficionado on the subject, but it does mean moving towards a positive goal. I hope in the coming months there will be more platforms where these discussions can be had, and I hope EVERYONE joins the conversation.

Let’s all follow the day and reach for the sun: