Within my family, there is only one other person who is part of the LGBTQ+ community.  Unfortunately, there are many family members who are outright against the community: a brother, a grandfather, a mother . . . the list goes on, but no one wants to hear it.  Kudos to the one sister who isn't afraid to be herself.  

     Almost all of my present friends conform to one or more categories of the LGBTQ+ community.  I used to have friends that were, to put it plainly, toxic.  Either they sneered at people who came out, or they were outright assholes to them.  It took me more than a year to rid myself of their oppressive presence, and when I did, I had no friends.  I am not, I must confess, a very likeable person, so I was without good friends for a long time. 

     I did find some, however.  One is pansexual.  One is transgender.  Two are bisexual.  Three are homosexual.  All of them are fun, supportive, and don't put me down.  I never realized the LGBTQ+ members and supporters received so much hate until I was in the thick of it myself. It horrifies me to see the effects of such a baseless hate.  Even when we have gained our rights, there will still be people trying to take them from us once more.  It is not a fight -- it is a war, and whether we like it or not, we are a part of it.  Every girl brave enough to bring home a girlfriend to her parents, every male couple that moves to another place just for legal allowance to marry, every asexual who declines to consummate a marriage, every boy who refuses to be defined by his female exterior is a soldier.  My message is this: do not sit by and watch the fight. Join it.  Be proud of Pride.