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Hello everyone! 

First things first, I would like to wish everyone a happy Pride month. I hope you're staying safe and healthy through these tough times — 2020 has been quite a rollercoaster ride so far!

June has rolled around once again, and for the first time in my life, I've decided to share my personal opinion and experience on the Starblog. Since this topic is a bit touchy, I was always afraid of offending someone or getting a lot of backlash for saying certain things; however, I think I'm finally mature enough to share my views in a respectful way.

I grew up in a homophobic environment. As much as I hate to say this, I've been homophobic for the most part of my life — so have my parents, friends, relatives, teachers and practically everyone I knew. The place I was raised in taught me to believe that the LGBT+ community is comprised of disgusting people who try to push their agenda onto the rest of us “normal” folks. And for years, I believed it. If you aren’t straight, you’ll go to hell. If you identify as something other than your birth gender, society will judge you endlessly, and it’s what you deserve.

However, I've been lucky enough to receive many opportunities — from spending time in foreign countries to meeting people over the internet. And I’m happy to say it has changed me tremendously. We, as humans, instinctively accept the views and values that were drilled into our heads at a young age, but it doesn’t always mean that what we’ve been taught is right. Hating people for who they choose to love isn’t right. As a society, we have to learn to accept that not everyone shares our thoughts, feelings and values. They’re not causing anyone any pain, so why would we feel the need to cause them pain?

I’m proud to say that I am now fully an ally to the LGBT+ community. I’m slowly starting to notice people in my country and city that share the same views, and I can only hope that this is the beginning of a more peaceful time for everyone that is oppressed. There’s nothing wrong with being gay, transgender or anything else — the hate you receive has nothing to do with who you are as a person, and everything to do with how disrespectful and insensitive the people around you are.

I don’t care how many times you’ve heard this before — I’m going to say it again: we have to be the change we want to see in this world. We need to expand our boundaries, interact with all kinds of people and open our minds to new ideas, views and opinions.

Hate was never the right answer to anything.

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