ANONYMOUS
Staff Writer
Upon completion of a Common App (for those who do not know, this is a website in which most colleges and universities allow you to fill out a single application which you submit to every college you are applying to) essay prompt, I stumbled upon another regarding my sexuality, or any other “diverse” circumstance that has made my life – and achievement of my goals – more difficult than originally planned. Now, being the person I am in the town that we are living in, of course I had to respond to this. After all, showing off a life in which I was unhappy? Perfect way to get money. Throw in a few sob stories in which being diverse in nature was an obstacle rather than a benefit, a dash of mental breakdowns, and you have a full ride scholarship. Almost. Never in the seventeen years of my life did I think that I would be sitting in my room, pride flag hanging from my closet – yes, I see the irony in that – responding to a college question regarding my sexuality.
As one may think coming from one of the least educated cities in America, my sexuality isn’t necessarily something that I have always felt comfortable sharing. Sure, gay marriage has now been legal in this country for a whole six years now, but that doesn’t mean that since the day I saw that on the news I knew I’d be able to love whoever I felt comfortable loving. More often than I’d see happy LGBTQ+ people on the news or on television shows, I’d see hate crimes, slurs, and everything in between. When there was a gay person in a show, their destiny was to be the most disliked character in the program – how is that supposed to be comforting to anyone?
I now sit in my room, a seventeen-year-old high school senior, typing away comfortably about my sexuality. I know that not everything in the world is perfect, and I know that it never will be. Every day, people of a multitude of backgrounds are massacred, harassed, and so much more. Sometimes for being like me. I’m taking this opportunity not to tell you that I’m a victim, but an advocate for people like me, regardless of any background, and I always will be. No love, no passion, no identity, should ever have to be hidden and tucked away as mine – and so many others – have been for centuries in a country founded on the foundation of favouritism and greed.