I Dream of the Day…

I believe that everyone should be treated equal. Everyone should be able to marry whomever they want and they should not be denied jobs or services. They should be able to fall in love with someone of the same gender, get a nice house, adopt a child, and not have their own beliefs questioned. I want to be able to grow up knowing that I, my children, and my children’s children will be able to live a happy life without consequence.

When I was 13, I realized who I was. I know. It seems young. But it seems like one day, while I was walking around downtown with my friends, I would look at a guy and go “Wow...he’s attractive.” But then I would look at a girl and go “Wow… she’s also pretty attractive.” Thus began a whole 2 years of confusion of what my sexuality was and whether or not it was right. I had been hearing about all of the troubles that people like me go through and it scared me. I didn’t want to be yelled at by people walking across the street from me because of my sexuality. I didn’t want to be denied rights because of my sexuality. I was scared for my life all throughout school because I felt like I would get ridiculed or made fun of or excluded if people found out. Most of all, I felt like I had disappointed my family. I felt like they would be mad or disgusted if they knew and it scared me to death.

A little later on down the road, mainly this year, my freshman year, I had become more comfortable with myself and my sexuality, enough to the point where if anyone asked me, I would just say “Oh! I'm bisexual.” I learned that not many people cared and that I was accepted here at school, which made me feel a lot better. The hardest part was telling my mom. I broke down crying. I was shaking and it was all bad. But after I told her, with my face buried in my hands, all she asked was, “Did the world explode?” I feverishly shook my head and looked up at my mom to find her smiling. After I had calmed down, she told me that everything was okay. I was grateful but I knew the hardest part would be growing up with my sexuality and not knowing whether or not I would be judged by many people.

Here I am now, typing this essay in my school's computer lab, and wondering where to end this thing. I guess I can end it like this: I dream of the day where I am able to be treated equally. I believe that everyone, no matter their skin, sexuality or race, is treated as a normal human being. I want to grow up knowing that I’m treated just like everyone else.