Alice’s article “The Sistine Closet” struck me hard with its not-so-secret meaning behind the wonderfully written poem in stanzas addressed to the famous artist Michelangelo. And that message is one that everyone’s heard a million times before but some aren’t taking seriously or are ignoring.

It’s about being gay.

Alice declares in her poem that Michelangelo is rumored to be gay, and she is too—“I wonder if anyone has damned us both in the same breath.” She compares the anti-gays to locked doors, and goes on to say that there aren’t enough keys.

In a reference to a commonly used expression, and to her title, Alice writes, “I am slowly realizing that not all closets are small and dark. Some closets are sixty-eight feet tall and covered in angels, but they are still closets.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say it: This piece shouldn’t even exist. Excuse the adjective, but this is a stupid argument. People have the right to be happy, whether or not their beliefs or religion or sexual orientation are the same as someone else’s. Think about this: Isn’t that what we’ve been preaching over and over; isn’t this what is plastered all over the history textbooks? Does it affect your life who gets married to who?