History seems doomed to repeat itself. The free human race would like to believe that they have learned from their past mistakes, but the reality is that some mistakes cannot be lived down. Throughout history, we have continually segregated and put others down because they are different from us. The most notable fights against this in American history are the women’s rights movement and the civil rights movement. Now, there is a new movement fighting oppression in America: the gay rights movement.

I am completely behind this. Nothing angers me more than to see the kind of oppression that still is going on in America when it comes to the gays. Several religions, including Christianity, oppose even the idea of homosexuality. I don’t believe I am exaggerating when I say that several of the Republican politicians are a bunch of homophobes. Look at Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich. They have said things aimed towards gay people that are simply appalling.

One of the worst things that Conservative Christians and other religions alike seem to think is that being gay is a choice. It is not. Homosexuality is something you are born with. You cannot simply wish it away. I offer this scenario to all of these narrow-minded people. Consider a world where the majority of the human race was gay, and you were straight. Could you simply choose, if you are a guy, to suddenly start liking guys? Answer: of course you couldn’t. You would agree with me on this, I am sure. But then, if you know you couldn’t suddenly turn homosexual, how can you expect gays to do the exact same thing vice-versa? Answer: you can’t.

I know several gay people that I have met through various drama programs I am in. Knowing full well they are gay, I have become good friends with them. They aren’t any different from the rest of us. And yet so many gays are forced to stay in the closet out of fear of what their friends might think of them. Openly gay students in high schools have been subjected to intense bullying, and physical and verbal abuse.

As I said before, people tend to oppress what is different from them. This is a natural part of human nature, but that doesn’t mean we should succumb to it. There is nothing wrong with being gay. They are people, just like you and me. I find it horrible that I have to write this to get this into the thick skulls of Conservative Midland. Yes, I am straight. But I can’t stand idly by while these kinds of things continue to happen. That would be the real crime.