Social Issue Free Write

LGBTQ equality/rights, the ongoing fight for people of this community to have the same opportunities or privileges as the person standing beside them. I was fortunately raised to be blind to the differences of those around me, and observant of their actions rather than their preferences. My childhood best friend coming out at 15 as lesbian barely made me blink twice, let alone change my perception of her, and our friendship. My High School community being very open and accepting made it so that she wasn't the first to come out, or the last. Growing up in such an environment made me somewhat blind to a different thing though, to the discrimination young people do in fact face every day. It wasn't until the High School roles were reversed as student and adult, to I being the adult in the room that the veil began to lift. When I became a Teacher's Assistant I saw and heard the things teens of this community faced daily. I became one of the mandated reporters of bullying or harassment. I was told stories through tearful words of the mere discomfort of changing for gym in the same locker room as a gender he/she doesn't associate with. I've been shown the demeaning writing on the bathroom walls. I was told the traumatizing stories of coming out to their family gone wrong. It's such a simple task to show someone the mundane act of decency or kindness. If that were the mindset of more beings, the question or fight for equality wouldn't exist.