Let Your Freak Flag Fly

There are billions of people on this earth. All of us are different. Tall, short, fat, thin, black, white, brown, purple, green, etc etc. You'd think that after years of fighting prejudices in every culture, we would have learned to accept people for who they are. I was raised to judge people for their actions, not the person they are. Some people are still stuck in their prejudicial ways, and it continues to baffle me.

This past weekend I was getting pictures taken with my boyfriend, when an elderly woman stopped and said "You're a beautiful woman, and I'm not a gay". "Not a gay". Wow. My first thought after I recovered from my shock of her statement was, "Who cares?". Who cares if she was gay? Who am I to judge her? I'm not God, Allah, Jesus, Buddha, or any other being of higher power. I am not a perfect person, so I have no right whatsoever to judge others for their preferences. No one on this earth does. It's 2013, and I continuously have to hear from my friends in the LGBT community about the harsh names they are called like freak, faggot, broken. That's not even half of them. So, because they like the same sex, they are considered a freak? Wrong. Their orientation does not define them. Their character, their morals, their ethics, is what defines them. Not the fact that Billy likes the P instead of the V. 

I've lost a friend to suicide, due to the ridicule and the bullying because he was gay. The bully's missed out seeing how great of a person Tyler was. He had a glowing personality. You couldn't help but smile and feel great when you were around him.  He loved to sing and play soccer, but the guys who taunted him everyday after school for being a "fag", didn't see that. Tyler was the type of person that never complained because he didn't like "bothering" people with his problems. He'd much rather make us smile. He kept his pain to himself. He hid away the tears, the self hatred, and the fear. All because he was something that he couldn't change. He couldn't change the fact that he was gay, no more than I could change the fact that I'm black. We are, who we are. His parents lost a son, his younger brother lost his big brother and role model, I lost a friend. 

To anyone who feels alone because you are tall, short, fat, thin, black, white, brown, purple, green, gay, or transgender, etc, don't feel like you don't have the right to live or be here on this earth. You have as much right to be happy as anyone else.Don't give anyone the power to break your self esteem. You may be gay, but you are not a "fag". You may stand out and be different, but that's ok. Dare to be different. Dare to stand out and let your freak flag fly. Be who you are. Love who you are. You are a powerful and strong individual. Live, love,and laugh without a care in the world, because you know who you are and love it. 

-Jaxx