Why You Should Support The LGBT Community Argumentative Essay

72 countries in the world have outlawed homosexuality. That’s over a third of the countries of the world. Over a third of countries apparently think it’s a crime for people to be themselves. This clearly shouldn’t be the case. I believe that no one should be denied their rights just because they’re “different”. Painting the picture: You like chocolate ice cream. Everyone else likes vanilla ice cream. Everyone tends to make fun of you for liking chocolate ice cream. Sounds perfectly reasonable, right? In this short essay, I will be proving to you why you should support the LGBT community, or tolerate them at the very least instead of opposing them.

Firstly, you could save a life by supporting the LGBT community. LGBT youth are five times as likely to contemplate suicide compared to heterosexual youth. LGBT youth from rejecting families are over 8 times as likely to attempt suicide compared to LGBT youth with non-rejecting families. Every time a homosexual person experiences an episode of LGBT discrimination, they are 2.4 times as likely to commit a form of self-harm. This is why it’s ideal to be an ally. Being there for your LGBT friend or family member while they go through a rough time has a greater impact than you think it does.

Second, being gay is not a trend. You may notice that the LGBT community has a bigger presence now. This doesn’t mean that ‘the gays are on the rise’ or that there are more gay people now. It’s just that society is much more accepting, although there still is much progress to be made. It’s also worth mentioning that there were barely any statistics on homosexual people back then. Even when polls would be conducted, people were obviously much less likely to admit to a stranger that they are homosexual. This is due to the fact that there weren’t any anti-discrimination laws then and much more countries outlawed homosexuality then, too.

Furthermore, The Bible has people stoning women that cheat on their husbands. Sure, adultery isn’t good, but stoning someone as punishment is inhumane. Hence why we don’t do it now. The point is, not everything in the Bible should be taken literally. Even then, the Bible barely mentions homosexuality. I have a song recommendation for those who use religion as an excuse to oppose LGBT rights: “Love Thy Neighbour” from The Prom. You can probably guess what it’s about, right? Above all else, you should accept everyone, regardless of social status, sexuality or gender.

I’ve heard people say “I love my dog, brother, and my mother. That doesn’t mean that we have the right to marry.” 

Sexual attraction is different from platonic love.

Sexual attraction, according to Wikipedia, is “attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest.” Platonic love is, once again according to Wikipedia, is “a type of love that is not sexual.” The dictionary definition of homosexual is “sexually attracted to people of one's own sex.” So, unless whoever states that they are sexually attracted to their dog, brother, and mother (in which case, please get help), their point doesn't stand.

Once again, I believe that everyone should have equal rights. And I hope that after reading this, you see that you don't have a reason to oppose LGBT rights. Other than the toxic mindset where people think that their words apparently don’t hurt and that being gay is a trend, along with religion, there are sadly many other reasons homophobes use against the LGBT community that simply just don’t hold up. The human race is vast and diverse. We have people who are of different ethnicities, religions, talents, interests, passions, unique personalities, even sexualities. That’s what makes it so beautiful - no person is the same. Everyone should have a right to expressing themselves freely and feeling safe while doing so. No one should have to hide a specific thing about themselves to be safe. On paper, it sounds simple, right? So why does it have to be so hard to learn how to accept people?