An on going fight,
a withheld right,
and a step closer to equality
by Krystal Salvatore
It has been a long battle, quite a hard one at that, many have chosen to fight. Though hate crimes were at their highest peak at times and rights were taken away this fight was still fought. Fought with much dignity, people stood together to defend their beliefs. They stood up together to defend who they were. It has been a long drawn out fight, one to be rid of homophobia and to create a much more open society.
It is today, that I can take pride in my efforts in this fight. It has been about three years that I’ve stood strongly about who I am. Not only for myself, but for the rights that everyone should have. I have been actively involved in my high school’s Gay Straight Alliance, promoting a strong equality amongst peers. It is a club in which discrimination does not exist and everyone is accepted.
A theory that I stand strongly behind is that of “love is love.” I truly believe that no one can help who they fall in love with. If people stopped listening to what society classified as “the right way of things” then this world may just be a little more open minded and united.
In a speech given by Matthew Shepard’s (A victim of a hate crime, Reason: He identified as “gay”) father, he demonstrates the fight Matthew fought personally through his eyes. He quotes in his speech, “In his all to brief life he proved that he was a winner. On October 6, 1998 my son tried to show the world he could win again. On October 12, 1998 my first born son and hero, lost. On October 12, 1998 my first born son and hero, died.” Further in his speech he stated, “I keep wondering the same thing I did when I first saw him in the hospital. What would he have become. How could he have changed his piece of the world to make it better.”
In conclusion, people in favor of society’s “rights and wrongs” tend to think inside the box rather than outside, seeing only half of reality. Many people have had to fight for the very rights we have today, and it should be our duty to continue this fight. A great example of just how much it takes to receive rights is the death of Matthew Shepard, from Laramie, WY. It was a sad occurrence and should not have come to such a tragedy, but that just demonstrates a greater reality to everyone of the fight for equality in this society.