LOVE for ALL

Yesterday I spent the day celebrating love in the heart of Indianapolis, Indy Pride. I have attended the parade and festival every year for the past four years. I go because I love the culture and support the LGBT community as an Ally. The night before the parade I went to the local Gay bar Greggs: Our Place, in downtown Indianapolis. This is a club I attend quite frequently with friends. I enjoy going for more reasons that dancing and having a few drinks with friends. Before I turned 21 I would often travel with friends two hours away to Club Masque in Dayton Ohio. These are just a few fun places I have attended and every night I have spent at these bars I have been welcome even though I am

straight.

Those who accept one another is something we have found to be uncommon quite too frequently. I cried this morning as I listened to the news of those who lost their lives at Pulse Night Club in Orlando Florida. I have become enraged since Donald Trump took this as a time to blame Islamic Terrorism for such behavior. Those who spread hate are the ones to blame. Just because an Islamic man committed these heinous crimes does not speak for all Islamic people.

I do not hate the man who committed these crimes, I feel bad for him. He was another person in our society who has been victim to hate and lack of understanding. His heritage is unrelated to his felonies. We cannot change these people by continuing to spread negative thoughts and ideas about other humans. People preach and spew words from the bible and use it against those who they choose to not take the time to understand. We often forget important ideas like loving our neighbor and accepting those for who they are.

I am a firm believer that God loves everyone, regardless of his or her gender, sexual preference, or race. He created everyone in his own image and will continue to love us, regardless if we cannot love each other. We can blame races, political parties, religions, and communities all we want. In the end we are continuing these awful stereotypes and keeping hate alive. We need to quit blaming others and start educating them. Our world cannot continue this way, and we must make an example of these events. As tragic as they are we must begin to abolish hate and spread love. Love for those who are unlike us, those who are misunderstood, and those who are uneducated on the topic.

I pray for the families affected by this terrible act of HATE, and I pray that we can grow stronger as a community of humans rather than individuals clinging to our beliefs that everyone must be a certain way. I urge people to start learning acceptance and take time to understand one another before these events become more frequent.  

Photo I took from my first INDY Pride!