Just last week, I was sitting in the cafe-studying, waiting on my next class to begin, when I heard two individuals talking. Not that I was trying to eavesdrop; however, as all of you probably know, everything seems to echo in our nice little cafe. The two gentlemen were talking to another fellow, and once he turned away, even though he was still within hearing distance of his friends, I heard something that left me absolutely flabbergasted. From what I gathered, the boy who walked away was a homosexual; and the two boys he was talking to did a wonderful job advertising that. The fact that the boy was a homosexual isn’t what flabbergasted me at all, because 90% of my friends are of the nature; what flabbergasted me the most was the fact that the two boys were as nice as they could be to the other person’s face, then they proceeded to make fun of him as he walked away.
I pretty much immediately grabbed my books and walked away, because any one of you, who personally know me, know that I can only bite my tongue for so long. I was enraged by their narrow-minded comments; furthermore, I knew that I needed to walk away before I said something that I would possibly regret. I don’t think I would have taken it so personally, but the look on the boy’s face kept running through my mind. It was almost as if his world just crumbled in front of him; and the hurt he showed on his face was absolutely indescribable.
There is nothing in this world that peeves me off more than two-faced people and also people who are quick to judge others due to their preferences. I’m not writing this article to tell you what to think, what is right, or what is wrong; I am, however, writing this to reiterate the fact that just because others are different and don’t share the same views and opinions as you do, it doesn’t mean that they are any different or less than the rest of us.
Some may call me biased, since a good percentage of my best friends are either gay or lesbians, but I see what they have to go through on an everyday basis and the criticism they receive from narrow-minded people. It just annoys me that everyone one of us has skeletons in our closet, but we still perpetually continue to condemn others for their choices and beliefs.
Would someone make fun of another regarding a disability or skin color? Nine times out of ten, the answer is no. So why make fun of someone based on their sexual preference? It only further perpetuates the narrow-mindedness that creates many of society’s prevalent problems.
Everyone is put on Earth for a reason; everyone has his or her own purpose. A person’s background and personal life is irrelevant to fulfilling that purpose. So why criticize and belittle? The result of making fun of another is little more than negatively impacting that person and exposing your own fears.
People fear what they don’t understand, so they have to make fun of it to make themselves feel better about whatever it is they don’t understand. That is a terrifying concept: This fear is controlling those people, and that same fear is notable and well documented (historically) in some of the most infamous individuals and organizations that have controlled other people by exalting and perpetuating their fears.
So am I biased? Do I make fun of people? Do I allow my fears to control how I interact with other people? Well, that’s none of your business. Nor is anyone else’s life your business.
And to dismiss the question “Well, if it’s none of our business, why am I writing about it?”, this is an opinion article, and I’m to write opinion. But there comes a point when enough is enough and something that should’ve been left alone isn’t. At that point, someone has to say something, and the best way to say “enough is enough” is to precede such a statement with background.