It's... Not that simple. This advice is kind of pedantic when talking about politics, actually.
There are Middle Eastern countries where you would be violently assaulted or even killed if you demonstrated your Christian faith in public. Ex: Wearing a cross, praying to Jesus, attending Church, possession of a Bible, et cetera. It would thus be understandable if you had to consider whether or not you demonstrated such faith in public, and when looking to your political leaders--if given the choice--you'd choose the candidate that would attempt to protect your rights as a Christian.
Up until very recently, it was still legal for States to prevent two consenting adults from having the
exact same right to marry as other consenting adults--even if there were churches willing to allow homosexual ceremonies. There are several debates running across both municipal and state level government bodies about whether or not allowing transsexuals to use their bathroom of choice would somehow create a
mass apocalypse of rape. There are still multimillion (sometimes even multibillion) dollar corporations that not only don't support the LGBT, or even act with indifference--but step over into outright discrimination and open disgust for them. These corporations include but are not limited to: Chik-fil-a, Exxon, The Salvation Army, Purina, Boy Scouts of America, and Cracker Barrel.
A 2012 Presidential Candidate for the Republican Party made this insane, meme-worthy drivel.
From the Municipal level, to the State level, to the Federal level, anti-gay sentiments survive. From ma and pa stores to multimillion dollar corporate franchises, anti-gay sentiments survive. Millions of Americans still openly vote for candidates that want to prevent the LGBT from possessing some types of jobs--from the military to education--effectively making them second class citizens with no hope of improving their lives from destitute poverty.
Even the fucking
Boy Scouts still discriminate against the LGBT.
The United States is a mighty, amazing, incredible country in many ways, but where it concerns human rights for the LGBT, it's a hilariously/frighteningly backwards joke. Just like the Middle East is with
Christians non-Muslims in general really.
Whether or not you think that corporations should be allowed to deny LGBT customers, or the government should be allowed to interfere in their private lives or not--you can't pretend as though it isn't discrimination.
It's the very definition of the word. When the government at every level is deciding whether you should have the same rights as everyone else, when entire swathes of the free market may refuse to cater to you because they think you're an unholy abomination? That's a pretty understandable reason to look at the presidential candidates and ask yourself what they're going to put into law concerning you. Concerning any of your future lovers. Concerning whether or not you can have a family, even.
Because this next election--hell, these next few years--are going to determine if an entire group of people will be
legally allowed to...
- Get married.
- Serve in the Military.
- Work in certain professions, like education.
- Have the same anti-discrimination laws that African Americans and women enjoy.
- Be protected from their parents sending them to abusive anti-gay therapy camps which sometimes leads to them being abused so hard, that some of them literally die. Assuming they don't just kill themselves to escape.
The Supreme Court is the entity that stopped the State-level legislators from discriminating against the LGBT where it concerns gay marriage. It's rather important to know if that pro-human rights stance is going to continue, or if Trump is going to put in someone who will drag it all back kicking and screaming.
Because, really. Think about it.
@Valentyne does have to think about how much she presents herself as LGBT in the US, depending on where she lives. She might be refused from businesses, she might lose her job or be denied promotions, she may end up the target of constant harassment and vicious bullying. Especially since she's a teenager, she is still dependent on her family to survive. If she was an adult who lived on her own and had her own job, I'd encourage her to get out of the closet and join the movement that keeps pushing human rights forward one step at a time. Teenager though?
I completely understand why a teenager wouldn't want to. Especially in this modern political atmosphere, where tens of millions of people are voting for Donald Trump. Especially with him saying, outright...
EDIT
Whoops! That message is a little long. Hm, maybe a bit overkill. Sorry if it comes across as hostile, not my intention and clarifying that now.
