I’m sure that everyone at Tyrone High School knows about the LBGTQ+ posters that were hung around the school and quickly destroyed a couple of weeks ago.

I’m not bringing this topic up again to start more drama. Some people supported the signs and the group, others found them to be offensive, and others simply don’t care either way.

I’m bringing it up because I don’t want to let the students who ripped down those signs down to have the last word. I am tired of the hate that goes around this school. Those posters were hung to show support and spread love and acceptance. They were torn down by people with hate in their hearts.

If you’re homophobic, fine. But honestly, please keep those opinions to yourself. People in the LGBTQ+ community don’t hate straight people just because others called them straight until they came out. You may want them to silence them, but they will not be silenced until the spread of hate is stopped.  

The reason I am publishing this letter anonymously is because I have seen the hate and the harassment that a small, but vocal, minority of students have spread around this school, and frankly I don’t want to deal with those attitudes right now.

Besides, the name attached to this article should not define how you feel about the LGBTQ+ community.

I could be a star athlete, top of my class, and mostly respected around this school; or I could be someone that all of you have already shamed because you never got the chance to know me. It truly doesn’t matter who I am.

Either way, I would like my voice to be heard without everyone knowing my name right now. At most other schools, this would probably not even be an issue, but here at Tyrone I’m sad to report that some people are still openly shamed for who they love.

Some people around here would rather others go back into the closet instead of living the life they were supposed to live. So, for the reason of all the hate and the fact that my name shouldn’t change your mind, I’m leaving my article anonymous.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine pointed out that if this was a group supporting people of color, no one would dare rip the posters down. But since it is a group of people who probably aren’t going to get into fights, some bigoted people think that what they’re doing is acceptable.

I’m sorry for those of you who think it is, but it’s not.

Before you make your argument with me about why being gay is bad, think of this. I know, you are going to use the Bible to tell me I’m wrong. You will probably be quoting Leviticus 18:6, “Man shall not lay with a male as one lies with a woman,” and a couple of other passages. But what if I told you the original Greek translation of that verse is actually talking about rape, not homosexuality?

Pastor Adam Hamilton, senior pastor at the largest United Methodist congregation in the world, and a respected American theologian, wrote, “the handful of passages in the Bible that seem to speak directly to a prohibition against same-sex marriage and companionship could be prohibitions against something entirely different from what we mean today when we talk about two people sharing their lives as loving companions.”

It’s an interesting point of view by a mainline Protestant leader, and if you would like to read more about it, click here.

Also, if we’re going to use the Bible as our argument, what about the part where Jesus tells us to “love thy neighbor as thyself”? Did we forget about that part? Or are we just ignoring it?

For anyone who doesn’t understand what different sexualities are, please ask. There are teachers, counselors, and LBGTQ+ students right here in our school who can help you find that information.

But honestly, I’m not asking you to change your views. I know Tyrone, and I know that there is a percentage of people who just won’t. But what I am asking is, can we at least stop this spread of hate?

Posters and sayings like “it’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” and “America the great, home of the straight,” those are not “straight-support” slogans. Those are hate messages towards the LGBTQ+ community.

So, Tyrone, all I’m asking is for you to stop the hate, spread some love, and let people be who they are.