Love Will Always be Stronger Than Hate

Tonight, I'm taking a break from your regular blogs on ACTs and Early Decision.  

Tonight I am going to talk about love. 

This blog is for every single high school student out there who is scared right now. This blog is for those who are fearful of the people in this world who have hate in their hearts. This blog is for any gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning student who is feeling that there is a little less love in the world tonight. Or for anyone who is struggling to make sense of Sunday morning's events. Or anyone who just needs to feel... love.

For every person who tells you to use the bathroom you are not comfortable using, there are ten thousand times more people who love you and want you to be comfortable in your own skin. 

For ever person who looks at you with a side eye when you hold hands with your same sex partner at prom, there are a hundred thousand times more people who want you to love exactly who you want to. 

For every person you think might hate you for your sexuality, there are millions who will love you no matter what your orientation is.  

For every person who kills because of hate, there are millions and millions who celebrate life and love you for exactly who you are. 

The more love we give ourselves and to each other, the more hate we can conquer. The more love we can express and feel and share and profess, the more we win over people who hate. 

It took me a long time to come out of the closet. When I was your age, I was filled with self-hatred. I thought everyone would hate me if they knew I was gay. I vividly remember sleeping as much as possible so as to not be awake to face those who I thought would hate me.  I remember thinking "even if I ever did come out, I'll never be proud of myself. I'll never fly the gay flag at a gay parade. I'll never love myself." That was then. 

This is now:

I read this beautiful quote on a blog today: "There’s nothing you can ever do to us that scares us more than the thought of losing love. But once we revealed ourselves to others — no matter the outcome — our worst fear was forever behind us." 

So no matter what you feel right now, know that there is so much love in this world. And there are many, many people who love you. 

And love will always always be stronger than hate.