We, who are happy in the body assigned to us at birth (albeit with a little less paunch, and maybe a tad taller); we who are attracted to members of the opposite sex; we who conform to society's expectations and norms in any number of ways – our lives are complex enough. Imagine if we faced the additional challenges of not easily fitting in in these ways.
Today is the first day of Pride Month for members of the LGBTQ+ community. For the rest of us, it's an opportunity to celebrate the color they add to the fabric of our society – a chance to reach out and let our brothers and sisters know that, when they are attacked, or face discrimination and intolerance for openly being their authentic selves, we are their allies, and friends.
Authorities in many of our more backward states apparently feel that if they use the power of the state to promote bigotry against members of our society who have faced bigotry since the beginning of history, they will simply go away ... without ever asking how they got here in the first place.
Many of these same authorities believe that if
