Dear,

I am writing this letter to tell you how I feel about homosexuality. I am referring to

you as "Dear" and will continue to do so through this letter; I really mean "to whom this may concern" but to me dear is more personal. Homosexuality as I perceive it, which may or may not resonate with you, be it due to

religious or otherwise reasons, is, and not dictionary-ly, a sexual orientation whereby a person is sexually attracted to another member of his/her gender. It is as simple as that. I believe that it is due to many a misconception and false telling of information from non- concerned parties that have resulted in the ongoing and undeniable 50/50 debate today. Sure, we have heard of the Bible summing marriage as: -- "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination" -- "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of

them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death." -- "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do

not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals" -- "[...] realizing the fact that (civil) law is not made for a righteous man, but for those

who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers" -- "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women

exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one

another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." Just to name a few. I am not religious per se, and do not indulge in the idea of

worship of a higher power. To me I believe that all of us have our inner Gods our psychology. The more we want something, we hope more for the best parallel to prayer it's the aftermath that separates us. The non-religious thank themselves, luck, coincidence. The religious thank God. Having been raised in an all-Catholic family (my maternal branch of family tree) I

have come to know about the aim of religion in reference to Catholicism. God wants us to be good people. God wants us to treat each other like we would treat our family and ourselves; there are idioms that point to this aspect of his existence. God wants us not to sin. Are we good people, then, if we hurt others for the sake of what we believe? This

might be paradoxical to some, since those who voted against Prop 8 in 2008 believed that they were carrying out the work of God by sidelining homosexuals and their community. Are we treating others like our family and ourselves? If in school you bully gays by tossing their food trays in their faces, beating them up by the eco-pond after school, would you do the same if your kid happened to you? Are we not sinning by hurting? My advice to those who are seeing one side of the coin of this matter: put yourselves

in our shoes. It is hard enough to live the life of a gay. Are we not even allowed the basic HUMAN/CIVIL right of marriage equality? Stop discriminating. If you are doing so because of religious reason, think deep and

ask yourself if God really wants you to hurt the people he created. If you are doing so out of other reasons, ponder how you would feel if you were gay and people did not give you what

you are entitled to as a citizen of this world. Remember: being gay is not a choice. We are not different in any other way than our sexual preferences. We live, breathe and love the same way. Yours Truly, Marcus. XOXO. Stop hate now and promote peace.