These words may just be a drop in the ocean, but do consider them, because the oceans are rising.

It’s 2017 and all that could have been said or written about the LGBTQ+ community has been said and written. In a setting of bleak prospects, I was wondering what this article should be about and you’re about to find out for yourself.

I know a girl with a heart full of dreams and a head full of curls. Her hair wasn’t always curly, she claimed. Her father told her it wasn’t straight because she wasn’t. This cute little tale tied the family in knowing smiles. However, when she got sick, she believed that God was punishing her for being bisexual. After much thought and a little help from Tumblr, she found solace in the idea that had Jesus been living in the 21st century, he’d probably be a social rights activists too.

I know a brilliant law student who never got around to telling his story. But upon finding out about, his parents believed that a visit to the psychiatrist was in order. After receiving professional assurance that nothing was wrong, they reverted to denial. This didn’t dampen his spirit one bit and he put off confronting them for later.

I know a boy who loves so sincerely, this world almost doesn’t deserve it. I listened in wonder as we moved from a discussion about binge watching Harry Potter movies to how he’d love to have a family one day, even if it isn’t his own blood. He spoke with a hint of sadness though, when he talked about minorities within the minority. Contrary to popular belief, being part of a smaller, oppressed community doesn’t appreciably suppress the human desire to judge and alienate the stand-alones. He, however, took a leaf from his own book and emerged righteous.

I know a pale skinned wonder with enchanting almond eyes. She spoke to me at length about bisexual erasure. This refers to ignoring or falsifying evidence of bisexuality in history, academia, and other primary sources, and often going as far as denying its existence altogether. In the everyday world, it’s viewed as the “just choose one” statements that are thrown around casually.

I know a poet who’s lived in exotic places. He was made to believe that his sexuality would magically vanish if he ‘didn’t think about it’. But for reasons we now state as logic, it didn’t. In fact, he had the cutest childhood romance, playing gay chicken. Despite his setbacks and heartbreaks, he stands proud today, preaching polygamy and blessing the world with his taste in music.

I know an almost doctor who’s trying to move from one skin to another. He struts proudly on runways, destroying gender stereotypes like never before. What leaves me stunned, though, is his spirit of discovery-how he isn’t afraid of the unknown. He isn’t afraid of how he will be perceived outside the student circles and his profession. He isn’t afraid of being who he really is. Not anymore, anyway.

I know a beautiful boy with hair as blue as Takis. He spent his younger life in traps of his own homophobia and the rest of it fighting bravely for those who couldn’t. He encourages others like myself to take up a cause and believe in it.

I know a boy who studies medicine, and figured out relatively early that he will only ever be attracted to men. But he has chosen to not tell his family until he is financially independent. The conversation I had with him was an eye opener. He described in great detail the discrimination that goes on within the community. Even after coming out, people feel compelled to conform to social convention and distance themselves from stereotypes like effeminate gays and mannish lesbians and bisexuals.

All of these people had a few distinct similarities. Firstly, common personal traits like self-doubt and cynicism did far more damage to them that they do to others. Every single one of them had an arduous journey of self-discovery because they grew up in a society which was unaware and unwelcoming of change. It took years to overcome the internalized rejection, to admit to themselves that the societal stigmas they shrug off in social gatherings were their reality.

Coming out is the hardest thing; second only to staying in. Staying in your mind and dwelling on what you really want.

So this right here is to tell you that we’re not all made alike, but we love alike. For centuries human beings have ostracised smaller sections of society to skim out a superior elite in shape, skin, race, religion and now sexuality. We live in a world where terrorists call proudly and lay claim on innocent lives while people of pure intentions rot in social closets.

Read this to the people who don’t understand, and explain it to the ones who still don’t after.

The oceans are rising and the cities will flood.