By Maria Rodriguez
Rainbows. The whimsical, colorful visual delight we get to see after the rain. The translucently dimmed glow, a sight for sore eyes, the calm after the storm. We all love rainbows (I think), who doesn’t?
I miss the innocent, childish joy it once symbolized —which, sadly, is now adulterated. In my primary school years, children could freely take their rainbow-studded backpacks, t-shirts, tutus, sunglasses, and all things whimsical without the possibility of being misunderstood. In the rise of “LGBTQIA+ awareness,” I, now a teen, could no longer do so. I can’t wear rainbow-striped tutus or use rainbow emojis without the risk of being instantaneously categorized within the “LGBTQIA+ spectrum.” Also, I can no longer use Zoom’s rainbow filter just because I like rainbows. Now, even when I text my friends, I can only use the ‘rainbows with clouds’ emoji to veer away from misinterpretation. The same goes for a grade school friend of mine from the States. While playing a video game, she used to love dressing up her avatar in a rainbow-clad outfit but stopped doing so because of her frustration with society’s skepticism — some people asked her if she’s gay and tried to get her to join the LGBTQIA+ community. Children, teens, and anyone coming from any age group should be free to wear rainbows and any other color combination without having to carry the burden of being questioned and misunderstood. Children mustn’t be caught between the crossfires of this “war” between men.
With this ever-spreading queer concept of sexual orientation, even schools begin to integrate what they call “gender-inclusive speech” into their rules. If this so-called form of speech is truly inclusive, then we (straight people) have the right to use grammatically correct pronouns when referring to a person. If this gender-inclusive speech is meant to only include the preferred pronouns of people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, then that isn’t inclusive, it’s exclusive. The straights too must have their own say. Sure, we accept those parts of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but it doesn’t mean we must change ourselves (such as our sexual orientation and use of proper grammar), our values, or who we are. The LGBTQIA+ community and advocates shouldn’t insist their life’s philosophies on us as we shouldn’t insist ours on them. If you’re gay, be gay, I’m not stopping you. Just let me be straight.
The LGBTQIA+ have pride marches, protests, and promotions in favor of their point of view and opinions. It is only fair for me to share mine.
Select women’s groups are more often than not the constant encouragers and supporters of this “queer” movement. Those parts of the “spectrum” are then left to fight men.
But at the end of the day, this “war” is just about men fighting other men to accept their “queer” sexual orientation.
