content: discussion of racism, anti-LGBTQ bigotry, ableism (including brief use of ableist language) and religious bigotry.
Lately, there’s been a lot of intolerance and hate going on in the world. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen more incidents of racism, anti-LGBTQ bigotry, ableism, etc.
In Charleston, South Carolina, a young White man went to a predominately Black church. He participated in the Bible Study for an hour (or at least seemed to). When the Bible Study was over, he got his gun and opened fire in the church, killing nine innocent people, including the church’s pastor and South Carolina State Senator Rev. Clementa Pickney.
In addition to the shooting, eight predominately Black churches were burned in only a couple of days. Reports say that only two of the cases were arson, but all the fires seem suspicious to me.
Recently, The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-gender marriage all over the country, but that’s just the first step towards LGBTQ equality—in many states, you can still get fired for being LGBTQ. In other words, you can get married to your same-gender partner on Sunday and lose your job on Monday, which is not fair.
Also, only a few states have protections for transgender and gender non-conforming people. In many states, you can lose your job, be evicted from your home, or even be refused medical treatment at a hospital if you’re trans. This needs to change.
Ableism, which is prejudice and discrimination against people with disabilities, is also a problem that needs to be addressed. Examples of ableism ranges from using ableist language (i.e., the word “retarded”), bullying disabled people, refusing to accommodate the needs of disabled people and not including disabled people in society.
I have endured a lot of ableism in my life. From bullying to exclusion, I’ve been through it all. We need to change the way society thinks about people with disabilities so it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
There’s also a lot of religious bigotry. When the United States was founded and the Constitution was signed in 1776, we were given the freedom to follow any religion we chose (or not follow any at all). However, many people are taking “religious freedom” to the extreme. For example, many politicians want Roe v. Wade overturned because abortion goes against their religious beliefs. Just because something goes against your personal beliefs doesn’t mean that everyone should have to agree with it, nor should they be prohibited from doing it if it will benefit them. If you’re against same-gender marriage because your religious beliefs say it’s wrong, don’t marry a person of the same gender. It’s as simple as that.
We are a nation not only of Christians, but we are also a nation of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics and other faiths. Therefore, we should try to respect each other’s different beliefs. We don’t have to agree with them, but we do have to respect them.
How do we learn to accept each other? It all starts with adults. Children and youth often follow their parents’ and mentors examples. Parents should teach their children to love one another, no matter who they are—be it their race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, etc. Mentors should do the same. They should all tell young people to embrace one another.
Also, put yourself in that person’s shoes. Would you want to be judged because of the color of your skin or because of your sexuality? If not, don’t judge others. You don’t know that person or what they’ve been through, so think before you open your mouth.
Together, we can all make a difference.
Rainbow Autistic 
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