International Day Against All Kinds Of Phobias: A How To Be Nice Guide

If there has ever been a day where posting this GIF has ever been more appropriate, today would be that day:

JSYK, I totally go here.

Today, if you didn’t know (because I didn’t – thanks Twitter), is International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. Yay! Let’s have a chat.

I suppose I should start this off by saying that I live in a bubble. I have an amazing family that accepts all my out of control antics and a group of friends that pretty much make me feel all types of feels because they are so open and rad.

I NEED A BUCKET FOR ALL MY CREYS

For as long as I could remember, I always knew that I was a special snowflake. I probably don’t need to get into my Tale of Fabulousness because I am sure a lot of you have probably had it with me yelling from the rooftops about my special brand of homo-ness. Not that it’s special or anything, I just like talking about it because for a long time, I never really did. I was kind of like this:

Me? Gay? IDEK what you’re talking about!

Even in my small span of living, things have changed rather drastically and it’s kind of amazing. Gays can get married in some states and we can even be in the military and there are PARADES. The sad thing about all of this, because I always have something sad to say about everything, is that people are still chastized for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, so on and so forth.

I don’t really know why that’s a thing. I kind of feel like this about all of that:

You need to ^

Anyway, since today is all about being nice and stuff, here are some helpful hints on how to be nice to people:

Keep an open mind

Look. No one is asking you to march in a Pride Parade (but you should because it’s FUN and people will call you papi or maybe that was just for me). We just want to be treated with respect. We want to be treated like people because you know, that’s what all of us are.

Be there for someone when they need you

Maybe someone just told you something about them. This means they trust you. All they want is your support, so be the friend we know you are and be there for them.

Don’t “out” anyone, ever

People will come out on their own terms. Since this is something they need to do on their own, please don’t give them any help. Also, it’s not cute to spill other people’s tea! Don’t be shady!

Stand up for your friends

I know it’s hard to tell people to STFU but sometimes you have to, especially when they are being awful and bigot-y.

And maybe you can’t deal

That’s fine. You just need go and remember that this is now

If you don’t want to deal with someone that has just bared their soul to you, tell them. It’s going to hurt but still, be an adult and just

Just remember, don’t go spillin the tea. Be an adult about it and mind your own business.

I kind of feel like these are things we should all keep in mind when dealing with other people. We need to all just get over this, bake ourselves a cake, and share our feels with each other. Oh and be nice to each other, no matter what.

<3, R