The Lethbridge College Pride Society should be congratulated for getting approval from the Student’s Association to run the on-campus gay/lesbian group.

You might not like homosexuals. You don’t have to. But everyone deserves support of some sort and some sort of sign that they are accepted and appreciated the way they are.

Hatred inflicts hurt and it is an invisible weapon that can destroy so many lives. When a gay student gets bullied, their hurt translates into depression and that can escalate to suicide, as the world has seen recently with the tragic deaths of gay students in the U.S. In turn, the deaths hurt families; friends and anyone that person mattered to. Pain spreads. It’s the price of refusing to accept those differences.

The University of Lethbridge PRIDE’s president, Emma Ladouceur, said it best:  “We’re not any different than anyone else. Take time to talk to people. Get over that one little thing.”

This group is a step in the right direction not just for the local LGBTQ community, but also for the rest of us. Consider it the first step to disarming hatred that dares to make its way into any life. Awareness is key to making people realize that a gay man is no different from a straight one. He loves the same and feels human feelings. The only difference is how he is treated by society.

Sexuality is not a flaw. It is a trait and a part of someone so deep that often a gay person knows they’re gay when they are young, just like a straight person knows he/she is straight as a child.

Neither should get treated as if they have a flaw because they don’t. It takes all sorts of people to make a world. The world is only in peace if we learn to accept those different sorts of people and that starts locally.

Lethbridge College becomes like a second home to many of us who spend our post-secondary days and nights here. No one deserves to be bullied, to feel out of place or as if they aren’t accepted. At the university, PRIDE has made a difference in many lives that have passed through there. In five years, here’s hoping the same can be said for the LCPS.

“You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!” ~ John Lennon