There are several words to describe having the opportunity to live in the UK as a gay American; ecstatic, relieved, embraced, and welcomed MOST OF ALL!
Although marriage equality is now the law of the land across the whole of America, there is something vital to keep in mind – EQUALITY under the law DOES NOT MEAN ACCEPTANCE.
Unlike most parts of Europe, where people think with their minds, some people in many parts of America think with an invisible force they call religion, looking upon the LGBT community as evil, demonic, and satanic.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are parts of America without this mindset… just stay on the coasts! Ha! (I joke!) With the inclusion of Chicago, your best bet is to stick with the popular gay destinations like Key West, New York’s Fire Island, and Los Angeles.
I have worked tirelessly to help ignorant people understand that gay people are on a whole ‘normal’, ‘happy’, ‘healthy’, contributing members of society. The problem comes when somebody has never come across somebody LGBT before. And so I always say, the first rule to advocating is educating.
So please, tell people your story, your friends, family, coworkers, colleagues so that those people who think homosexuality is a disease and a ‘choice’ that we make are educated and know different and then we can all live happily ever after.
If you are struggling with any issues mentioned above, feel free to get in contact with me on @AustinArmacost