My message: LGBTQIA community members aren’t second class citizens

Dear future president,

As a proud member of the LGBTQIA community, I witness first hand the discrimination this community faces on a daily basis. I have been called offensive names as I walk to school and have been bullied on public transportation.

For too long, this country’s politicians have focused on pleasing right wing conservatives, homophobes, Republicans and other bullies of the LGBTQIA community. Federal laws protecting LGBTQIA community members have yet to be passed, far less even presented to Congress. America’s current political climate has led to an environment where an LGBTQIA community member can be murdered by a Ku Klux Klan member, and the police will do nothing.

Furthermore, no American citizen deserves —  in the 21st century — to be treated like a second class citizen due to their sexual orientation! I want there to be a country where all American citizens are treated with the respect they deserve, a  country where an LGBTQIA member won’t lose their job because of their sexual orientation, a country where all American citizens have the true right to pursue happiness.

Kevin Cervantes

Libra Academy at Linda Esperanza Marquez High School

Huntington Park, Calif.