Ignorance

"It’s just disgusting." 
Some people are confused by how easily others 
carry the word “f****t” etched into their wrists. 
I’m surprised by how easily some can be whipped by their own Bible belt,
how they can allow it to choke them.
"I'm allowed to have my own opinion."
I saw his arm and I knew he had lived in tragedy.
When another kid yelled “f****t” while passing him,
I went cold as the glass shattered.
The pieces suddenly fell together.
"Hate the sin, not the sinner."
How long does it take to realize
the sinner carries his own sin?
They are not separate things.
You cannot hate the "sin” without the “sinner”.
How do you repent for something pressed into your bones?
How do you unthread the sin lining the edges of your entire being?
"Let’s agree to disagree - it’s just an opinion."
When you have to pull your lover out of a noose to tuck them into bed,
when you have to start stuffing your pockets with tissues at all times so you can dry their damp, trembling face after you kiss them in public,
when one of your biggest fears at your wedding is your partner dying prematurely of a hate crime before you get to grow old with them,
all of this grief for the sake of loving another person,
then tell me you understand.
Then you'll be allowed to have your "opinion".
Until then, you do not understand.
And until then, it isn't just an opinion.