“It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that lead people to walk-outs and sit-ins
It’s human rights for everybody
There is no difference.”
“Same Love” - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

When Macklemore released “The Heist” in 2012, his song “Thrift Shop” immediately got attention on the album, but the song that really made noise in the music industry was this piece, which called out hip hop specifically, but the music industry as a whole for its treatment of gay fans and artists.

One particular line really struck a chord with many in the industry: “If I was gay I would think hip-hop hates me…./‘Man that’s gay’ gets dropped on the daily.”

A decade later, and those who are LGBTQ are still fighting just to exist in this country, let alone be allowed to thrive.

This isn’t something that you personally need to actively advocate for or, heck, even support in order to change.

The change that’s needed?

First, just get out of the way and leave well enough alone.

Second, understand that the impact of what has been done in the past will be felt for generations to come, so expecting any sort of immediate change is patently absurd.

We’ll come back to this.

To begin with leaving well enough alone, let’s consider left-handed people.

Sounds odd, but stay with me…

For centuries, many cultures, particularly Christian-based cultures, actively forced developing children to use the right hand as the dominant hand to discourage left-handedness.

Slowly, the world began to remove forced right hand instruction beginning in the mid-20th century with the last stronghold being the Soviet Union’s educational system until the Soviet Union collapsed.

With growing acceptance of left-handed people in the world and more desks and equipment made specifically for left-handed people, one would think the amount of left-handed people would skyrocket, right?

After all, that’s the argument that is constantly used with the LGBTQ community.

Now somewhat allowed to speak their truth, the rise in percentage of those who identify as LGBTQ is presumed to be due to indoctrination from those in the group to anyone and everyone who would listen.

It’s a flawed argument. A simple look at the rate of left-handed people will show exactly why.

The rate of lefties in the United States in the early 1930s was reported at roughly 2% of the population. It was up to 11% in 1972.

Then it was 13% in 1980, 14% in 1990, 13.5% in 2000, 13.1% in 2010, and 13.3% in 2020.

Basically, the rate has leveled off for 40 years now that children are allowed to become right- or left-handed however they develop.

Heck, over the last 30 years, three of the nation’s Presidents have been left-handed.

Gallup first measured those who identified as LGBTQ in 2012, with 3.5% of the United States population in a standard poll identifying in the first measurement. The most recent survey done of more than 12,000 adults found the rate had more than doubled, to 7.1%.

Is that indoctrination? Or, much like those who are left-handed, has the world opened up to some degree to those who are LGBTQ in a way that allowed for that growth.

The problem is that, much like those who initially saw growth in left-handed people from 1930-1950 and tried to create legislation to tamp down that growth - remember the USSR actually included it in its education system -  many are trying to step in and regulate others to walk back progress that has been made to allow LGBTQ persons to live their lives in the last decade.

While heterosexual couples - even common-law couples - would not be denied survivor benefits upon one spouse’s passing, South Dakota is one of multiple states where court rulings have gone against LGBTQ couples who simply want to receive a spouse’s retirement benefits, built during a life spent together, upon passing but instead end up denied.

Coming back to the long-standing impact, changing things with legislation today isn’t going to change the minds of people tomorrow, as we’ve seen.

Black and Indigenous people can quickly relate that centuries of laws and policies intended to make someone feel “less than,” to put someone in a different class within society, and to hold down progress of an entire race of people has long-term effects, even when those laws and policies are repealed.

Same-sex marriage has been legalized nationwide, with all the expected standings and benefits entailed, since 2015, but every year laws are proposed at the state and national level to limit and/or remove rights from LGBTQ people.

Multiple people that I grew up with here in the Huron area are members of the LGBTQ community, and they are incredibly happy living their life, contributing to society, paying taxes, raising children, doing all the things anyone wants to be able to do with the American freedom that they possess.

They need to know that their rights won’t be taken away because someone (or a group of “someones”) are uncomfortable with their life or lifestyle.

If the fight is for HUMAN rights, like the song says, it’s for everybody, there is no difference.