February is considered the love month, where couples show their affection for each other and many people end up making the lifelong decision of marriage. Feb. 12, just two days before Valentine’s Day, is Freedom to Marry Day. This day was formed because, on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that anyone can marry whoever nationwide.
Now, a lot of people say that marriage isn’t important, but knowing that you can now marry anyone you’d like to marry in the country speaks volumes. The majority of people also consider this a win for the LGBTQ+ community and for people in other countries. In other countries, the government executes people for wanting to be with someone who isn’t the opposite gender. From our country, allowing people to marry who they want shows those people in other countries that it’s okay to be who you are and to love whoever you love.
LGBTQ+ rights go hand in hand with this day. Even though Pride Month is recognized in June, many romantic holidays and traditions can now be celebrated without discrimination at other times of the year. Even though some citizens of the country do not support the LGBTQ+ community, we know that there are some laws protecting us and giving us the same rights as everyone else gives us strength. Many people, including myself, have been discriminated against and called many slurs just for being who we are, and now, we are starting to be recognized as equal, which is what we’ve been fighting for.
An amazing example of Freedom to Marry Day and LGBTQ+ rights showing other countries that it’s okay is in South Korea. Now, the government doesn’t execute people just for being a sexuality other than heterosexual, but the LGBTQ+ community is still heavily discriminated against there and in many other countries. However, with Pride Month and the LGBTQ+ community making a voice for ourselves, many people in South Korea are starting to be more accepting of this community, especially in younger generations. There isn’t a right to marry whoever they want and they don’t have the same rights as LGBTQ+ Americans do, but they are starting to have pride parades and protests stating that they want the same rights as everyone else in their country.
