Show true compassion to LGBTQ

As I’ve been listening to the discussions around gay pride month, the argument I’ve heard that troubles me the most is the notion that we need to celebrate the LGBTQ lifestyle as a way to show love and inclusion to those who practice that lifestyle. However, is it really showing love to these individuals to celebrate a lifestyle that causes harm to themselves?

Statistics have shown that homosexuality significantly increases the risk of venereal disease. As one example, 69% of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. in 2018 were “gay and bisexual men,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It seems to me that showing love for the LGBTQ community would be to offer help, not to celebrate a lifestyle that can end up causing such suffering. For example, we do not take a month to celebrate “Alcoholic Pride Month,” rather we offer help and counseling to encourage people to abandon a lifestyle that poses a severe risk. We don’t do that because we’re trying to be judgmental or non-inclusive. It is an act of compassion.

Let’s spend less time celebrating lifestyles that hurt people and instead show true compassion to LGBTQ individuals by finding ways to help them out of this dangerous situation.